Head of Digital Operations & Infrastructure - Band 8c


Company:	NHS Jobs
Salary:	£79,504 to £91,609 a year
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	Gloucester, GL1 2EL
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	26 Oct 2026
Closing date:	15 Nov 2026

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Summary

KEY KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE The post holder will be expected to demonstrate: - Strategic Leadership and Alignment: Proven ability to work with the Director of Digital Operations / CTO to translate the Trust's overarching Digital Strategy into actionable, short- and medium-term Infrastructure and Service Delivery roadmaps, ensuring alignment with Trust and ICS goals. - Infrastructure Governance and Assurance: Strong capability to advise on the strategic design and technical evolution of core Digital Infrastructure, assuring the Director/Board that solutions are resilient, future-proof, secure, and cost-effective for 24/7 clinical operations. - Critical Risk and Resilience: Extensive experience in leading and governing Critical Incident Management (CIM) processes and possessing a strong understanding of digital risk management and governance frameworks. - Service Transformation and Benefits Realisation: Demonstrated track record of leading service-led change, particularly in driving IT Service Management maturity and linking continuous service improvement outcomes (e.g., increased efficiency, improved user experience) to strategic objectives. - Financial and Commercial Acumen: Proven ability to manage significant Digital Budgets (Revenue and Capital), develop compelling business cases for infrastructure investment, and deliver Cost Improvement Plans (CIPs) through effective supplier management. - Collaborative Stakeholder Management: Excellent skill in building strong, collaborative relationships with a significant number of strategic stakeholders (clinical, operational, and external partners) to ensure productive partnerships and shared ownership of digital stability. - People and Workforce Development: Experience in workforce planning and developing the capabilities of multi-disciplinary teams across technical infrastructure and service desk functions, ensuring long-term succession pathways. MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES The post holder will provide professional, strategic, and operational leadership across the Digital Operations & Infrastructure portfolio, ensuring service continuity, driving technical capability, and leading cultural excellence. Key Responsibilities - Direct the strategic and operational functions for Digital Infrastructure (Server, Network, Data Centre), Service Desk (1st/2nd line support), Telephony (Fixed and Mobile), IT Admin, and the Small Works / Projects pipeline. - Ensure the availability, security, and resilience of all core infrastructure platforms that underpin critical clinical and corporate systems (EPR, PACS, etc.). - Provide visible senior leadership in Critical Incident Management (CIM), commanding the response to major service outages to minimise clinical impact. - Act as the strategic link between the overarching Digital Strategy and the operational delivery teams, ensuring all tactical workstreams and investments support the Trusts long-term goals. Leadership and Culture - Provide visible, compassionate, and collaborative leadership to all multi-disciplinary teams within the portfolio, fostering a high-performance culture that reflects the Trust values: Caring, Inclusive, Compassionate, Accountable. - Act as a visible and inspiring leader, driving a service-led culture committed to first-time resolution and excellent user experience across all service desk and infrastructure teams. - Champion a culture of openness, learning, and continuous improvement, ensuring staff feel empowered to contribute to service evolution. Strategy, Planning, Quality & Assurance - Develop and execute a strategic roadmap for both Service Delivery and Infrastructure renewal, ensuring technical investment aligns with operational capacity and long-term resilience requirements. - Define, monitor, and report on critical Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Operational Level Agreements (OLAs), using performance data to drive service quality and maturity. - Lead the architectural review of infrastructure platforms, ensuring they are scalable, highly available, and capable of supporting the Trust's evolving clinical informatics needs. Innovation, Research and Development - Champion the adoption of modern, innovative tooling and methodologies (e.g., automation, proactive monitoring, Cloud adoption principles) to drive operational efficiency and stability across the infrastructure estate. - Lead service transformation initiatives, focusing on leveraging technology to enhance the staff digital experience and increase the efficiency of clinical and corporate workflows. - Maintain an up-to-date working knowledge of leading-edge digital technology and services relevant to NHS operations and resilience. Communications and Working Relationships - Maintain strategic relationships with a significant number of stakeholders across clinical, operational, and corporate divisions, translating complex technical information into clear business terms for effective decision-making. - Manage strategic relationships with third-party suppliers, ensuring high-quality delivery against contractual obligations and actively contributing to contract negotiation and performance reviews. - Deputise for the Director of Digital Operations (CTO) as required, representing the Digital Operations function at senior clinical and executive forums. Planning & Organisational Skills - Lead the long-term planning for infrastructure lifecycle management (servers, network, hardware), ensuring appropriate resource allocation and capital investment planning. - Design and implement governance processes for the intake, prioritisation, and resource allocation for minor IT works and small projects, balancing delivery with essential business-as-usual activities. - Ensure robust operational planning exists for all services, including physical asset management, software licensing, and inventory control. Governance - Accountable for establishing and enforcing the Critical Incident Management (CIM) framework and ensuring timely Post-Incident Reviews (PIRs) and Root Cause Analysis (RCA). - Lead the development, review, and assurance of all ITIL processes (Incident, Problem, Request, and Access Management) to maintain a robust and compliant service management framework. - Accountable for infrastructure-level technical assurance and ensuring rigorous compliance with NHS standards, including the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) and mandatory testing of Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans. Training and Capability Building - Support the development of digital training strategies that support workforce capability and safe, confident, use of Trust technology. - Drive user adoption of self-service tools and knowledge bases, contributing to the wider Trust goals for digital literacy and competence. - Ensure technical staff receive appropriate and continuous professional development (CPD) to maintain expert knowledge across the evolving infrastructure and service delivery domains. Workforce - Lead the development and implementation of a long-term workforce plan for the Digital Operations and Infrastructure teams, focusing on critical skills identification and succession planning. - Be responsible for the line management, development, recruitment, and performance management of senior staff and team leaders within the portfolio. - Ensure appropriate operational leadership and management capability exists at all levels within the function to achieve strategic objectives. Other Responsibilities - To take part in regular performance appraisal. - Undertake any training required to maintain competency including mandatory training, e.g. Manual Handling. - Contribute to and work within a safe working environment. - Comply with Trust Infection Control Policies and minimise the risk of healthcare associated infections. - Abide by any relevant code of professional conduct and/or practice applicable to you. - Expected to be onsite regularly - A member of the Digital Gold on call rota

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