Job requirements
Requirements from the employer’s person specification. These describe the role, not your personal match.
Essential
30 listedRequirements the employer expects applicants to meet.
- Experience
Significant senior leadership experience within NHS, healthcare or similarly complex organisations.
- Experience
Experience of service ownership, product management or digital delivery leadership.
- Experience
Experience leading multidisciplinary teams.
- Experience
Experience managing complex digital products and services through their lifecycle.
- Experience
Experience developing digital strategies and roadmaps.
- Experience
Experience managing substantial budgets.
- Experience
Proven experience of developing successful business cases, funding bids, investment proposals or transformation programmes that have secured external funding or investment.
- Experience
Experience of benefits realisation and service performance management.
- Experience
Experience engaging with senior stakeholders at executive level.
- Other requirements
Strategic thinker with ability to translate vision into delivery.
- Other requirements
Strong focus on outcomes and benefits realisation.
- Other requirements
Collaborative and inclusive leadership style. Ability to manage ambiguity and complexity.
- Other requirements
Passion for improving patient and staff experience through digital services.
- Other requirements
Demonstrates SCFT values and behaviours.
- Other requirements
Able to bring pace, value and innovation.
- Skills and knowledge
Expert understanding of service ownership principles.
- Skills and knowledge
Strong understanding of NHS digital strategy and transformation.
- Skills and knowledge
Strategic planning and organisational leadership capability.
- Skills and knowledge
Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
- Skills and knowledge
Excellent communication and presentation skills.
- Skills and knowledge
Financial and commercial management capability.
- Skills and knowledge
Strong risk and governance management skills.
- Skills and knowledge
Ability to analyse highly complex information and make evidence-based decisions.
- Skills and knowledge
Expert knowledge of user-centred design and service improvement methodologies.
- Skills and knowledge
Strong understanding of agile delivery methods and digital product management.
- Skills and knowledge
Strong understanding of NHS funding mechanisms, national transformation programmes and digital investment routes.
- Skills and knowledge
Ability to influence regional and national stakeholders and develop compelling investment cases that secure funding and support organisational priorities.
- Qualifications and/or professional registration
Master's degree or equivalent experience in Digital, Informatics, Technology, Business Change or related discipline.
- Qualifications and/or professional registration
Extensive specialist knowledge acquired through postgraduate study or equivalent senior experience.
- Qualifications and/or professional registration
Agile, Scrum qualification. NHS Digital Leadership Programme.
Desirable
1 listedAdditional qualities the employer would prefer.
- Qualifications and/or professional registration
Evidence of senior leadership development. Portfolio, Delivery, Product, Service Management or Change qualification.
Job overview
Are you passionate about creating digital services that make a real difference for patients and staff?
Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an exceptional digital leader to become our Deputy Director, Digital Service Owner. This is a unique opportunity to establish and lead a modern digital service ownership function, ensuring our digital services deliver meaningful outcomes, exceptional user experiences and lasting value across the organisation. Reporting to the Chief Digital & Data Officer, you will be accountable for ensuring digital services meet the needs of patients, clinicians and staff throughout their lifecycle. You will work closely with clinical, operational and corporate leaders to understand challenges, identify opportunities and ensure services continuously evolve in response to changing user needs and organisational priorities. This role is ideally suited to a senior leader with experience in service ownership, product management, service design or agile delivery who is passionate about user-centred design and improving outcomes through digital innovation. You will have the opportunity to influence strategy, shape investment decisions and lead multidisciplinary teams that are transforming how healthcare services are delivered.
Main duties of the job
As Deputy Director, Digital Service Owner, you will be accountable for the quality, performance, outcomes and benefits delivered by the Trust's digital services. Your focus will be ensuring services continue to meet the needs of patients, staff and the organisation, delivering measurable improvements to experience, efficiency and care.
You will:
Lead multidisciplinary teams across service ownership, product management, digital delivery and business analysis.
Act as the accountable owner for digital services, ensuring they remain aligned to user needs and organisational priorities.
Champion user-centred design and agile delivery approaches, using insight and evidence to drive decision-making.
Work directly with clinicians, operational teams and service leaders to understand needs and improve digital experiences.
Ensure services deliver measurable clinical, operational and workforce benefits.
Establish robust governance, performance and benefits realisation arrangements.
Lead business cases, funding opportunities and strategic partnerships that support innovation and transformation.
Foster a culture of continuous improvement, learning and user-focused delivery.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
This role is about much more than delivering digital systems. It is about taking accountability for ensuring digital services solve the right problems, deliver the intended outcomes and continue to meet the needs of patients and staff over time. As Deputy Director, Digital Service Owner, you will lead the evolution of the Trust's digital services through a user-centred, outcome-focused approach. You will work closely with clinicians, operational colleagues, patients and partners to understand user needs, improve services and ensure investment decisions deliver meaningful benefits. You will be responsible for ensuring digital services are safe, effective, sustainable and continually improved, balancing user needs, organisational priorities, risk and available resources. You will oversee service strategy, delivery, adoption, performance and optimisation, ensuring teams focus on real-world outcomes rather than simply implementing technology. We're looking for a leader who understands that service ownership means accountability. Someone who can create the conditions for multidisciplinary teams to succeed, champion user-centred design and agile delivery, and ensure every digital service delivers value for patients, staff and the communities we serve.
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Deputy Director, Digital Service Owner with Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust in Brighton, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Administrative and IT role. The advertised salary is £94,356 - £108,814 per annum. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 13 Sep 2026.
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