# Deputy Director, Digital Service Owner > NHS job listing from Job Clerk for Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust. ## Canonical URLs - **HTML:** https://www.jobclerk.com/job/deputy-director-digital-service-owner/df991cf0-c444-4699-b610-0cc364d9b916 - **Markdown:** https://www.jobclerk.com/job/deputy-director-digital-service-owner/df991cf0-c444-4699-b610-0cc364d9b916.md ## Summary - **Status:** Live - **Employer:** Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust - **Location:** Brighton General Hospital - **Workplace type:** onsite - **Profession:** Administrative and IT - **Grade:** Band 8 - **Salary:** £94,356 - £108,814 per annum - **Contract type:** Permanent - **Employment type:** Full time - 37.5 hours per week - **Closing date:** 2026-09-13T22:59:00.000Z - **Posted:** 2026-08-28T11:41:38.479Z - **Source information URL:** https://www.healthjobsuk.com/job/UK/East_Sussex/Brighton/Sussex_Community_NHS_Foundation_Trust/Digital_Data/Digital_Data-v8254626 - **Application URL:** https://apps.trac.jobs/job-advert/8254626?ShowJobAdvert=&feedid=9002 - **Employer website:** https://www.sussexcommunity.nhs.uk ## Job Content ### 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. ## Person Specification ### Experience **Essential** - Significant senior leadership experience within NHS, healthcare or similarly complex organisations. - Experience of service ownership, product management or digital delivery leadership. - Experience leading multidisciplinary teams. - Experience managing complex digital products and services through their lifecycle. - Experience developing digital strategies and roadmaps. - Experience managing substantial budgets. - Proven experience of developing successful business cases, funding bids, investment proposals or transformation programmes that have secured external funding or investment. - Experience of benefits realisation and service performance management. - Experience engaging with senior stakeholders at executive level. ### Other requirements **Essential** - Strategic thinker with ability to translate vision into delivery. - Strong focus on outcomes and benefits realisation. - Collaborative and inclusive leadership style. Ability to manage ambiguity and complexity. - Passion for improving patient and staff experience through digital services. - Demonstrates SCFT values and behaviours. - Able to bring pace, value and innovation. ### Skills and knowledge **Essential** - Expert understanding of service ownership principles. - Strong understanding of NHS digital strategy and transformation. - Strategic planning and organisational leadership capability. - Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills. - Excellent communication and presentation skills. - Financial and commercial management capability. - Strong risk and governance management skills. - Ability to analyse highly complex information and make evidence-based decisions. - Expert knowledge of user-centred design and service improvement methodologies. - Strong understanding of agile delivery methods and digital product management. - Strong understanding of NHS funding mechanisms, national transformation programmes and digital investment routes. - Ability to influence regional and national stakeholders and develop compelling investment cases that secure funding and support organisational priorities. ### Qualifications and/or professional registration **Essential** - Master's degree or equivalent experience in Digital, Informatics, Technology, Business Change or related discipline. - Extensive specialist knowledge acquired through postgraduate study or equivalent senior experience. - Agile, Scrum qualification. NHS Digital Leadership Programme. **Desirable** - Evidence of senior leadership development. Portfolio, Delivery, Product, Service Management or Change qualification. ## Documents - [job description (pdf, 368.4kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?vdoc=10579151) - [person specification (pdf, 368.4kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?vdoc=10579152) - [staff benefits brochure (pdf, 484.5kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=2262) - [easy read application form (pdf, 1.1mb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=2435) - [about sussex community nhs foundation trust (pdf, 632.5kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=2743) - [guide to completing an online job application (pdf, 1.1mb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=3072) - [applicants guide to the use of generative ai in applications (pdf, 218.6kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?edoc=2971) ## Agent Notes - This Markdown page is generated from the same Job Clerk job record as the HTML job detail page. - Use the canonical HTML URL for user-facing references. - Use the application URL when the user wants to apply on the source NHS site.