Digital Business Manager & Commercial Lead, Band 8a

Job overview

The Digital Business Manager and Commercial Lead is responsible for supporting the business, commercial and governance functions of the Digital, Technology & Insights directorate. The post holder will lead key aspects of business planning, budget and capital programme coordination, supplier and contract management, and procurement support to ensure services are well governed, financially robust and aligned to Trust priorities.

The role works closely with senior digital leaders, corporate support functions, clinical and operational colleagues, and external suppliers to provide commercial oversight and business management support across a complex digital portfolio. This includes contributing to business case development, monitoring supplier performance and service level agreements, coordinating procurement activity, and supporting delivery of service efficiencies and capital investment programmes.

The post holder will be expected to work with a high degree of autonomy, applying specialist knowledge and sound judgement to support effective decision-making, service resilience and continuous improvement. The role also includes participation in digital on-call arrangements and support to business continuity and major incident response as required.

Main duties of the job

- Management of Digital annual business planning activities.

- Management of the Digital, Technology & Insights (DTI) Capital Programme in support of the Chief Digital & Analytics Officer (Deputy CDIO) and Senior Leadership Team

- Lead the strategic management of DTI service SLAs and supplier contracts, ensuring best value and performance.

- Support the DTI SLT in the delivery of service efficiencies.

- Responsible for the delegated service management of DTI procurement activities outside the scope of the central Procurement department

- Link between DTI and Procurement teams for the provision of procurement and commercial advice.

- Link between DTI and Procurement teams to ensure that consistent professional standards are adhered to

- Ensure effective Digital business and supplier management.

- Provide assurance that the DTI aspects of procurement processes are compliant with Trust and regulatory standards.

- Participate in digital on-call rotas, providing senior cover for critical business service matters.

- Engage with internal stakeholders, external partners and suppliers to foster collaboration and shared outcomes.

- Maintain strong oversight and quality management of all supplier and commercial relationships.

- Lead NHS and independent benchmarking activity and undertake analysis to identify opportunities, supporting the development of new strategies and service improvements.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Knowledge and experience

The post holder will have a highly developed specialist technical knowledge in contract management, Service Level Performance (SLA), and financial matters, underpinned by theory and practical experience, of contracts, service level agreement management and best practices together with well-developed commercial skills and experience.

The post holder will have an understanding of the theory and practice of Project and Programme Management, including knowledge of a formal methodology such as PRINCE2. They will have a strong knowledge of NHS procurement regulations, frameworks and professional standards.

They will be proficient in supporting digital business case development and approval and have experience in managing the commercial aspects of highly complex digital projects and programmes.

Understanding of NHS business continuity frameworks and ability to lead digital responses to major incidents, including out-of-hours.

The post holder will have a degree of autonomy within their role and will be expected to make judgements involving highly complex facts or situations which require the analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options.

Qualifications and Training

The post holder will be educated to degree standard or possess significant experience of delivery at an equivalent level.

Evidence of continuing professional development aligned to NHS Digital and Commercial leadership competencies (e.g. HFMA, NHS Digital Academy).

Experience:

The post holder will have:

- Extensive experience in the management of contracts, with specific focus on service level and performance management.

- Must be experienced in managing and negotiating with suppliers and in dealing with providers of outsourced services including managing contractual conflicts.  This will frequently require an ability to present and receive highly contentious or sensitive information where there are significant barriers to acceptance which need to be overcome.

- Active participation in business continuity planning and incident response procedures.

- Proven ability to support and lead financial planning, budgeting and procurement initiatives.

- Experience managing people and motivating cross-functional teams through change.

Other

The post holder will require good analytical and technical skills including experience of using Microsoft products (including project management tools) to a high level of proficiency. The post holder will be required to analyse highly complex problems relating to business delivery where there is a competing priority, and to resolve failures effectively.

Skills Required

Excellent verbal, written and presentation skills are essential to communicate complex digital, commercial and service issues clearly to a wide range of technical and non-technical stakeholders.

The post holder is required to establish and maintain good working relationships with all staff within the DTI Service and Procurement Teams and across a range of NHS and non-NHS organisations.

The post holder will have effective staff management skills and be able to encourage collaborative working across DTI teams and partner services, including in situations where there may be resistance to change.

The post holder must be self-motivated, organised and able to work independently, with a sound understanding of digital service provision and associated operational challenges. They will need to communicate complex and multi-stranded issues in a clear and practical way.

The post holder will be:

- A strong commercial perspective combined with a commitment to public sector values.

- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to evaluate options and make sound decisions.

- Proven ability to lead, motivate and develop teams and to deliver results through others.

- A track record of delivery in complex and changing environments.

- Ability to remain calm and effective under pressure, including during major incidents or out-of-hours issues.

- Able to work independently with minimal supervision while maintaining strong organisational standards.

- Able to identify opportunities for improvement and support innovation in service delivery.