Job overview
This is a pivotal digital leadership role responsible for the planning, assurance, and secure delivery of all core digital infrastructure and user support services across GHFT.
Reporting to the Director of Digital Operations (CTO), the post holder will manage the functions critical to the Trust’s digital stability and resilience.
The post holder will play a critical role in advising and influencing senior clinical and corporate leaders, providing clear, evidence-based recommendations and assurance on highly complex digital and infrastructure risks, investments, and service performance.
The role requires the ability to communicate highly complex technical issues clearly and confidently to non-technical audiences, including Executive Directors and Board-level forums.
This role is strategically balanced:
- 50% Digital Service Delivery and Service Strategy: Owning the user experience, governance, continual service improvement, and strategic direction for the Service Desk, Telephony, IT Admin, and small project delivery.
- 50% Core Infrastructure Strategy and Resilience: Leading the planning, architecture, security assurance, and technical evolution of Server, Data Centre, Network, and foundational Digital Solutions infrastructure.
The postholder will ensure the underlying technology and support ecosystem is resilient, future-proofed, and fully compliant with national (NHS) and local governance requirements, enabling exceptional patient care and a productive staff experience.
Main duties of the job
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.
- 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 Trust’s long-term goals.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
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. Act as a senior role model for collaborative leadership, engaging confidently with peers and Executive colleagues to shape decisions, influence outcomes, and drive collective ownership of digital resilience and user experience.
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, providing expert digital and infrastructure advice and translating highly complex technical, operational, and risk-related information into clear, concise business and clinical terms to support executive decision-making and assurance. Lead the preparation and presentation of formal reports, performance updates, and assurance papers for senior management, executive teams, and Trust governance forums, contributing to informed decision-making and organisational confidence in digital services. 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, ensuring timely Post-Incident Reviews (PIRs) and Root Cause Analysis (RCA), and presenting outcomes, learning, and assurance to senior leadership and relevant governance committees.
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
Person specification
Experience
Essential
- Significant experience of leading programmes of work across multiple sectors.
- Expert knowledge and experience of delivering digital projects in complex environments
- Experience of managing commercial suppliers to pre-approved service level agreements/contracts
- Extensive experience of managing highly complex programmes and delivering them within agreed timescales and budgets
- Significant experience and understanding of digital and technology operating models
- Experience of applying MSP methodology
Desirable
- Experience of negotiating with other Health Care providers
- Significant experience of researching best practice and developing solutions that can achieve optimal outcomes for all stakeholders
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to Masters level in a relevant area of academic practice or equivalent experience working at a commensurate band / level
- Additional management or specialist qualifications at post graduate level or equivalent level of experience
- Evidence of continuing professional development relevant to role
Desirable
- Recognised change management / training / architecture qualification at foundation level, e.g., PRINCE2, Agile or equivalent experience
- Training qualification in service improvements / innovation techniques
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Head of Technical Operations & Infrastructure, Band 8c with Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Cheltenham, South West, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Administrative and IT role. The advertised salary is £79,504 - £91,609 (pa pro rata if part-time). The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 07 Jul 2026.
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