UH DORSET 2025 DEPUTY CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER (ACUTE)

Deputy Chief Digital Officer (Acute)

Job Description

Job Title:

Deputy Chief Digital Officer (Acute)

Band:

9 Care Group:

Corporate

Directorate:

Corporate

Department:

Digital, Data and Technology

Location:

Cross-site. UHD – RBH or Poole – or DCH, Dorchester

Accountable to:

Joint Chief Digital Officer – Dorset Providers

Accountable for:

Digital, Information Technology

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Introduction

This is a post for a full time Deputy CDO accountable to the joint CDO – Dorset Providers. The post holder will have specific responsibility for overseeing Acute IT services across Poole, Royal Bournemouth and Dorset County Hospitals.

The Joint CDO and two Deputy CDOs are new roles which seek to bring together digital services across the providers in anticipation of the new strategic Electronic Health Record which is planned for introduction in 2028.

Each post holder will deputise formally for the joint CDO and will be a formal member of the Pan-Dorset Digital SLT.

This role will lead on Acute pathways and will work closely with the CMIO & CNIO’s of UHD and DCH to shape and deliver those aspects of the Digital Strategy. The other role will lead on the Mental Health & Community and will work closely with the CMIO & CNIO’s of Dorset Healthcare to shape and deliver those aspects of the Digital Strategy.

One of the two postholders will lead on Commercial contract management for the service.

Two Deputies are being sought (Acute and MH/Community), and we are open about which of the candidates holds the Commercial portfolio; however, one of the post holders will be employed by Dorset Healthcare and the other will be employed by Dorset County or UH Dorset.

Overview

Digital health services are pivotal to the ambitious transformation agenda across Dorset Providers. This role will help ensure that the vision, direction and strategy is fully enabled by digital change and innovation.

The postholder will work with the UHD, DCH and DHC Digital Teams to design and implement new ways of working between the three Digital Services to maximise the capabilities and capacities of both teams and ensure we are using our expert and limited resources in an efficient and effective way.

The postholder will also work with partners across the health and care system to ensure alignment and interoperability of developments and to develop and implement a new Electronic Health Record system.

The post holder will support the Joint CDO in leading the provision of an efficient, effective and high quality professional and well-co-ordinated digital service capable of meeting all statutory, regulatory and NHS requirements.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities (Essential)

Prior senior leadership role in the Information Management/ Information Technology sector
Significant experience at a strategic level shaping digital and IT service development and modernisation
Strong understanding of IT systems
Outstanding leader who can build successful teams and has influential relationships.
Experience of employing recognised improvement methodologies
Experience of staff management and staff development at a senior level
Strategic and operational experience of major programmes and projects.
Extensive experience at working at a senior level in a complex environment.
Extensive experience of delivering presentations to large groups of stakeholders in often pressured and politically sensitive environments.
Extensive analytical experience, including significant experience of leading teams to build complex analytical model
Extensive experience of business case assessment
Experience of budgetary control, financial planning and forecasting at a senior level

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities (Desirable)

Qualities

Recognised credible leader who can form and manage high performance, output driven teams
Strong team player – able to shape a team to deliver high performance and engagement.
Relationship builder in a complex environment – comfortable building strong relationships at all levels internally and externally and being able to influence in complex stakeholder environments
Excellent communicator – on platforms, in teams and in writing.
Ability to develop, use, analyse and interpret data
Resilient and tenacious in a fast paced and challenging environment
Ability to deal with challenging situations in a formal setting
Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to senior stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as required
Ability to analyse highly complex issues where material is conflicting and drawn from multiple sources (verbal, written and numerical).
Demonstrable ability to act upon incomplete information, using experience gained to make inferences and decision making
Demonstrable leadership, vision, strategic thinking and planning with highly developed political skills
Demonstrable ability to plan over short, medium and long -term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly
Demonstrable ability to work effectively between strategic and operational activities where required
Demonstrable ability to manage own and team workload and make informed decisions in the absence of required information, working to tight and often changing timescales
Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues
Emotional resilience in challenging situations where views may differ and a high degree of negotiating and influencing skills is required.

Additional Requirements

Business Travel

Car user definitions

Essential

Level 1 – post holder is required to:
- travel an average of more than 3,500 miles a year; or
- travel an average of at least 1,250 miles a year; and necessarily use their car an average of 3 days a week; or spend an average of at least 50% of their time on such travel; including duties performed during the visits; or
- average of 4 days a week on such travel, including the duties performed during the visits.
Level 2 – users who use their own vehicles for official journeys other than in the circumstances described under Level 1 above.

Desirable

Deputy Chief Digital Officer (Acute)

Job Description

Job Title:

Deputy Chief Digital Officer (Acute)

Band:

9

Care Group:

Corporate

Directorate:

Corporate

Department:

Digital, Data and Technology

Location:

Cross-site. UHD – RBH or Poole – or DCH, Dorchester

Accountable to:

Joint Chief Digital Officer – Dorset Providers

Accountable for:

Digital, Information Technology

Introduction

Overview

Person Specification

Car user definitions

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