Deputy Director, Digital Service Owner
Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
Brighton, BN2 3EW
Salary
£94,356 to £108,814
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Not specified
Closing date
13 September 2026
13 days left
Job description
Are you passionate about creating digital services that make a real difference for patients and staff?Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust is seeking...
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.
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.
We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.
Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.
Why work for us?o Positive 2024 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeingo Varied environments: community hospitals, patients' homes, and bases across Sussexo Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retiremento Excellent training, development, and research opportunitieso Accredited Living Wage Employer, we ensure fair pay for all our staffo Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brightono Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networkso Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust
Our values--Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence--guide everything we do.
We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.
This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.
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.
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.
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.
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.
How to apply
Applications are handled entirely by the employer on the original advert. We do not collect CVs, supporting statements or application data.
Provenance
Source
NHS Jobs
First seen
28 August 2026
Last checked
31 August 2026
Salary, closing date and description are taken from the employer's advert. The original advert always takes precedence.
About the employer
NHS organisation
This listing was structured from NHS Jobs. Vacancy details and the application process remain the responsibility of the original source.
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