Chief Digital Officer

Job Summary

At UHB, high-quality clinical care sits at the centre of everything we do, supported and enabled by digital capability, data and technology across a complex and high-performing organisation.

As Chief Digital Officer, you will hold Board-level accountability for defining and leading the organisation's digital strategy and direction, ensuring it is aligned to organisational priorities, responsive to system expectations and positioned at the forefront of the digital landscape. This is a voting role reporting to the Chief Executive, advising and influencing at the centre of decision-making and shaping how digital capability enables safe, effective and sustainable patient care.

This is not a technical leadership role in isolation. It requires an executive able to connect digital, data and technology with clinical practice, operational delivery and organisational performance. The role spans digital strategy, innovation, information management, cyber security and data governance, alongside executive leadership of a complex IMT function.

You will work across organisational and system boundaries, ensuring digital priorities are grounded in service need and translate into measurable improvement in outcomes, productivity and experience.

Main Duties, Tasks & Skills Required

You will define and lead the Trust's digital strategy, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities and wider system direction, and translating this into delivery across a complex and demanding environment. You will guide how digital capability, information and data support clinical care, operational performance and long-term sustainability.

You will provide executive leadership for IMT, including the Electronic Patient Record, business intelligence and cyber security, ensuring systems, infrastructure and data are fit for purpose and support safe, effective care. You will oversee the governance of information assets, establishing clear frameworks to ensure data quality, accessibility and compliance with regulatory requirements.

You will drive digital and operational transformation, identifying where innovation, including artificial intelligence, can deliver meaningful improvement and ensuring solutions are implemented with pace and discipline. You will work closely with clinical, operational and system partners to align digital priorities with service delivery and transformation ambitions, including across the wider Birmingham and Solihull system.

This role requires an experienced Board-level leader able to influence across organisational and system boundaries, and to lead at scale with credibility, judgement and clarity.

Interviews will take place in person, on 14th July 2026

About Us

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust strives to have an inclusive culture where everyone feels like they belong, can thrive, knows that they add value and feels valued. We do this by developing compassionate and culturally competent leaders, being values driven in all that we do and by creating a welcoming and inclusive workplace that thrives on the diversity of our people. As such we want to attract and recruit talented individuals from all backgrounds, and for each of you to feel supported for the diversity you bring, to achieve your full potential. For those staff with a disability, including physical disability, long term health condition, mental health or neurodiverse condition, this also means being committed to making reasonable adjustments needed for you to carry out your role.

Job Description

Please Note: for more information about this exciting opportunity, please see attached detailed Job Description

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to master's level or equivalent level of experience and evidence of continuing professional development.
• Demonstrable professional knowledge in Digital Management, Information Systems, Staff Management and Project Management acquired through training or experience gained over a significant period to master's level.
• Demonstrable track record of achievement in the provision of excellent interpersonal, strategic and technical skills experience.
  
  

Desirable

• Postgraduate level qualification in process re-engineering / redesign.
• Postgraduate level qualification in project management.
• Member of BCS.
  
  

Experience

Essential

• Proven experience and ability in delivery of major digital transformational programmes.
• Intellectual flexibility to make strategies and complex situations accessible to stakeholders.
• Expertise in technological innovation and a demonstrable understanding of current developments.
• Extensive experience in information management, data governance and health informatics within a large and complex organisation.
• Proven ability to manage complex information systems and ensure data quality, security and compliance.
• Deep understanding of healthcare information systems, data structures and data management principles.
• Knowledge of information governance frameworks, data privacy regulations and cybersecurity best practices in healthcare.
• Demonstrable experience of building, maintaining and utilising successful relationships with all staff within complex organisations.
• An understanding of key national healthcare issues.
• Demonstrate strong and credible leadership in being able to pull people together across systems and motivate them to deliver common aims and targets.
• Knowledge of leading edge digital and technical developments.
• Development of digital technology to improve patient pathways, outcomes and productivity.
  
  

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

For Help With Your Application, Contact

Helen Cant

helen.cant@uhb.nhs.uk

Pay scheme

VSM (Very Senior Manager)

Band

Salary

Negotiable

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-Time, Flexible Working

Reference number

304-CDO26

Job locations

Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Mindelsohn Way

Birmingham

West Midlands

B15 2TH

Attachments

Job Description

JD - Chief Digital Officer.docx – 339KB Opens in a new window