Head of ICT Function (Infrastructure Operations)
NHS EnglandOur Organisation
The NHS is building a culture that is positive, compassionate and inclusive – and we all have our part to play.
As employers we are committed to protecting and promoting the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all our colleagues. This underpins our values as set out in the NHS Constitution and supports us to be an Employer of Choice, while helping our colleagues to deliver high quality services for our patients and communities.
As a flexible employer, we want to support you to work in a way that is best for the NHS, our patients and you. Talk to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time, hybrid working or another flexible pattern. In addition, although the role advertised may have a ‘home’ office base indicated, we remain committed to supporting flexibility around workplace locations. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.
We are an accredited Living Wage Employer which means that every colleague working for our organisation and third-party contractors will earn a real Living Wage. We are one of over 15,000 organisations, who voluntarily chose to pay the real Living Wage.
Job overview
Infrastructure Services
The purpose of Infrastructure services is to ensure our services and systems are hosted effectively, securely and efficiently.
The function of Infrastructure services brings all network and hosting infrastructure into a single team which will provide a multi-skilled 24/7 Infra Operations team organised by function and focussed on supporting continual improvement.
The teams are divided into four core areas providing technical and service management expertise:
- hosting
- cloud centre of excellence
- connectivity
- central capabilities
Services are delivered to internal customers and NHS organisations.
The Cloud Centre of Excellence (CCoE) team at NHS England enables the NHS to make the best use of cloud technologies in pursuit of our collective objectives for improving the provision of health and care systems.
NHS England is driving an innovative Cloud First strategy that works to optimise the strategic digital hosting environment, reduce complexity, and implement high degrees of automation to enable more agile application delivery across its organisation and the wider NHS.
Advert
The Head of Cloud Technology role reports to the Head of Cloud COE and leads the cloud engineering pillar within the team, responsible for defining and implementing technical landing zones, guardrails and optimised environments to the internal and external organisations. This is a senior management role which will lead and expand the current functions resources, talent and service capabilities.
This role is instrumental in helping the NHS deliver on the governments Cloud First policy, bringing expertise in the strategy, design, orchestration, development, and implementation of large-scale projects in the cloud. The ideal candidate is enthusiastic about all things public cloud. Experience with hands on implementation on platforms including at least one of: Microsoft Azure and/or Amazon Web Services.
Industry knowledge is key, as well as knowledge in building an engineering organisation. The role requires a talented technologist with experience architecting and defining engineering processes and best practices to both enhance our public cloud development and ensure success in migrating applications and services to the cloud.
Working for our organisation
Our work supports the NHS to deliver high quality services for patients and best value for taxpayers.
Our staff have expertise across hundreds of specialisms – for example, clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, computer science, software engineering, education and training, and commercial – so we can design and deliver quality NHS services effectively.
We lead the NHS in England by:
- Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities
- Making the NHS a great place to work, where our people can make a difference and achieve their potential
- Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care
- Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation
- Delivering value for money
Earlier this year the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the Department. The purpose of this change is to create a smaller, more strategic centre which will reduce duplication and eliminate waste.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
You can find further details about the role, organisational structure, recruitment profile, expected outcomes and benefits information in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
Please note that this is a fixed term contract as this is a short term vacancy.
Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.
The post of Head of ICT Function has been awarded a Recruitment and Retention Premia (RRP) in response to current labour market conditions. In recognition of this, the role attracts an additional monthly RRP payment equal to 6% per annum.
Please be aware that RRP is non-contractual and subject to review.
To meet National Security Vetting requirements, SC clearances require 5 years continuous UK residency. In certain cases, this can be reduced to three years continuous UK residency, with additional overseas checks for the previous two years.
Candidates who were posted abroad for service with HM Government, Armed Forces or within a UK government role - will still be considered.
Please make sure you meet these requirements before applying for this role. You don’t need to have security clearance level already, however, failure to achieve the requirements for security clearance level after offer, will result in the job offer being withdrawn.’
For further advice please check https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels#security-check-sc.’
For further information on National Security Vetting please check National security vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK, information on the Security Vetting and Clearances Intranet page or contact [email protected].
Secondments
Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.
Our commitments to you
We are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better patient outcomes. We strive to ensure our people feel trusted, valued and empowered. We’re passionate about nurturing and developing people. When you join us, we want you to grow and excel, and we offer many opportunities for you to do that. We welcome your talent and enthusiasm irrespective of age, disability, neuro-divergence, sex, gender identity and gender expression, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances. We have policies and procedures to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including the consideration of reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability and/or who are neuro-divergent.
We welcome applications from disabled candidates. If you meet all the essential criteria, you will be guaranteed an interview.
Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. Whilst we appreciate that you may have had support with your application (e.g., using AI technology or guidance from a trusted individual), it’s important that the information contained within your application reflects your own knowledge, skill, and experience and we trust that you apply on that basis.
If applying for this role on a secondment basis, please make sure you have obtained prior agreement from your current line manager to apply for this position.
Please note that we currently do not accept applications via recruitment agencies.
To comply with the HM Government Functional Standard GovS 007, and specifically the Personnel Security Standards 2024, individuals employed or contracted by NHS England may be required to undergo a Baseline Personnel Security Standards check, dependent on the role.
The NHS Business Services Authority is responsible for the processing of your application; a privacy notice is attached to advise you on how we will process your personal data.
If you have applied via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through NHS Jobs, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any emails sent to us via NHS Jobs. If you have a query relating to your application, please contact the recruitment team on [email protected] or 0300 330 1369. You can view our Privacy Notice here.
NHS England