Group Chief Digital Officer

A senior, credible, delivery-focused values driven person is needed to lead digital services across our hugely visible and important trust as we set out our future direction. As one of the largest NHS trusts in the UK, the Royal Free London, has made impressive ground in implementing a group-wide Electronic Patient Record (Cerner). We are now seeking the senior technology leader who can influence across the trust, build relationships and realise value from this significant investment, whilst also continuing to improve digital services, to ensure we enable our clinicians to deliver the world class care our population deserves.

The Royal Free London (RFL) is a large NHS foundation trust, employing more than 12,000 staff and serving a population of more than 1.6 million people from our three main hospitals - Royal Free Hospital, Barnet Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital - and across 70 other satellite sites and hospitals trusts in London and Hertfordshire. Following years of partnership working we expect to merge with the North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust in January 2025. We believe coming together will enable us to go further and faster in improving services for patients and improving the health of our local community.

We want to bring the best of the NHS to every patient, no matter which of our hospitals or services they visit. We aim to achieve this through our three-fold mission of delivering world class treatment and local care, underpinned by ground-breaking research and the very best in class for learning and education. Our group-wide clinical priorities are cancer, cardiovascular, and organ failure and transplantation. We play a leading role in treating these areas within North Central London and beyond.

Working closely with clinical and professional services colleagues, you will hold responsibility for all IT and Digital Services across the trust plus the ongoing delivery, and adoption, of technology enabled change. The CDO will foster positive, peer-to peer relationships and lead senior stakeholder engagement, both within the trust and in the local and national health economies. You will also progressively lead a Digital Services team of more than 100 colleagues plus manage a multi-million-pound annual budget.

The Role

• Take complete accountability for the successful creation and delivery of an ambitious digital strategy which ensures a seamless colleague and patient digital experience and ensures RFL takes the lead in UK healthcare technology.
• As the senior leader for digital at the trust, act as a highly-visible ambassador for IT and digital technology. Seek opportunities to co-operate and build relationships with key senior stakeholders and the hospital leadership teams across the group. Pro-actively represent RFL externally, ensuring the Trust takes a leading role in driving the technology aspects of the regional health economy.
• Provide strong functional leadership to the Digital Services teams, building confidence, increasing capability and spearheading the adoption of contemporary customer focused disciplines. Develop a positive culture and a Digital Services team which earns a reputation for fast-paced, consistent delivery. Lead the bringing together of digital teams for the enlarged organisation, including work to deliver a business case for expanded EPR and patient systems.
• As the digital lead for what will be the largest acute hospital group in North Central London provide clear digital leadership and voice across London and nationally.

The Candidate

• A highly impactful, director-level IT/Digital or Healthcare technology leader possessing the engagement, communication and relationship building skills to allow you to work at a strategic level. You will have held senior level responsibility for a significant IT/Digital function in a complex, mission-critical technology environment. You should also bring the credibility and gravitas to relate to board-level organisational, clinical and external stakeholders.
• A proven, inspirational leader of technology teams, with highly developed people skills, you will demonstrate the ability to build a compelling future vision for technology. You should be an inspirational coach and mentor with demonstrable experience of building teams, encouraging professional development and introducing new ways of thinking and working in traditional environments. You will have experience leading, building, developing and growing credible digital teams including the embracing of positive cultural change.
• You will demonstrate a track record of successful, large-scale, mission-critical digital change delivery with a clear emphasis on delivering an improved customer experience, together with a history of delivering tangible value from investments in technology. This experience will be allied with robust financial, commercial and 3 rd party management ability.

Submit your CV in confidence by following this link to learn much more about this fantastic opportunity -

For an informal and confidential discussion, please speak with our advisor at Odgers Berndtson; Alex Richardson on .