Head of IT

Head of IT

Department

IT

Employment Type

Full Time

Location

Head Office - London, SE15

Reporting To

CEO

Description

As Head of IT, you will lead the IT function across DMC Healthcare and DMC Radiology Reporting, and be accountable for the strategy, delivery, security and governance of all technology across the group. Reporting to the CEO, you will line-manage the IT team, including the IT Support team, giving them clear direction, priorities and development.

Our IT supports a broad range of clinical and corporate services: community dermatology and other specialist healthcare services, radiology reporting delivered for NHS and private clients, and the corporate teams behind them. These are delivered from community clinics, remote reporting environments and our head office, so dependable, secure IT across every setting is essential. You will turn the business strategy into a practical IT roadmap, make sure day-to-day IT services are reliable, lead the IT side of new service mobilisations, and ensure we meet the security and information governance standards our NHS partners and private clients expect.

This is a senior leadership role in a growing organisation with a lean IT team, so you will balance strategic ownership with hands-on involvement where it is needed.

This role would suit an experienced IT leader who gets as much satisfaction from building a strong, well-run team as from solving technical problems. You will be comfortable owning a function end to end: setting its direction, managing its people, budget and suppliers, and being accountable to the Board for how well technology serves our patients, clinicians, radiologists and clients. You are equally at home presenting to senior leaders and rolling up your sleeves to fix a problem on site. You lead calmly through incidents, explain technical risk in plain English, and know that in healthcare, reliable and secure systems are part of safe patient care.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, manage and develop the IT team, including the IT Support team, through regular one-to-ones, objectives, appraisals and development plans.
• Design the shape of the IT function: define roles, responsibilities and capacity so that support, infrastructure, security and project work each have clear ownership.
• Recruit, onboard and retain IT staff, and manage performance, absence and conduct in line with DMC HR policies.
• Build a responsive, customer-focused culture of accountability and continuous improvement, consistent with our TRUST values.
• Put in place coaching, training and knowledge-sharing so the team is resilient and free of single points of failure.
• Own and deliver the IT strategy and multi-year roadmap for DMC Healthcare and DMC Radiology Reporting, aligned to the business plan, growth and contract pipeline.
• Work with the senior leadership team to understand business needs and turn them into prioritised, costed technology plans.
• Set the IT standards, policies and principles the organisation works to.
• Act as decision-maker on technology investment, approving new systems and changes against value, risk and fit with the roadmap.
• Keep up to date with healthcare IT developments, emerging technologies and cyber threats, and advise the business on their implications.
• Be accountable for the IT service desk, ensuring incidents, requests and problems are logged, prioritised and resolved within agreed service levels.
• Set and review service management processes for incidents, problems, changes, escalations, starters and leavers, using recognised good practice such as ITIL.
• Ensure responsive support for clinicians, reporting radiologists, remote workers, office-based staff and teams across our community clinic locations.
• Act as the senior escalation point and incident lead for major IT incidents, keeping users, managers and clients informed throughout.
• Provide hands-on technical support when needed, particularly where issues affect patient-facing services, reporting workflows or contractual performance.
• Visit sites as required to assess infrastructure, equipment, connectivity and local support needs, building strong relationships with service managers and site teams.
• Use service desk data to identify trends and tackle the root causes of recurring issues.
• Ensure the effective operation of clinical platforms, radiology reporting systems (including PACS/RIS workflows), corporate applications and their supporting infrastructure.
• Ensure radiologists and reporting teams have secure, reliable remote access to the systems they need.
• Work with clinical and operational teams to understand system requirements and ensure IT supports safe and efficient workflows.
• Oversee access management, permissions and system availability for NHS and private client services, meeting each client’s security and operational requirements.
• Be accountable for the performance, security and reliability of IT infrastructure, including networks, endpoints, servers, cloud services, Microsoft 365, telephony and remote access.
• Ensure infrastructure is scalable and resilient enough to support the organisation’s growth.
• Maintain an accurate IT asset register and make sure equipment is patched, maintained, replaced and securely disposed of.
• Ensure robust backup, disaster recovery and business continuity arrangements are in place and regularly tested.
• Own the IT risk register, assessing technology risks and putting proportionate mitigations in place.
• Be accountable for the organisation’s cyber security posture, including patching, endpoint protection, access controls, vulnerability management and staff awareness.
• Maintain and rehearse a cyber incident response plan, and lead the IT response to any security or data incident.
• Ensure IT systems comply with healthcare regulation, UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and NHS requirements such as the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT).
• Lead IT’s contribution to maintaining and achieving certifications including ISO 27001, ISO 9001, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus.
• Develop, approve and keep under review IT and IG policies, procedures and standard operating procedures.
• Lead IT’s response to audits, client assurance requests, supplier due diligence and NHS information governance requirements.
• Work closely with the Governance team, Data Protection Officer and Caldicott Guardian to ensure strong processes and controls are in place.
• Oversee the IT project portfolio, making sure projects are scoped, resourced and delivered on time and to budget.
• Lead the IT elements of new service mobilisations for NHS and private clients, including equipment, connectivity, system access, user setup, supplier coordination and go-live support.
• Oversee the IT aspects of service changes, relocations, expansions, decommissioning and contract transitions.
• Report regularly to senior management on project progress, risks and dependencies.
• Set and manage the IT budget, both operating and capital, and report on spend and forecasts.
• Manage relationships with IT suppliers, system vendors, telecoms providers, managed service providers and consultants, holding them to account against contracts and service levels.
• Review vendor contracts and licensing to secure value for money, negotiate terms and remove unnecessary cost without compromising security or service quality.
• Ensure IT procurement follows DMC’s governance and approval processes, and that supplier activity meets our information governance and cyber security requirements.
• Represent IT at senior management level and report regularly into SOG, IGSG and the Board, as required.
• Establish IT KPIs covering service performance, security, projects and spend, and use them to drive improvement.
• Act as the main link between IT and clinical, operational and corporate teams, NHS partners, commissioners and private clients.
• Work with external stakeholders, auditors and consultants to strengthen the IT operations and security of the organisation, as agreed with the Board.
• Ensure IT processes and documentation are accurate, accessible and kept up to date, so the service can scale as the organisation grows.

Person Specification

• Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• At least 5 years’ experience in IT management, including at least 3 years leading and line-managing an IT team.
• A track record of setting and delivering an IT strategy and roadmap in a multi-site organisation.
• Experience of managing an IT budget and IT suppliers, contracts and managed service providers.
• Experience of running an IT service desk to agreed service levels, with a working knowledge of ITIL or similar frameworks.
• Strong hands-on technical knowledge of networks, infrastructure, cloud services, Microsoft 365 and endpoint management, and a willingness to use it when needed.
• Experience of supporting remote users, multi-site operations and business-critical services.
• Experience of working to formal security and compliance standards such as ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus or UK GDPR.
• Experience of leading IT projects, including setting up new sites or services.
• Strong leadership, communication and influencing skills, with the ability to explain technical matters to clinicians, clients and Board-level audiences.
• Commitment to confidentiality, information governance and the secure handling of sensitive data.
• Experience in healthcare, the NHS, diagnostics or another highly regulated sector.
• Knowledge of the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) and NHS information governance requirements.
• Experience supporting radiology systems, PACS/RIS workflows or remote reporting environments.
• Knowledge of clinical systems such as electronic health records and HL7/FHIR interoperability.
• Experience with Microsoft Azure, Intune, SharePoint and Teams administration.
• Experience of working with NHS commissioners, private healthcare clients or contractual service requirements.
• ITIL 4 Foundation or higher, and a recognised leadership or management qualification (for example CMI or ILM).
• A security certification such as CISSP, CISM or ISO 27001 Lead Implementer.
• PRINCE2, MSP or Agile project management qualification.
• A confident leader who develops people and builds a strong team.
• Practical, hands-on and solutions-focused.
• Calm under pressure and decisive during service-impacting incidents.
• Professional, approachable and customer-focused.
• Able to build trust with clinical, operational, technical and external stakeholders.
• Committed to continuous improvement and safe, secure healthcare service delivery.

Employee Benefits

• 20 days' annual leave in addition to bank holidays, increasing with length of service.
• Access to NHS discount schemes.
• Career progression opportunities within a growing organisation.
• Collaborative working across clinical, operational and technical teams.

This post may be subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 Exceptions Order 1975. Where applicable, a submission for Disclosure will be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.