Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) is an organisation created by Welsh Government to lead on the digital transformation of health and care. It builds on the digital architecture and national services put in place by the NHS Wales Informatics Service over the past decade.   

DHCW is about to embark on a Programme to modernise and transform the way that it delivers its national digital services and is looking for a Head of Cloud Transition to drive this activity.

DHCW offers opportunities for career growth and professional development. We will work with you and help you develop your career. We offer opportunities to pursue further academic qualifications, up to PhD level. 

Our benefits include:

• Automatic membership of the NHS pension scheme (at 23.7% employer contribution)
• 28 days paid leave plus bank holidays.
• Blue Light Card membership – access to NHS discounts including high street, gyms, restaurants, insurance, cars, holidays etc.
• Flexible working, including options to work from home.
• Employee Assistance Programme – confidential information and counselling support service available 24/7.
• Cycle 2 Work scheme.
• Car lease and home electronics salary sacrifice scheme

The Role:

Are you looking for a technical leadership role in a large organisation delivering critical healthcare IT services to over 100,000 people? If so, then we are looking for you!

This is a rare opportunity to join a senior leadership team in a multi award-winning organisation that delivers critical digital services to frontline healthcare providers across NHS Wales. We are looking for an exceptional, experienced candidate to lead our Cloud and Data Centre Infrastructure teams as we transform to a truly cloud-first organisation. It is a fantastic time to join DHCW as we are embracing two major technical transformation programmes – a cloud transition programme and a shift to a product/platform based delivery approach.  

DHCW currently host our critical national digital services on over 2,000 servers using on-premises data centres and cloud services (Azure and GCP) but we are looking to move all services to the public cloud within the next 2-3 years. These changes will require strong technical, people and organisational leadership skills, to shift from a traditional on-premises infrastructure operating model to a new cloud-based operating model focussed on automation, self-service and adoption of open-source technologies.

This role requires a proactive and passionate individual, able to work autonomously in a complex environment, and highly focused on achieving results.

As Associate Director of Cloud and Infrastructure you will:

Establish, develop and execute a comprehensive strategy and roadmap for the provision of cloud services that aligns with the organisation’s objectives.

Lead and oversee cloud and infrastructure projects from inception to completion, ensuring high availability, performance, security, timely delivery, high quality standards and budgetary requirements are met.

Provide technical leadership to optimise the performance of IT infrastructure

Enable and promote the use of automation and self-service.

Work on high-profile systems and solutions delivered at the National scale, in line with the organisation’s commitment to agile delivery practices and a product-based approach.

Have a thorough understanding of change and risk management fundamentals and practice, adapting to change to realize incremental value through cross-functional collaboration, measuring success using objectives and key results. 

Own the operational relationship with suppliers, ensuring services and products are aligned to industry best practice and regulatory and contractual requirements.

Lead FinOps processes to optimise cloud expenditure.

Be the escalation point for major operational issues and champion operational management across the community, working closely with other leaders.

You will:

Line-manage geographically dispersed senior and specialist teams within the Directorate and deputise for Chief Cloud Officer when required.

Have responsibility for long term workforce planning, including succession, development and training of staff, to support the long term technical and knowledge-based objectives of the organization within the continuous improvement agenda.

Support the Operations Directorate to work with openness and transparency, developing effective strategic partnerships, networks, and forums to enable successful collaborative working ensuring that we advance our business objectives.

Work in partnership with a range of stakeholders which is essential to ensuring we understand, listen, and respond to needs. We work in collaboration with health boards and trusts, public bodies, Welsh Government, social care and community services, academia, industry, and the public.

Work closely with other teams, directorates and the wider NHS family to provide technical guidance and deliver effective solutions.

Participate in an on-call 24x7 management rota     

The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; English and/or Welsh speakers are equally welcome to apply.