Digital Portfolio Director
Job summary
The Digital Portfolio Director provides executive-level leadership, authority and accountability for the planning, prioritisation, governance and delivery of the Collaborative's digital transformation portfolio.
The postholder is accountable for ensuring that all major digital transformation programmes are delivered safely, effectively and sustainably, including but not limited to Electronic Patient Records (EPR), PACS, LIMS, Microsoft platforms, data platforms and innovation initiatives. The role ensures that programmes are delivered to agreed-upon scope, time, cost, and quality standards, while actively managing risk and dependencies across a complex, multi-organisational portfolio.
Main duties of the job
Operating with very high autonomy and corporate authority, the role has system-wide impact on patient safety, clinical effectiveness, workforce productivity, financial sustainability, regulatory compliance and organisational reputation. Decisions taken by the postholder directly influence how care is delivered, how staff work, and how public funds are invested, carrying material clinical, financial and reputational risk.
The Digital Portfolio Director is a visible executive leader, shaping strategy, policy and delivery at Trust, Collaborative, ICS, regional and national level, and is expected to operate credibly in highly complex, politically sensitive and contested environments.
All staff are expected to act as role models in their work, consistently demonstrating the Collaborative's values and supporting and encouraging an inclusive culture.
About us
The newly formed Norfolk & Waveney University Hospitals Group (NWUHG) is placing people and culture at the heart of its transformation.
By working as one system, the Group is strengthening workforce development, improving staff experience and creating consistent, supportive leadership across all three hospitals. This unified approach enables better training, enhanced well-being support, and a stronger culture rooted in compassion, flexibility and continuous learning.
Focusing on people also supports national priorities - ensuring the workforce is skilled, adaptable and ready for the future models of care - and strengthens NWUHG's overall performance by improving qualify, resilience and sustainability.
Together, this creates a Groupwide commitment to making NWUHG a great place to work, with clear benefits for staff including:
Flexible working hours
Fast Track Staff Physiotherapy Service
Multi Faith prayer room at NNUH Colney Lane site
Discounted Gym memberships
Generous pension scheme and annual leave entitlement
Wagestream - access up to 40% of your pay as you earn it
Free Park & Ride service direct to NNUH Colney Lane site
Free 24 hour confidential counselling support
On-site Nursery at NNUH Colney Lane
On-site cafes offering staff discounts at NNUH Colney Lane
Support in career development
Flexible staff bank
Salary sacrifice schemes including lease cars, Cycle to Work scheme and home electronics
Job description
Job responsibilities
The postholder provides authoritative strategic leadership for digital transformation across the Collaborative, ensuring alignment with clinical priorities, workforce sustainability, system strategy and national NHS digital policy.
The role requires the ability to communicate and negotiate highly complex, sensitive and contentious information at Executive, Board, system and national level, including situations where there are significant barriers to acceptance, competing priorities or major implications for patient safety, service continuity and organisational reputation.The postholder must influence senior clinical, operational and corporate leaders, often without direct authority, meeting the highest communication and influencing demands of the role.
The Digital Portfolio Director holds end-to-end accountability for the digital transformation portfolio, including portfolio strategy, prioritisation, sequencing, programme initiation, assurance and benefits realisation.
The role ensures that digital investment is managed as a coherent and interdependent portfolio, with a clear line of sight between strategic objectives, delivery capacity, affordability and organisational readiness. Dependencies, risks and benefits are actively managed across programmes rather than in isolation.
Person Specification
Qualifications
- Formal qualification in programme and/or portfolio management, such as Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), Association for Project Management (APM), PRINCE2, AgilePM or equivalent, evidencing a deep understanding of structured delivery, assurance, dependency management and control of large-scale, complex change portfolios.
- Educated to Master's level or equivalent in Programme Management, Portfolio Management, Digital Transformation, Change Management, Business Management or a closely related discipline, or able to demonstrate equivalent expert knowledge gained through extensive senior-level experience leading complex, high-risk transformation portfolios at organisational, system or regional level.
Experience
- Extensive senior-level experience of leading large-scale, complex digital transformation programmes within highly regulated organisations, operating at organisational, group or system level
Skills
- Expert understanding of portfolio-level governance, assurance and control, including prioritisation, dependency management, benefits realisation, risk escalation and performance reporting, ensuring that large-scale digital investment is actively managed in line with strategic objectives, delivery capacity and organisational readiness.
- In-depth and applied knowledge of programme and portfolio management methodologies, including MSP, APM, PRINCE2, Agile and hybrid delivery models, with the ability to select, tailor and apply appropriate approaches to complex, high-risk transformation portfolios rather than following methodologies mechanically.
Attitude
- Demonstrates an inclusive, collaborative and system-focused leadership style, actively fostering trust, openness and shared ownership across clinical, operational, technical and partner teams.
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.
Employer details
Employer name
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital
Address
NNUH / JPUH / QEHKL / Norfolk County Hall / Remote
Norwich
NR4 7UY
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.nnuh.nhs.uk/