Digital Design Guardian - New Hospital Programme (NHP)

Turner & Townsend; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading project management firm in Birmingham seeks a Digital Design Guardian to translate digital ambitions into compliant designs. This role involves supporting teams to ensure integration of digital elements and achieves carbon reduction goals. Candidates should have experience in digital design within healthcare, a strong understanding of clinical workflows, and the ability to communicate effectively. Join a dynamic workplace that promotes a healthy work-life balance.

Benefits

Flexible working environment

Opportunity to affect change

Qualifications

• Proven experience in digital design, architecture, or systems integration within complex capital build programmes.
• Strong understanding of how digital, data, and technology intersect with clinical workflows and spatial design.
• Experience working across RIBA stages and business case development cycles.

Responsibilities

• Support digital design guardianship across the portfolio.
• Provide expert input into early-stage design decisions.
• Support Trust and partner teams to implement digital spine and design principles.

Skills

Digital design experience

Strong understanding of clinical workflows

Experience with RIBA stages

Coaching skills

Communication skills

Familiarity with NHS digital infrastructure

Tools

BIM

Common data environments

Job description

Overview

The Digital Design Guardian plays a pivotal role in translating the digital ambition of the New Hospital Programme into deliverable, compliant, and sustainable designs that reflect the Hospital 2.0 ethos. This role ensures that digital elements, spanning design assurance, technology integration, clinical enablement, information standards, and environmental performance, are embedded consistently across schemes and stages.

Operating across Trusts and delivery partners, the Guardian will support and challenge design and delivery teams to align digital products, data, clinical needs, and carbon reduction goals with the H2.0 standard. The role offers coaching, challenge, and a clear escalation route on matters of deviation, integration, assurance, and sustainability compliance.

The Design Guardian will report to the Digital Design Guardian Lead but work closely with the Technical Services Design Guardian Lead.

Key responsibilities

• Support digital design guardianship across the portfolio, acting as the interface between local design activity and national digital and sustainability standards.
• Provide expert input into early-stage design decisions, ensuring digital and low-carbon requirements are integrated from the outset.
• Support Trust and partner teams to interpret and implement the digital spine, reference designs, enabling systems, and carbon-conscious design principles.
• Support QA activities for digital design content within Trust Engagement Meetings (TEMs) and approval gates, including sustainability metrics.
• Identify integration pinch points and escalate gaps in digital readiness, capability, design compliance, or carbon performance.
• Identify emerging technologies (e.g., AI, IoT, digital twins) that can accelerate decarbonisation and improve design assurance.
• Collaborate with Digital Product Leads, Clinical Pathways, and Technical Assurance to embed holistic digital design principles that support energy efficiency, resource optimisation, and behavioural change for decarbonisation.
• Contribute to the development and iteration of digital playbooks, tooling pathways, and rulesets underpinning design, with a focus on net-zero targets.
• Attend site visits, hybrid check-ins, and contribute to the wider HDP Digital Design & Assurance governance, including sustainability reporting.
• Act as a digital ambassador, engaging with senior stakeholders to promote the value of digital in achieving net-zero targets and support change management initiatives that embed digital-first, low-carbon thinking across Trusts and delivery partners.

Qualifications

Key skills, experience and qualifications

Technical competencies

Essential

• Proven experience in digital design, architecture, or systems integration within complex capital build programmes.
• Strong understanding of how digital, data and technology intersect with clinical workflows and spatial design.
• Experience working across RIBA stages and business case development cycles.
• Demonstrated coaching multidisciplinary teams on digital standards or tools.
• Able to interpret and communicate technical principles to a range of stakeholders.
• Familiarity with common data environments, information requirements, and NHS digital infrastructure.

Desirable

• Experience in NHS capital builds, especially acute hospitals.
• Skilled in applying digital design assurance frameworks.
• Working knowledge of BIM, information management standards, and digital twin readiness.
• Previous involvement in developing or applying standardised design logic and product-based design.

Industry competencies

Essential

• Substantial experience of complex buildings.
• Must have experience working in a matrix organisation

Desirable

• Experience of hospital design, hospital master planning and building systems adopted within a healthcare environment.
• Experience of Hospital Construction and Commissioning.

Professional competencies

Essential

• Able to support the alignment of design solutions with programmatic vision and H2.0 KPIs.
• Ability to communicate in a succinct manner, verbal and written.
• Ability to build lasting relationships with a diverse group of stakeholders.
• Politically aware.
• Able to engage and communicate confidently, appropriately and constructively with a range of individuals from chief executive to design staff working on Trust design teams.
• Emotional intelligence
• Team player

Desirable

• CDE literate
• BIM literate
• Good grasp of MS office suite of tool (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).

Additional information

Our inspired people share our vision and mission. We provide a great place to work, where each person has the opportunity and voice to affect change.

We want our people to succeed both in work and life. To support this we promote a healthy, productive and flexible working environment that respects work-life balance.

Turner & Townsend is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and actively encourage applications from all sectors of the community.

Please find out more about us at www.turnerandtownsend.com/

SOX control responsibilities may be part of this role, which are to be adhered to where applicable.

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