Head of ICT Function (Infrastructure Operations)

NHS; City Of London; On-site; GBP 96,000 - 112,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare organization is seeking a Head of Cloud Technology to steer cloud engineering initiatives. The role involves implementing cloud strategies, defining technical environments, and leading a team to enhance cloud services. Applicants must have strong experience in AWS and Azure, and demonstrate leadership in Agile settings. This is a fixed-term role with a competitive salary in London.

Qualifications

• Experience leading and building an engineering team within an Agile environment.
• Deep understanding of industry-wide cloud technology strategies.
• Hands-on experience in building distributed service-oriented cloud architectures.

Responsibilities

• Define and implement technical landing zones and optimized environments.
• Lead and expand cloud engineering capabilities.
• Support the NHS in delivering the Government's Cloud First policy.

Skills

Team leadership in Agile environments

Cloud technology strategies

Building distributed service-oriented architectures

Scalability and resilience in cloud architectures

Public cloud infrastructure expertise

Education

Masters or equivalent in relevant field

Tools

AWS

Microsoft Azure

Job description

Overview

Infrastructure Services

The purpose of Infrastructure Services is to ensure our services and systems are hosted effectively, securely and efficiently. The function brings all network and hosting infrastructure into a single team providing a multi-skilled 24/7 Infra Operations team organised by function and focused on continual improvement. The teams are divided into four core areas providing technical and service management expertise: hosting, cloud centre of excellence, connectivity, central capabilities. Services are delivered to internal customers and NHS organisations. The Cloud Centre of Excellence (CCoE) team enables the NHS to make the best use of cloud technologies to improve health and care systems. NHS England is driving an innovative Cloud First strategy to optimise the strategic digital hosting environment, reduce complexity, and implement automation for more agile application delivery.

Main duties

The Head of Cloud Technology reports to the Head of Cloud COE and leads the cloud engineering pillar within the team. Responsibilities include defining and implementing technical landing zones, guardrails and optimised environments for internal and external organisations. This is a senior management role that will lead and expand the current functions, resources, talent and service capabilities. The role supports the NHS in delivering the Government’s Cloud First policy, bringing expertise in strategy, design, orchestration, development and implementation of large-scale cloud projects. Experience with hands-on implementation on platforms including Microsoft Azure and/or Amazon Web Services is required. Industry knowledge and the ability to build an engineering organisation are essential; the role requires architecting and defining engineering processes and best practices to enhance public cloud development and migration of applications and services to the cloud.

About us

Our work supports the NHS to deliver high quality services for patients and best value for taxpayers. Our staff have expertise across many specialisms including clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, computer science, software engineering, education and training, and commercial. We lead the NHS in England by enabling local systems to improve health, making the NHS a great place to work, collaborating to ensure the workforce has the right knowledge and values, optimising digital technology, and delivering value for money.

Details

Date posted: 26 September 2025

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 8d

Salary: £96,822.52 to £111,657.22 a year includes RRP at 6% (Excluding London Weighting)

Contract: Fixed term

Duration: 12 months

Working pattern: Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number: 990-TD-IT-15106-E

Job locations: Wellington Place/Wellington House/Hexagon House, Leeds/London/Exeter, LS1 4AP

Job responsibilities

You can find further details about the role, organisational structure, recruitment profile, expected outcomes and benefits information in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents. This is a fixed-term contract. Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only with employer agreement prior to applying. The post has Recruitment and Retention Premia (RRP) of 6% per annum which is non-contractual and subject to review. National Security Vetting requires 5 years continuous UK residency (can be reduced to 3 years with overseas checks). If you have been posted abroad for government service you will still be considered. See GOV.UK guidance for vetting levels and contact [e-mail] for details.

Secondments and other notes

Secondments: Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, with employer agreement prior to submitting the application. Disclosure and Barring Service checks may be required as part of the recruitment process.

Person Specification

Knowledge & Experience - Essential

• Experience leading and building an engineering team within an Agile environment
• Deep understanding of industry-wide cloud technology strategies and best practices
• Hands-on experience in building distributed service-oriented, microservice-style, cloud-based architectures
• Experience developing modern cloud architectures, container platforms, with focus on scalability, security and resilience
• Experience with public cloud infrastructure and platforms, AWS and Azure

Skills - Leadership, People Management and Development - Essential

• Lead with care: provide a safe environment to enable others to work effectively
• Engage the team: stretch them for excellence and encourage collaboration
• Hold to account: set clear performance goals and support improvement
• Set clear team objectives and priorities and monitor achievement
• Champion individual and collective team development
• Build capability to meet changing delivery needs

Skills - Personal Attributes - Essential

• Works across boundaries and builds trusted stakeholder relationships
• Actively develops themselves and others
• Strong leadership to motivate and lead groups of managers and staff
• Decisive with political and negotiation skills
• Analytical with a structured approach to problem solving

Qualifications - Essential

• Masters or equivalent in computer, scientific or mathematical subject or equivalent experience
• Evidence of specialist knowledge in Cloud and DevSecOps

Disclosures

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act; a Disclosure submission will be made to the DBS. National Security Vetting requirements apply as noted above.