Head of Digital Business Partnering

In the Department of Health and Social Care, we are proud of our purpose to enable everyone to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. To achieve this, and create a great place to work, we have four values: we are inclusive, we constantly improve, we challenge, and we are agile. If this sounds like an environment you would like to work in, we would love to hear from you.

The DHSC Digital Transformation team works with the national health and care system to realise the benefits of digital, data and technology, to deliver better end to end services for their users and for the professionals who provide them.

We dont manage live digital services; our role is more strategic. We partner with policy and commissioning teams to deliver user centred, design-led change, and to act as a bridge between policy and digital delivery teams. We support the Department and its arms' length bodies in a range of different ways - from providing short-term consultancy advice and digital training, to running full discoveries and alphas, and embedding team members in wider beta or live delivery teams.

We champion standards, user-centred design and accessibility in everything that we do.

As Head of Digital Business Partnering, you will lead a digital engagement and business partnering function that strengthens relationships between DHSC and senior digital, data and technology stakeholders across the wider healthcare system. You will build trusted relationships with senior leaders, provide strategic leadership for external engagement, and support work that improves collaboration across organisational boundaries. Working closely with Chief Digital and Information Officers (CDIOs) and senior stakeholders, you will help identify opportunities to share expertise, reduce duplication and improve outcomes through more joined-up digital, data and technology activity.

This is a highly visible leadership role operating at the intersection of strategy, engagement and delivery. You will provide leadership across digital business partnering activity, oversee key engagement forums and communities, and help ensure that organisations are better connected, informed and equipped to tackle shared digital, data and technology challenges together.

Role responsibilities

• Lead and develop a digital business partnering function, providing strategic direction, people leadership and fostering a high-performing, inclusive culture.

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior digital leaders, CDIOs and stakeholders across DHSC and partner organisations, acting as a senior lead for outward-facing digital engagement.

• Lead and support work to strengthen collaboration, visibility and digital capability across organisational boundaries.

• Identify and manage strategic opportunities, risks, dependencies and emerging priorities across the digital, data and technology landscape, supporting informed decision-making and greater coordination between organisations.

• Establish and lead engagement mechanisms that support collaboration across organisations, including senior leadership forums, working groups, communities of practice and strategic partnerships.

• Provide strategic advice, challenge and briefing to senior stakeholders, helping shape digital, data and technology priorities across DHSC and partner organisations.

We are looking for an experienced and credible leader who can operate confidently in complex stakeholder environments and build strong relationships across organisational boundaries.

You will be comfortable engaging with senior leaders, translating strategic priorities into practical action and influencing without formal authority. You will bring strong digital awareness, excellent judgement and a passion for helping organisations work more effectively together.

You will enjoy working across organisational boundaries, understanding different perspectives and identifying opportunities where collaboration can deliver better outcomes. Most importantly, you will be motivated by helping others succeed and by improving how digital, data and technology are used to support shared priorities.

This role will include line management responsibilities.

Key skills and experience required for the role

Essential

• Demonstrable experience of leading and developing high-performing teams, creating an inclusive environment where people can thrive and perform at their best.

• Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills, with the ability to influence, challenge and build credibility with senior leaders across complex organisations.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with experience facilitating discussions, brokering agreement and communicating complex information to diverse audiences.

• Broad knowledge of technology, digital and data delivery, together with significant practical experience in at least one digital specialism such as product management, delivery management, architecture, data, user-centred design or engineering.

• Experience of planning and prioritising across multiple programmes, products, portfolios or organisations, with the ability to identify dependencies, risks and opportunities and translate these into practical action.

• Knowledge and understanding of the public sector, with experience of business partnering, stakeholder engagement or relationship management, ideally within digital, technology, health or wider government settings.

Desirable

• Experience working with public bodies, partner organisations or senior external stakeholders within a complex delivery environment.

• Experience leading or contributing to cross-organisational transformation, collaboration initiatives, communities of practice or networks.

• Knowledge of the health and care system, including the role of technology, digital and data in supporting organisational and system-wide priorities.