Job summary
- Main area
- Digital Infrastructure
- Grade
- Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 210-2026-495
- Employer
- Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Countess of Chester Hospital
- Town
- Chester
- Salary
- £49,387 - £56,515 pa
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 03/08/2026 23:59
- Interview date
- 01/09/2026
Employer heading
Senior IT System Specialist / Architect
Band 7
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, staff pride themselves on not only leading through clinical excellence, but also by creating an environment where all staff are valued and appreciated. To achieve this, the Trust has embarked on an exciting new strategy focused on continuous improvement.
Our vision is to improve the lives of our community and provide excellence in healthcare, through partnership and innovation
Our High Performance Culture will support everyone to be the best version of themselves by being true to our Trust vision, values and behaviours.
We welcome applications from colleagues from our local and neighbouring communities of all backgrounds and identities, who are currently under-represented within our region such as Black, Asian, Minority ethnic and those with disabilities.
As a region we are reviewing the way we work, and exploring how new working practices that support flexible working can create a positive work-life balance. As part of our recruitment process we will explore how our inclusive employment policies, flexible working, staff engagement forums, Trust facilities and services can be of mutual benefit.
Job overview
Working Full time: 37.5 hours per week
This is an exciting and pivotal time to join the Trust as we transform and modernise our digital infrastructure, shaping a resilient, secure, and scalable architecture that underpins safe and effective patient care.
We are seeking a highly motivated, forward-thinking Senior IT Specialist / Architect to join our Senior Infrastructure team. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced technical professional to play a leading role in designing, evolving, and safeguarding the Trust’s core infrastructure estate.
Working at both a strategic and operational level, you will influence the future direction of our digital architecture while ensuring high availability, performance, and security of critical systems. You will collaborate across Digital, clinical, and partner teams to deliver innovative solutions that support the Trust’s ambition for digital transformation, enabling improved outcomes for patients and staff alike.
Main duties of the job
You will bring deep technical expertise across enterprise infrastructure technologies, including Active Directory, DNS/DHCP, identity and access management, certificate services, endpoint and server security (e.g. GPO and anti-malware), virtualisation platforms, storage solutions, and enterprise backup and recovery capabilities.
Acting as a senior technical authority, you will lead the design, optimisation, and ongoing management of the Trust’s core infrastructure estate, ensuring systems are secure, resilient, and scalable to meet both current operational demands and future digital ambitions.
You will play a key role in delivering complex infrastructure projects to challenging timescales, balancing operational priorities with governance, risk, and compliance requirements. Working closely with internal stakeholders and external partners, you will ensure solutions are aligned to organisational standards and best practice.
In addition, you will lead and develop a high-performing, multi-skilled team, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and technical excellence. You will be responsible for maintaining high availability of critical services, driving proactive infrastructure improvements, and ensuring the Trust’s digital platforms continue to support safe, effective, and innovative patient care.
Working for our organisation
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values. An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page.
If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the ‘essential’ criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer ‘YES’ to the question: ‘Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?’
Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.
The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post.
If a DBS is required for your role, you are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee applies which is payable to the DBS Service. Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs will be deducted from their salary over the first three months of employment.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.
The Trust will not sponsor where the starting salary does not meet immigration rules
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application.
Person specification
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- Enterprise Server Architecture: Expert-level proficiency and direct involvement across critical identity, network, and infrastructure protocols, including Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, and enterprise PKI/Certificate Services with proven expertise in the end-to-end design, deployment, and support of scalable cloud and hybrid infrastructure architectures.
- Security & Endpoint Governance: Specialised capability in deploying robust security infrastructure, incorporating advanced Group Policy Objects (GPOs) and enterprise-grade anti-virus (AV) mechanisms.
- Data Protection & Resilience: Mastery of enterprise-class backup and restore methodologies, data tiering strategies, and business continuity applications.
- Storage & Virtualisation Engineering: Advanced hands-on expertise in Storage Area Network (SAN) topologies and hypervisor virtualisation environments (e.g., VMware/Hyper-V/Nutanix).
- Service & Operational Excellence: Deep technical comprehension of modern Service Delivery models (e.g., ITIL frameworks) and complex, large-scale infrastructure systems.
- Project Delivery Lifecycle: Proven record of guiding major IT infrastructure projects through the end-to-end project management lifecycle, from business case conception to post-implementation review.
- Cybersecurity Governance & Compliance: Deep operational understanding of Secure-by-Design architectural principles, with a proven track record of enforcing strict adherence to the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) standards across all infrastructure deployments.
- Complex Problem Diagnostics & Resolution: Extensive experience investigating and analysing highly complex, multi-tiered technical failures to formulate, recommend, and execute highly effective infrastructure solutions.
Desirable criteria
- Leadership Experience: Line management experience, dedicated to driving team development through active mentorship and cross-functional knowledge sharing.
- Cyber Threat Landscape Expertise: Deep operational comprehension of evolving information security threats, vulnerabilities, and the engineering of advanced technical countermeasures.
- Regulatory & Statutory Framework Governance: Experience in delivering and supporting Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) and Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) compliance, including preparing for audits, contributing to evidence submissions, and supporting the remediation of identified findings.
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Academic & Professional Foundations: Educated to degree level in a Digital / IT discipline, or possesses equivalent demonstrable professional experience
- Technical Certification: Microsoft Certified including Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, or equivalent legacy enterprise certifications (e.g., MCSE).
- Industry Expertise: Substantial and extensive experience operating at a senior tier within complex enterprise infrastructure environments.
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
- Enterprise Architecture Engineering: Advanced mastery in the consultation, design, engineering, and deployment of complex Storage Area Networks (SANs), virtualisation platforms, and core Microsoft enterprise ecosystems, backed by substantial practical application.
- Operational Flexibility: Commitment to supporting a flexible operational schedule and actively participating in a mandatory out-of-hours on-call rotation framework
- Resilient Delivery: High personal motivation, a proactive problem-solving mindset, and a proven capability to deliver high-quality outcomes under pressure within strict timelines.
- Strategic Advisory & Negotiation: Ability to serve as a senior IT service delivery expert for the Trust, assessing highly complex, conflicting situations and utilising advanced negotiation and communication skills to achieve resolution
- Complex Information Synthesis: Proven capacity to analyse intricate technical policies, regulatory documents, and business cases, translating complex data into clear, actionable insights for stakeholders at all organisational levels.
- Continuous Professional Development: Demonstrable commitment to ongoing professional development and remaining current with emerging enterprise technologies.
Desirable criteria
- Clinical Systems Engineering: Expert-level capability in managing, optimising, and supporting complex, multi-stranded clinical IT systems and interconnected healthcare applications.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Scott Whiting
- Job title
- Senior IT System Specialist / Architect Principle
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01244 835420
- Additional information
David Hignett
Associate Director; Infrastructure & Cyber Security
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