Job vacancy: Head of Data Engineering, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, Brighton

Job summary

Main area: Digital
Grade: NHS AfC: Band 8c
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week (The post holder would be expected to work a minimum of 2 days in our offices in Brighton.)
Job ref: 150-SK2713-COR

Employer: Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Brighton General Hospital
Town: Brighton
Salary: £79,504 - £91,609 per annum
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 22/06/2026 23:59

Head of Data Engineering

NHS AfC: Band 8c

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Provide senior leadership and accountability for the design, development and operation of resilient, scalable and future‑proof data engineering services, ensuring they meet current and emerging Trust, ICS and national requirements.
Lead the delivery, evolution and scaling of the Trust’s enterprise data warehouse and data platform, ensuring it continues to meet changing clinical, operational and regulatory needs, and remains secure, performant and cost‑effective.
Set the strategic direction for, and oversee the delivery of, integrated data services and pipelines across key clinical and corporate systems (including SystmOne, BEST, IAPTUS and system‑wide data sources), ensuring interoperability and re‑use across the organisation and local system.
Enable and accelerate the Trust’s analytics and business intelligence capability by ensuring that high‑quality, well‑engineered data products underpin reporting and insight delivery, throughout data provisioning toolsets.
Provide strategic oversight of data ingestion, transformation and modelling activities, ensuring that standards for quality, security, accessibility, version control and reusability are embedded by design.
Ensure robust information security, resilience and disaster recovery arrangements are in place for all data platforms and services, working closely with Information Governance, Cyber Security and Digital leadership.
Work in close partnership with Performance, Analytics and informatics teams to build a culture of data curiosity and self‑service, enabling frontline and operational teams to access timely, meaningful insights to inform decision‑making.
Lead the Data Engineering function to deliver high‑quality, production‑ready solutions through modern agile and product‑centred approaches, ensuring iterative improvement from prototype through to live services.
Act as senior accountable owner for data engineering delivery, providing method‑appropriate technical leadership, defining and enforcing development standards, and assuring the quality and sustainability of solutions.
Plan, prioritise and oversee the delivery of multiple data engineering initiatives and workstreams at pace, effectively managing dependencies, risks and resources.
Provide day‑to‑day line management and professional leadership for the Data Engineering team, including performance management, capability development, workforce planning and succession.
Foster strong, collaborative working relationships with the wider Performance and Analytics community, Digital teams and external partners to ensure alignment of priorities and delivery.
Ensure value for money is embedded in all aspects of data engineering delivery, balancing quality, pace, risk and cost, and actively identifying opportunities for optimisation and reuse.
Undertake additional responsibilities appropriate to the seniority of the role, including managing sensitive people matters and delegating authority appropriately across the function.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

Experience equivalent to a Masters level qualification in Data, Digital, Computing / IT related subject.
Qualifications or equivalent experience in Oracle, SQL Server, VB.net or other relevant systems.

Experience

Essential criteria

Leadership experience in a senior Data or Information Management role.
Experience working and influencing at a senior level, building relationships in large and complex organisation.
Experience leading Data Engineering teams to deliver complex data services for large organisation at pace.
Experience in managing and maintaining a data warehouse within a large organisation.
Extensive experience of developing a data warehouse to optimise performance.
Experience with Database Administration for MSSQL Server.
Services advanced skills with ETL, script tasks Microsoft Visual Basic/C#
Experience in use of Qlik and/ or other Business Intelligence Tools.
Experience working in an information development / analyst role supporting range of databases/systems.
Experience of developing a range of reports for operational/functional managers.

Desirable criteria

Knowledge / experience of using: SQL and TSQL advanced skills
Knowledge / experience of using: SQL Server 2019 and laterSQL Server Integration Services advanced skills with ETL, script tasks Microsoft Visual Basic/C#
Experience of: SystmOne (front end and back end data)
Experience of: QlikView and QlikSense
Experience of: Linux
Experience of: Airbyte and Airflow
Experience of: Podman
Experience of: Powershell
Experience of: Qvera Integration Engine
Experience of: Extract, Transform, Load (ETL)
Experience of: Relational database management systems (RDBMS)
Experience of: Object oriented database management systems (OODBMS)
Experience of: XML database management systems
Experience of: Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 or later
Experience of: HL7 and FHIR
Experience in leading teams to troubleshooting and resolving database problems, minimising operational impact.
Experience in Performance Tuning and Optimisation (PTO), using native monitoring and troubleshooting tools.
Experience in implementation of resilient data platforms including with backups, restores and recovery models.
Experience within a large, complex healthcare organisation (e.g. acute, community or integrated services), or other relevant sector experience.
Experience of: Django
Experience of: Python
Experience of: MS Excel
Experience of: SSIS package development
Experience of: Kubanetes

Skills and knowledge

Essential criteria

Highly organised and logical thinker.
Highly developed keyboard and digital system skills, requiring accuracy and precision when working across multiple complex data platforms and systems.
Significant leadership and management experience.
Ability to prioritise workloads and work to deadlines.
Knowledge of High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) options for MSSQL Server.
Strong analytical skills.
Knowledge of the application and use of information within complex organisations.
Excellent communicator, orally and in writing.
Comprehensive practical knowledge of local and national data standards, governance requirements and system configuration within complex organisations.
Ability to diagnose and identify system efficiency improvements or areas for innovation based on current service requirements.
Ability to maintain concentration on complex work in a fast-paced environment with competing priorities and interruptions.
Able to interpret and implement local and national Information Management strategies.
Self-motivated and able to work autonomously.
Able to apply creative problem solving and ideas generation to large-scale and complex business critical IT issues.
A demonstrable track record of reliability and delivering on commitments and objectives.
Able to anticipate future requirements and be proactive in responding to these.
Ability to demonstrate effective coaching and facilitation skills and to deliver training in subjects related to role.
Ability to negotiate effectively and to persuade and influence others.
Ability to effectively communicate with groups of staff at all levels in the organisation.

Skills and knowledge

Essential criteria

Able to establish credibility and good relationships with internal and external stakeholders at a senior level.
Able to communicate the business risks and advantages of technically complicated developments in order to allow business involvement in choice and risk management.