Job vacancy: Systems Development Officer, Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Wickford

Job summary

Main area: IT
Grade: Band 4
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week (flexibly between 8am and 6pm)
Job ref: 364-A-9110

Employer: Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: The Lodge
Town: Wickford
Salary: £26,530 - £29,114 per annum
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 08/07/2025 23:59

Systems Development Officer

Band 4

About Us

EPUT provides community health, mental health and learning disability services to support more than 3.2 million people living across Bedfordshire, Essex and Suffolk. Also:

We are among the largest employers in the in the East of England region, with more than 10,000 staff working across more than 200 sites.
We run the COVID-19 vaccination programme across mid and south Essex and Suffolk and north east Essex.

EPUT was formed on 1 April 2017 following the merger of North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (NEP) and South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT). A new leadership team was established at the Trust in 2020.

Our vision and values

Our Vision

“To be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care”.

Our Purpose

“We care for people every day. What we do together, matters”.

Our Values

We Care
We Learn
We Empower

Our strategic objectives

We will deliver safe, high quality integrated care services.
We will enable each other to be the best that we can.
We will work together with our partners to make our services better.
We will help our communities to thrive.

Our services

Mental Health Services
Community Health Services
Learning Disabilities Services
Social Care

Find out more about the services we offer in our service directory.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

· To be an active member of a team of systems support staff who will provide frontline training and support to users of EPR systems and other patient and non-patient related systems in response to service requirement, and to respond in a professional and customer focused manner. This will include analysing situations information and resolve a range of problems consisting of computer system errors and applications problems.

· To assist in the day to day management of user accounts and ensuring that there is a consistent approach across customer organizations.

· To contribute to the creation of system training materials in line with Trust standards. Ensuring all materials are up to date with regard to changes in software, local NHS policies and Government / Department of Health guidelines and that version control is updated and maintained.

· To contribute in the continual reviewing of the EPR training courses to ensure the content is complete and up to date.

· To actively maintain knowledge of systems through continuous proactive learning.

· To assist in the planning for up-coming training sessions ensuring appropriate materials are developed using a consistent approach across the Trust.

· Effective use of training tools and project methodologies.

· To support the Systems Development team and provide administrative support where necessary including arranging meetings, taking minutes and attending meetings.

· To assist with setting up venues, booking sessions and ensuring that courseware / system information is up to date and available when required.

· To assist in developing a flexible range of training material to support clinicians and related administration support.

· To participate in providing frontline training and support to users of which will include providing advice and technical support over the telephone or in person and explaining solutions which may be complicated to the user in a clear manner.

· To participate where required in local user groups and attend professional meetings or relevant conferences in order to provide additional information / development for the service.

· The post holder will work on own initiative to provide solutions and exceptionally refer matters to the Senior Systems Development Officer.

· Participate in the creation of system training materials in line with Trust standards, ensuring all materials are up to date with regard to changes in software, local NHS policies and Government / Department of Health guidelines and that version control is updated and maintained.

· To assist, under direction, the Clinical Change Managers in the design and implementation of EPR system templates to support the Trust’s business requirements. Standardise and implement a consistent use of codes via the templates.

· To assist, under direction, in the testing and adaptation of relevant patient and nonpatient related systems.

· To work with clinical services in preparation for the ‘’go-live’’ of EPR systems or other patient and non-patient related systems, following the documentation in the roll out plan, which will include post go live requirements.

To take responsibility for the safe use of IT systems and equipment by those attending training sessions.

Person specification

Education & Qualifications

Essential criteria

Advanced ECDL or equivalent knowledge
Formal training qualification (diploma or equivalent experience/qualification)

Desirable criteria

Undertaken Template Master class/EPR Train the Trainer class.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

Knowledge and experience of training delivery
Current knowledge of issues surrounding information security and the Data Protection Act

Skills & Experience

Essential criteria

Confident user of Microsoft Office packages and keyboard skills.
Experience working with EPRs or equivalent systems
Experience in using complex IT systems
Excellent presentation skills – able to deliver confidently, complex presentations to groups
Evidence of ability to learn new IT systems
Ability to demonstrate a high degree of organisational skills and an ability to think analytically

Desirable criteria

Experience of developing clinical tools within EPR systems
Experience of working within a healthcare environment
Experience of working in professional IT training
Ability to design training material
Experience of information systems, database configuration and database systems administration
• Able to produce own reports in a logical and structured way and to a high standard of presentation

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria

Good time management - the ability to organise and prioritise multiple tasks to meet timescales
Customer focused
Flexible, proactive and self-motivated approach with determination to achieve results
Ability to work as part of a team
Ability to work with little supervision
Enthusiastic and motivated
Be able to maintain a smart and professional appearance and attitude

Desirable criteria

The ability to build confidence, negotiate skills requirements and provide guidance and advice to those with insufficient IT skills
Being able to cope with stressful situations working with groups / individuals who may be resistant to changing their working practices

Additional Requirements

Essential criteria

Driving license and vehicle with the ability to travel as required
Ability to travel across sites and across Trust boundaries to attend meetings, events and training sessions etc. as required

Please note - staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered ‘suitable alternative employment’ to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

Important Professional References

Make sure that as a part of your application you have professional references with business contract information covering your last three year employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.

As a newly appointed employee you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post, the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.

Applications for Job Share are positively welcomed.

Equal Opportunities Employer

Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply. If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email [email protected] and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you.

The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.

Covid Vaccination

Although Covid vaccinations are no longer a mandatory requirement within the NHS we continue to encourage and support the vaccination uptake as this remains the best line of defence against Covid19. The safety of our staff and patients is a top priority for us at EPUT.

If you would like to book a Covid vaccination or would like more information please contact us by emailing [email protected].