North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) have merged as of 1st July 2026 to become Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. This creates an exciting future that brings together the best of both organisations. As a single, strong and sustainable organisation, we will not only be able to deliver better outcomes for our patients and fairer care for our population, but it will also provide greater opportunities for our people.
Bristol NHS Foundation Trust recognise the value of a healthy work-life balance. When applying, speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate flexible working, so your work life fits around your home life.
We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within the Trust.
Our job adverts may close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Considering this, if you are interested in this role, please do apply as soon as you can.
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Job Overview
NHS Bristol Foundation Trust is looking for an experienced senior programme leader to lead delivery of our Electronic Patient Record (EPR) programme.
This is a high-profile Trust-wide transformation role, providing senior leadership, programme assurance and end-to-end delivery accountability across the full EPR lifecycle. The role will cover pre-market engagement, business case development, procurement, contract negotiation, implementation preparation, go-live, stabilisation and transition into optimisation.
Following the formation of NHS Bristol Foundation Trust on 1 July 2026, this programme will support the Trust’s digital strategy, clinical strategy and wider organisational priorities. You will work closely with clinical, operational, corporate and digital colleagues, as well as external suppliers, system partners and Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (GHFT), to ensure the programme is clinically led, safely delivered and aligned to the Trust’s strategic ambitions.
This is a rare opportunity to help shape and lead a major EPR programme at a pivotal point in the Trust’s development.
You will work with senior leaders, clinical teams and system partners to deliver digital change that will have a lasting impact on patients, staff and services.
If you are an experienced programme leader who can combine delivery grip, strategic judgement and collaborative leadership, we would welcome your application.
Main duties of the job
As Head of EPR Programme Delivery, you will provide senior leadership across programme governance, planning, delivery controls, assurance, risk management, benefits realisation, supplier management and organisational readiness.
You will establish and mature the delivery arrangements required for a complex, multi-year EPR programme. This will include programme governance, integrated planning, senior reporting, resourcing, workstream structure, stakeholder engagement, implementation readiness, benefits tracking and optimisation planning.
You will operate with significant autonomy within agreed governance, delegated authority and financial limits, making day-to-day programme delivery decisions and escalating matters outside agreed tolerances. You will provide clear assurance to senior, executive and Board-level forums, ensuring visibility of delivery confidence, risks, issues, dependencies, finances, benefits and organisational readiness.
You will also lead and develop programme teams across core, matrix, clinical, operational, digital and supplier-led workstreams, supporting effective delivery across business case development, procurement, mobilisation, implementation, go-live and transition into optimisation.
Working for our organisation
Bristol NHS Foundation Trust brings together more than 28,000 staff to deliver over 160 clinical services across thirteen hospital locations, operating from three main sites at Southmead, Bristol city centre and Weston.
With an annual turnover of 2.6 billion, we are now one of the largest NHS trusts in the United Kingdom.
Our Vision for Five Years From Now
- Patients will wait less time to be diagnosed and treated, and they will have the same high-quality experience and outcomes, regardless of who they are or where they live.
- We will meet rising demand by maximising the use of our available resources.
- More care will be delivered nearer to patients, in their homes or the community.
- Digital technologies will have transformed the way we work and the way we deliver care.
- Our people will feel engaged, energised and empowered by their work.
- We will be known as a place where people enjoy working, training and building a career.
- Our volume of globally renowned research and innovation will have grown significantly.
- We will contribute to system financial balance
Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities
The successful candidate will:
- Lead the end-to-end delivery and assurance of a major Trust-wide EPR programme.
- Establish programme governance, delivery controls, reporting and assurance arrangements.
- Support pre-market engagement, business case development, procurement, supplier selection and contract mobilisation.
- Provide senior oversight of implementation preparation, go-live readiness, stabilisation and optimisation.
- Manage complex risks, issues, dependencies, decisions, finances and benefits.
- Work closely with clinical leaders to ensure patient safety, workflow design and clinical engagement remain central to delivery.
- Build strong relationships with internal teams, external suppliers, GHFT, ICB colleagues, regional partners and NHS England.
- Provide clear advice and assurance to senior, executive and Board-level forums.
- Lead and develop programme teams across core, matrix and supplier-supported delivery structures.
You Will Need To Demonstrate
- Master’s level qualification or equivalent senior-level experience in complex programme leadership.
- Formal project, programme or change management qualification, such as PRINCE2 Practitioner, MSP Practitioner or equivalent.
- Substantial experience leading complex transformation programmes.
- Experience of EPR, PAS, clinical systems or large-scale digital health implementation.
- Strong understanding of programme governance, assurance, planning, risk management and delivery controls.
- Experience of business case development, procurement, supplier management and benefits realisation.
- Highly developed communication, influencing and negotiation skills.
- Strong analytical judgement and the ability to synthesise complex information for senior decision-making.
- Experience leading teams across line-managed, matrix, multidisciplinary and supplier-supported delivery structures.
- Confidence operating with autonomy in a complex, high-profile programme environment.
Person specification
Training, Knowledge and Experience
Essential criteria
- Master’s level qualification, or equivalent senior-level experience in complex programme leadership and delivery – (E/A)
- Formal project, programme or change management qualification, such as PRINCE2 Practitioner, MSP Practitioner or equivalent – (E/A)
Management Skills
Essential criteria
- Line manages and develops staff effectively, including setting direction, agreeing objectives, supporting performance, addressing issues and building capability – (E/A)
Training, Knowledge and Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of either leading a significant workstream within a clinically led, digitally enabled EPR enterprise implementation, or providing full programme oversight for an EPR or comparable large-scale clinical digital implementation, including programme setup, governance, assurance, implementation preparation, delivery oversight, stabilisation, optimisation planning and benefits realisation – (E/A/I)
- Substantial experience providing senior leadership across complex transformation programmes, including establishing delivery models, governance arrangements, stakeholder engagement, assurance routes and delivery controls in a multi-stakeholder environment – (E/A/I)
- Substantial experience identifying, baselining, tracking and reporting programme benefits, including clinical, operational, financial and adoption-related benefits – (E/A/I)
- Experience applying programme-level risk, issue and dependency management in complex environments, including escalation of clinical, operational, commercial, technical and financial risks – (E/A/I)
- Experience embedding clinical safety, cyber security and information governance requirements into programme plans, delivery controls and implementation activity – (E/A/I)
- Knowledge of NHS digital, EPR, PAS or clinical systems environments, including how digital systems support clinical workflows, operational performance and patient safety – (E/A/I)
Communication Skills
- Highly developed communication, influencing and negotiation skills, with the ability to secure agreement across senior clinical, operational, digital, supplier, executive, Board and Non-Executive Director audiences – (E/A/I)
- Translates complex programme, technical, clinical, commercial and assurance information into clear briefings, advice, decisions required and recommended actions for mixed and non-technical audiences – (E/A/I)
- Communicates sensitive, contentious or high-risk issues with clarity and judgement, balancing openness, delivery confidence, clinical safety, organisational readiness and reputational considerations – (E/A/I)
- Builds and maintains credible working relationships across professional, organisational, supplier, GHFT partnership and system boundaries, supporting shared ownership of major clinical digital transformation – (E/A/I)
- Confident chairing senior meetings, facilitating complex workshops and presenting to multidisciplinary groups, executive forums and decision-making boards and committees – (E/A/I)
Management Skills
- Experience leading programme and project teams across line-managed, matrix, supplier-supported and multidisciplinary delivery structures, including senior project management and specialist delivery workstreams – (E/A/I)
- Leads large, complex, clinically led transformation programmes in healthcare or similarly complex regulated environments, maintaining momentum through ambiguity and change – (E/A/I)
- Manages strategic supplier relationships constructively while holding suppliers to account for delivery, quality, risk, value and contractual commitments – (E/A/I)
- Contributes to and influences commercial discussions, contract negotiation, contract management, supplier accountability and NHS framework procurement activity – (E/A/I)
- Builds cooperation, alignment and accountability across organisational, professional, supplier, GHFT partnership and system boundaries – (E/A/I)
Aptitudes
- Provides clear, credible and resilient senior leadership, building confidence across complex programme, executive, clinical, supplier and partnership environments – (E/A/I)
- Demonstrates political awareness, sound judgement and resilience when operating through ambiguity, competing priorities and high-profile programme risk – (E/A/I)
- Operates with significant autonomy within agreed governance, delegated authority and financial limits, using sound judgement to make delivery decisions and escalate matters outside agreed tolerances – (E/A/I)
- Works independently, takes ownership and uses judgement to progress priorities with minimal supervision – (E/A/I)
- Organised, proactive and able to manage multiple demands without losing focus on key outcomes – (E/A/I)
- Adaptable and comfortable working with uncertainty, change and externally driven programme pressures – (E/A/I)
- Maintains momentum, motivation and constructive relationships during periods of challenge, pressure, scrutiny or organisational change – (E/A/I)
- Forward-thinking and open to innovation, with an interest in emerging digital health technologies and their practical application – (E/A/I)
Desirable criteria
- Acts as a visible senior champion for change, collaboration, adoption and patient-centred digital transformation – (D/A/I)
We hope that you will decide to join us and become part of this exciting journey, helping us to shape our future together.
As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.
The Trust is committed to investing in and caring for all our staff. We will support you in maintaining and improving your health and wellbeing, as well as your career development through management and training support – developing exceptional people for exceptional careers.
BFT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.
To comply with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 all applicants must be able to speak fluent English to an appropriate standard which will be assessed at Interview.
If you require sponsorship for a visa to work in the UK, to avoid disappointment, please check to ensure you are eligible under the UKVI points based system.
The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.
By applying for this post, you are agreeing to Bristol NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
Please be aware of scams – unless specified above, we will only communicate with you via @recruit.trac.jobs or nhs.net e-mails and we will never ask you for any payments.
Important
Please note that if you apply for a position with this Trust, you may be contacted via Trac or via email. This includes invites for job interviews. We therefore recommend that you regularly check your Trac account and email accounts. We may also contact you by texting the mobile number, if provided, on the application form.
Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close this vacancy before the advertised closing date. Therefore, please apply for this post as soon as you can, if you are interested and you meet the requirements of the Person Specification
Only those candidates who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification will be shortlisted for this job.
As a guide interviews should usually take place within 3 weeks of the closing date.
When providing employment reference details, please provide correct work-related email addresses so references can be sought promptly when we are looking to progress your application. Your referee must all be known to you in a line manager or professional lead capacity.
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