Consultant Systems Engineer

Digital delivery is a cornerstone of the NHS's 10-year plan, aiming to revolutionise healthcare. Digital transformation is expected to improve patient outcomes and alleviate the burden on healthcare professionals by reducing paperwork and enabling personalised care.

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced systems engineer to join our Digital Citizen Portfolio as Head of Systems Engineering. The successful candidate will primarily focus on leading the engineering for the NHS app, however they will also have responsibility for other parts of the digital citizen national channels which includes the website. is a widely used medical resource for providing guidance to citizens across the UK.

The NHS app and website services will be pivotal in the delivery of the NHS 10-year plan. The NHS App is used by millions of citizens daily and increasingly will put citizens in control of their own health and care, and the health and care of those they care for. The App connects citizens to health prevention services and increases their skills confidence knowledge and capacity for self-advocacy. It is set to become the complete digital front door to the NHS, enabling patients to book appointments, manage medications, and access their medical records.

The NHS App is a mobile-native app built with Swift and Kotlin. Some other technologies used in this team include Azure, Terraform, and C# for the backend services used by the mobile app.

As a Head of Systems Engineering your role will include:

Technical leadership and delivery of national, highly available mobile apps and distributed systems, adhering to NHS England's engineering principles

Working with key internal and external partners and stakeholders to develop the architecture and design of mobile apps and systems

Ensuring continued availability, resilience, and cost effectiveness of existing mobile apps and systems

Maintaining service security, providing security controls for large volumes of highly sensitive data

Building and leading high-performing teams (a multi-team structure comprising of 100+ engineers) based on a culture of collaboration, and driving continuous improvement through Agile, Lean and DevOps delivery

Mentoring and coaching staff in your team

Engaging in peer-to-peer collaboration to solve engineering problems and drive-up organisation-wide engineering standards. This may include forming & leading communities of practice, etc.

Working with peers to define the organisation's engineering strategy, with particular focus on defining mobile app development standards, and growing mobile app development communities of practice

Presenting highly technical and complex information to non-technical audiences

Acting as Subject Matter Expert for systems design, delivery, and operation, including with external suppliers/partners

Our work supports the NHS to deliver high quality services for patients and best value for taxpayers.

Our staff bring expertise across hundreds of specialisms — including clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial — enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.

We lead the NHS in England by:

Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities

Making the NHS a great place to work, where our people can make a difference and achieve their potential

Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care

Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation

Delivering value for money

Earlier this year, the Government announced that NHS England will gradually merge with the Department of Health and Social Care, leading to full integration. The aim is to create a smaller, more strategic centre that reduces duplication and eliminates waste.

If successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the recruitment process.

Candidates will need to demonstrate experience of the following in their application form:

Deep native mobile expertise – Strong technical grounding in iOS and/or Android architecture, native capabilities, security, biometrics, and appstore compliance.

Implementing system security & resilience techniques / controls / practices

Working on highly available systems

Providing technical leadership for key systems

It would also be advantageous if the candidate has experience in:

Working in a mobile application where delivery is distributed across a number of engineering teams

Hands on full-stack Engineering experience, including cloud infrastructure

Mentoring / coaching members of the team

Management of senior / non-technical stakeholders

Agile delivery

As well as the technical skills and experience needed to be successful in this role, we'll also be exploring some of the following core competencies at interview:

INFLUENCE: Uses evidence to make decisions and defend ideas. Builds alignments with other teams or departments.

KNOWLEDGE: Builds own knowledge, stays updated and shares expertise. Recognises and meets evolving customer needs.

BUSINESS SKILLS: Develops and deploys strategies and new technologies, makes commercially sound decisions and optimises resources.

COMPLEXITY: Synthesises complex information, deliverables, and stakeholder needs. Communicates complex concepts in a clear and effective manner.

AUTONOMY: Empowers and coaches others in order to develop talent and drive engagement. Holds self and others accountable.

You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.

The post of Consultant Systems Engineer has been awarded a Recruitment and Retention Premia (RRP) in response to current labour market conditions. In recognition of this, the role attracts an additional monthly RRP payment equal to 30% per annum.

Please be aware that RRP is none contractual and subject to review.