About this role
Job summary
The Service Delivery Manager provides strategic and operational leadership of Digital Service Delivery across the UHL Group, ensuring the consistent, safe, and high-quality provision of digital services across all hospital sites. The post holder is accountable for the performance and continuous improvement of enterprise IT Service Management (ITSM) aligned to ITIL, ensuring digital services are resilient, responsive, and clinically safe, directly supporting patient care and operational effectiveness across a complex multi-site environment.
The role operates at Group level within the Technology portfolio, leading large, multi-disciplinary teams and holding responsibility for service governance, performance and service transformation. The post holder will define and implement service delivery strategies aligned to the Group Digital Services Target Operating Model, ensuring the delivery of standardised, scalable and interoperable services that underpin the Group Strategy and NHS digital ambitions, including the transition toward fully integrated digital healthcare and a Single Patient Record.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will lead the end-to-end design, standardisation, and operation of IT Service Management across the UHL Group, ensuring consistency of service delivery across sites while maintaining local responsiveness. This includes embedding ITIL-aligned practices (incident, change, problem, service level management) and ensuring service reliability for critical clinical and operational systems, where failure would directly impact patient safety.
Success in this role requires driving service maturity and continuous improvement, utilising performance data, automation, and digital self-service capabilities to improve user experience and operational efficiency. The role aligns with national expectations for digital services to be user-centred, resilient, and interoperable, supporting the wider transition to digitally enabled care.
The post holder will act as a senior leader within Group Digital Services, influencing clinical and operational stakeholders, and ensuring that digital service delivery supports the Group Strategy's ambition to improve outcomes, reduce variation, and enable integrated care pathways across the Liverpool health economy.
About us
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust comprises Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital & Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
We are part of NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group, formed on 1 Nov 2024 from the coming together of LUHFT and Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust. The Group was born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our patients.
UHLG is one of the largest employers in the region, with over 16,800 colleagues dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond.
For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services for more than two million people in the North West.
Aintree University Hospital is the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility. Broadgreen Hospital is home to elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation. Liverpool Women's Hospital specialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK's largest single site maternity hospital each year. The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single bedrooms and focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.
For roles at Liverpool Women's, visit their careers page.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- Provide strategic leadership for IT Service Management across the UHL Group, ensuring alignment to organisational and national digital priorities
- Lead the development and implementation of ITIL-aligned service management processes, ensuring consistent and safe service delivery
- Oversee multi-site digital service operations, ensuring performance against SLAs, KPIs, and clinical safety requirements
- Establish governance frameworks for service delivery, including incident, change, problem, and service continuity management
- Drive continuous service improvement through data-driven insights, automation, and innovation
- Lead and manage large, multi-disciplinary teams, ensuring workforce capability and resilience
- Ensure effective supplier and contract management, delivering value for money and high-quality services
- Provide expert advice to senior stakeholders, influencing digital service delivery strategy
- Ensure digital services comply with all regulatory, information governance, and cybersecurity requirements
- Support delivery of Group-wide digital programmes and transformation initiatives
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Significant experience leading a large-scale IT Service Desk and ISTM function within a complex organisatio0n
- Experience managing incident, problem, change, request, configuration and service level management processes within enterprise service management environments
- Experience managing ISTM platforms such as ServiceNow, or equivlaent enterprise service management technologies
- Experience analysing highly complex service delivery issues and resolving operational challenges where there may be multiple competing solutions
Desirable
- Experience within a large NHS organisation or integrated healthcare environment
- Experience leading service transformation programmes involving automation, self-service and digital maturity improvements
Skills
Essential
- Ability to communicate highly complex, sensitive or contentious information to senior stakeholders and large groups
- Advanced analytical and judgement skills involving intepretation and resolution of highly complex service delivery issues
- Ability to formulate service plans, operational strategies and improvement programmes across multiple teams and services
- Strong leadership, influencing and stakeholder management skills with the ability to drive organisational change and service improvement
Desirable
- Board level presentation and reporting experience
- Supplier management and commercial negotiation expertise
Qualifications
Essential
- Degree in Information Technology, Digital Services, Computer Science, Service Management or related discipline, or demonstrable knowledge and operational experience to an equivalent level
- Highly developed specialist knowledge of IT service management, service operations and customer service delivery acquired through professional training and experience to Master's degree level or equivalent, or demonstrable knowledge and operational experience to an equivalent level
Desirable
- ITIL Managing Professional, ITIL Strategic Leader or equivalent service management qualification
- Postgraduate qualification in Leadership, Digital Services Management, Business Management or Organisational development
Knowledge
Essential
- Advanced knowledge of ITIL, service operations, service governance and continual service improvement
- In-depth understanding of enterprise service management platforms, service reporting and operational analytics
- Knowledge of Microsoft technologies including Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Intune and enterprise support environments
- Knowledge of KPI, SLA, customer experience and service performance management metholdologies
Desirable
- Knowledge of NHS digital services, DSPT requirements and healthcare operational environments
- Knowledge of service automation, AI-Enabled service management and digital experience management
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Employer details
Employer name
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Address
Liverpool Innovation Park
Edge Lane
Liverpool
L7 9NJ
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.liverpoolft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)