Head of Data & Analytics

If you would like further information or an informal chat about this role, please reach out to Jon Gee (Head of Data & Analytics-Office of Data & Analytics) via ***email_hidden*** or Natalie Tolson (Associate Director-Office of Data & Analytics) via [email protected]

About The Role

The Head of Data & Analytics is a senior leadership role within the Office of Data Analytics (ODA), responsible for the strategic delivery of data engineering, business intelligence, reporting and analytics, alongside our newly established data science function.

Formed following an organisational service review two years ago, the Office of Data Analytics is on a transformational journey to support the organisation in becoming truly data-led. As Head of Service, you will play a critical role in driving both our immediate and long-term priorities, working closely with colleagues across ODA, Digital and operational services.

Initially, you will lead our “back to basics” analytics evolution programme, rationalising and modernising our data and reporting estate in preparation for Electronic Patient Record (EPR) implementation and our migration to Azure and Power BI.

You will then provide strategic leadership throughout the EPR implementation itself ensuring mandatory national submissions and critical operational data products remain stable and reliable during transition. This includes overseeing data migration activity and minimising disruption to frontline services and decision-making.

Alongside this, you will lead and grow our innovative Data Science and Intelligence teams, helping the organisation move beyond traditional dashboards and self-service reporting into exploratory analytics, forecasting, predictive modelling and recommendation-driven insights. A key part of the role will be ensuring these innovations deliver measurable organisational benefits.

This is a role for a resilient and visible leader who can thrive in a fast-paced and evolving NHS environment. You will protect, support and inspire a high-performing team through periods of significant change, enabling them to continue delivering outstanding outcomes for the organisation.

We are looking for a leader who will embrace and build upon our existing vision and culture, while taking our data and analytics capability to the next level.

The postholder will be expected to work across the Dewsbury and Pinderfields site with flexibility to also work from home.

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further details.

Main duties

The Head of Data & Analytics will lead the Trust’s transition from retrospective reporting to forward-looking, predictive insight, positioning data as a strategic enabler of quality improvement, financial sustainability and operational performance.

The postholder will set and deliver the Trust’s data and analytics strategy, embedding a data-driven culture aligned to the principles of Improving Together. They will ensure that high-quality, timely, and actionable intelligence supports clinical, operational, and strategic decision-making at all levels of the organisation.

The role is accountable for the leadership and development of the Trust’s data and analytics capability, encompassing data engineering, analytics, data science, and business intelligence. Through the leadership of multidisciplinary teams, the postholder will ensure the delivery of robust, efficient and increasingly automated intelligence services.

Data and intelligence underpin the Trust’s planning, commissioning, contracting, and transformation functions. The postholder will ensure that information is accurate, trusted, and accessible, enabling effective performance management, service improvement, and resource optimisation to support high-quality patient care.

Working across organisational boundaries, the postholder will engage and influence stakeholders at all levels, translating complex data into meaningful insight to support decision-making and improve outcomes. They will promote best practice in data collection, analysis, and use, ensuring that information is embedded at the heart of how the organisation plans, delivers, and evaluates its services.

The postholder will ensure the timely and accurate delivery of all statutory and local reporting requirements, while driving continuous improvement in data quality, efficiency, and analytical maturity across the Trust.

Along with Digital colleagues, the role is also critical to progressing the Trust’s ambition to modernise its intelligence function through automation and the responsible use of artificial intelligence. This includes reducing reliance on manual reporting processes, improving efficiency and enabling more timely and proactive insight generation. Without this leadership, there is a risk that the Trust will be unable to realise productivity gains from automation, or safely and effectively adopt emerging AI capabilities to support operational and clinical decision-making.

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further details.

Qualifications

Essential person specification requirements

• Degree level and post graduate qualification in a numerate/analytical discipline or significant experience in an NHS information environment

Experience

• Senior leadership experience in data/analytics within healthcare or large complex organisations
• Broad experience in a senior management role in an Information department
• Excellent analytical and interpretative information preparation and presentation
• Experience of project management spanning multiple organisational boundaries in a data/digital environment
• Experience of managing multi-skilled information professionals
• Expert knowledge of data modelling and data warehousing
• Expert knowledge of NHS plan targets, performance indicators and monitoring processes, including access, clinical and efficiency
• Advanced analytical skills: statistical techniques, forecasting, modelling, simulation and benchmarking
• Advanced IT skills: Excel, Access and simulation software
• Nation-Wide Clearing Service, SUS and Hospital Episode Statistics
• NHS commissioning and financial processes, including Payment by Results
• Patient administration and clinical coding processes, and HRGs

Knowledge And Awareness

• Expert knowledge of NHS information standards and guidance
• Understanding of Caldicott, confidentiality and GDPR policies
• Awareness of own limitations
• NHS data manual and definitions
• Knowledge of data warehousing

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further details.

Be part of MY team

We are an acute trust caring for over one million people in Wakefield and Kirklees. Our 10,000 staff work in patients’ homes, the community, and our three hospitals in Pontefract, Dewsbury, and Pinderfields (Wakefield). We prioritise our people and values so we can deliver the best possible care to patients. Our team is friendly, passionate, and innovative, always seeking better ways to work.

We support work-life balance and foster a diverse, inclusive environment where everyone belongs. Our staff networks offer safe spaces to share ideas and concerns so we can increase awareness and appreciation of equality, diversity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and especially encourage members of the LGBTQ+ community, ethnic minority groups, and people with disabilities or neurodivergence to apply, as they are currently underrepresented in the Trust.

If you value caring, high standards, improvement, and respect, join the MY team to make a difference every day.

Application Guidance

We understand that more applicants are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help with their applications. While these tools can be useful, they cannot fully capture your skills, knowledge, and experience. It’s important that you personalise your application. Relying solely on AI is not recommended, as it may reduce your chances of success. Our screening process is thorough, so if you have used AI, please make sure to disclose this on your application form.

Our Benefits

• Access to the NHS pension plan
• Generous holiday allowance of 27 days plus bank holidays, increasing with 5 and 10 years of service
• Exceptional employee health and wellbeing services
• Extensive benefits and support, including:
• Onsite nurseries and childcare salary sacrifice scheme
• Home electronics scheme
• Cycle to work scheme - subject to eligibility criteria
• Car lease salary sacrifice scheme - subject to eligibility criteria
• Working carers support and advice, carers network and carers passport
• Flexible working options and family and carer-friendly policies
• Established staff networks, including LGBTQ+ and Race Equality
• Career progression, training and support

Skilled worker sponsorship

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