UK Ministry of Defence
Chief Digital Information Officer, Defence Medical Services
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
HQ Defence Medical Services, Lichfield
Job Summary
Defence Medical Services is driving significant organisational, people, process and technology change to continue its evolution towards becoming Defence’s Occupational Healthcare delivery organisation for the Information Age. Significant improvements in digital enablement, business intelligence, clinical informatics, knowledge and information management maturity are being pursued in order to allow the organisation to become a truly patient focussed, digital and data driven organisation.
Defence Medical Services is evolving in order to enhance both our digital capabilities and those of our corporate communication team. The Chief Digital Information Officer (CDIO) role is critical to our digital transformation, but also more widely across Defence Medical Services and the HQ Defence Medical Services Portfolio, within which all our major programmes have key digital dependencies.
Major General Tony Finn will be offering an online Q&A session on Thursday 13 August 2026 at 10:00 - 11:00 to provide an overview of the role and welcome any questions you may have. Candidates can access the meeting by clicking here. Please note this is not part of the formal assessment process. If you have any issues accessing the session, please contact: People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk.
Job Description
The Defence Medical vision is for a tech-enabled, agile and resilient Defence Medical system (DMed), integrated across domains, with allies and the UK health ecosystem.
To deliver this vision, DMed is undergoing a significant transformative journey across organisation, people, processes, and technology. The Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO) is a strategic leader driving the transition to a fully digital, data-enabled DMed system, ensuring technology underpins clinical excellence, operational readiness, and enhanced patient outcomes in diverse environments.
The CDIO is tasked with delivering innovative digital and data solutions in a complex and evolving environment that align with DMed strategic objectives; optimising healthcare delivery, improving patient experience, and boosting workforce productivity. This includes ensuring all clinical and medical systems adhere to the organisation’s digital strategy, meet interoperability and architecture standards, and avoid technical debt and information silos.
As a key member of the DMed Executive Committee, the CDIO shapes the organisation’s digital, strategic, and operational performance. Reporting directly to the Director of Medical People & Capability the CDIO holds functional authority over all digital elements within DMed pillars, projects, and programmes, driving alignment and excellence across the enterprise.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership
- Strategic and Operational Management: Oversee digital, data, and information management across the DMed eco-system. Lead the development and implementation of the DMed Digital Operating Model, ensuring alignment with MOD strategic objectives and DMS Transformation Programmes
- Digital Strategy: Develop and Implement the Digital Strategy to ensure alignment with DMed goals, intent, and objectives
- Subject Matter Expertise: Advising the DMed boards on digital healthcare, informatics and technology, including data quality, governance, and cyber security.
- Capability Building: Training and developing the digital team, including implementing a military digital clinical career pathway.
- Risk management: Supporting the DMed Senior Information Risk Owner (Dir MP&C) with specialist advice and expertise.
Digital as a Service
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
- Service Management: Ensuring effective and efficient service delivery in collaboration with stakeholders and delivery partners
- Operational Healthcare: Delivering systems to support healthcare delivery on overseas Operations
Data & Information
- Data Management and Exploitation: Ensuring data governance, quality, and exploitation for insights and trusted decision making
- Information Governance and Cyber and Clinical Safety: Leading the delivery of safe and effective information governance and cyber assurance services, working alongside the SIRO to ensure GDPR compliance and providing Clinical Safety compliance.
Digital
- Interoperability: Aligning strategies and digital solutions with Defence, NHS, and NATO frameworks and standards to support collaboration and ensure compliance
- Artificial Intelligence: Developing and implementing the first DMS AI strategy to enhance operational capabilities, improve patient care, and drive innovation both in the UK and overseas
Cyber Security
- Cyber risk advice: Providing guidance for systems owned by DMS or where DMS is the primary user.
- Cyber assurance: Ensuring assurance for DMS-owned systems.
Corporate Functions
- Ensuring legal and MOD compliance with GDPR and associated HQ Defence Medical Services publications through services delivered by the Knowledge and Information Management, Cyber and Information Security, Data Protection teams, and the Innovation Hub (iHUB) team.
- Assuming ownership, in consultation with the Head of Finance, of the overall HQ Defence Medical Services digital budget and resourcing for delivering the corporate digital capability.
- Developing HQ Defence Medical Services-specific policies, procedures, and standards as required.
- Board and Committee membership, including the HQ Defence Medical Services Board, HQ Defence Medical Services Executive Committee (ExCo) and HE Defence Medical Services Senior Leadership Team, Quality Assurance Committee (QUAC), MOD functional group leads, HQ Defence Medical Services committees including Defence Digital and Technology (DDaT)
Person specification
The Successful Candidate Must Be Able To provide Specific Examples That Demonstrate Their Experience And Skills Against The Following Essential Criteria:
- Proven experience of successful digital delivery in challenging change environments.
- Proven experience leading the development and execution of Digital Health strategy including the integration of Medical Information Systems and capabilities, data and analytics and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence to enable transformational models of care.
- Executive leadership of a major healthcare digital transformation.
- Clinical Transformation & Change Leadership, translating digital capability into patient care improvements.
- Senior responsibility for Information Governance, Clinical Safety, Data Quality and Cyber Security.
- Proven ability to lead at board level, engage diverse stakeholders, and communicate complex issues clearly to support decision-making.
- Experienced in delivering large, complex programmes on time and within budget, managing risks and cross-functional teams effectively.
Alongside your salary of £115,000, Ministry of Defence contributes £33,315 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides [here](opens in a new window).
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our [candidate guidance](opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process no later than 23:55 Sunday 23rd August 2026 and will involve providing the two documents outlined below via the Civil Service Jobs portal:
- A CV (no more than 2 pages) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
- A Personal Statement (no more than 2 pages) providing tangible examples that demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria for the role.
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our [candidate guidance](opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
External candidates who join the MOD and are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.
For further information about the role and full application process, please refer to the candidate pack attached below. If you wish to receive any material in a different format for accessibility, then please contact People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.
As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.
Security
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check [here](opens in a new window). See our [vetting charter](opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard [checks here](opens in new window).
Nationality requirements
This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills