Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the hunt for a chief information and digital officer

Trust wants an inspirational CIDO to build on recent investment in IT infrastructure

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) is in the hunt for a chief information and digital officer (CIDO) in a bid to help make the hospital one of the "foremost UK and global healthcare organisations".

According to a job ad in The Sunday Times, the trust wants a CIDO to help build on significant recent investment in technology infrastructure. He or she will be expected to develop and deliver a strategic vision for the Trust's IT, collaborate internally and externally to identify opportunities to improve the delivery of healthcare, research and education.

OUH said that the successful candidate would "support the creation of information-rich systems and platforms, which enable the development of effective and safe patient pathways, and support clinical research and translation".

The CIDO will also work with the University of Oxford to ensure that healthcare-related data can be handled and generated through the university's Big Data Institute, which is currently under construction.

According to OUH, the search committee is interested in candidates from a broad range of complex organisational backgrounds. It is looking for an inspirational leader who can demonstrate a genuine commitment to supporting high-quality patient care.

The CIDO role is, perhaps, a combination of the traditional CIO role, along with some of the duties that are now carried out by a chief digital officer (CDO) - a role that Computing has looked at in depth over the past year. Unlike the CIO role, the CDO role is seemingly very different in every organisation, with some CDOs working alongside CIOs, and others replacing CIOs altogether. In some instances the CDO is seen as more of a marketing role, while in others it is a more of an IT role.

Applications for the OUH CIDO role close on 19 February.

Computing recently put together a list of the top senior IT roles available to apply for right now.