Zone: Digital Health
Location: 70 O'Leary Avenue
Senior Director - Provincial IT Services
Digital Health - SOLUTIONS & INFRASTRUCTURE
Permanent Full-time

Hours: 70 hours biweekly (8 hour; Days)

Salary: HL-32 ($101,723-$132,240) Annual

Competition Number: VAC0011117

Posted Date: 2025-05-14

Closing Date: 2025-05-21

About the Role

Reporting to the Chief Information Officer, the Sr. Director – Provincial IT Services is a member of the senior leadership team with a primary focus on the overall strategic direction and corporate leadership in the formulation and implementation of the provincial health information system. The role has provincial responsibility and accountability for overseeing the following: Digital Health programs: application development and support; security; enterprise architecture; customer service; end user device support;
IT change and release management; data centre and core infrastructure; telephony; and network support for all sites within NL Health Services, and for the dissemination and transfer of relevant knowledge to senior decision-makers in government and the broader heath system, under a comprehensive provincial Digital Health model.

The Sr. Director is responsible for the Provincial IT Services branch, as such is responsible for building and maintaining an integrated, province wide health information system to support the delivery of patient care as well as planning and management of the health system. This includes a large number of systems (e.g. front-line PHA specific systems; provincial systems like the Electronic Medical Record (EMR); systems to produce analytics, etc.) as well as a large number of technologies (e.g. Networks, end user devices, data centres, software, cloud, etc.). All technologies, as well as the people and processes used to build and sustain them, must be robust, secure, reliable, privacy-compliant, and conform with provincial and national standards (e.g. interoperability standards; data standards; technical standards, etc.).

The Sr. Director – Provincial IT Services works with internal stakeholders within NL Health Services and with the Department of Health and Community Services Executive in translating complex business and clinical requirements and strategic directions into technical solutions to add value to the health system in terms of safety, efficiency, quality, provider satisfaction, and patient/client/resident care. The incumbent works with these stakeholders to ensure these solutions are built and implemented on a highly secure, reliable infrastructure foundation with the required support and maintenance programs in place.

The Sr. Director – Provincial IT Services works to support the complex provincial health system transformation outlined in the NL Health Accord, by delivering a quality, accessible and sustainable corporate services programs, and services to support the provincial health system offered by the PHA throughout the province. The Sr. Director regularly reviews and discusses matters which have provincial wide implications, affecting multiple portfolios and regions, which may set provincial precedent and must ensure their corporate services organizations align to legislative and organization wide limits and directives of the CEO and VP.

The Sr. Director – Provincial IT Services must demonstrate a thorough understanding of the provincial health care system, the organization’s policies and objectives and legislative limitations to guide the clinical area/provincial portfolio decisions to support their areas of specialized expertise.

The Sr. Director works collaboratively with provincial counterparts to set the Provincial IT Services’ strategic direction and ensure that the functional responsibilities are designed and delivered to achieve the mission, values, and vision of the PHA.

The Sr. Director must work in collaboration with their provincial program and regional clinical counterparts to deliver seamless services across the continuum to meet the health care needs of the people of the zone are providing a quality service to its clients.

The responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Leads the provincial strategic planning efforts and addresses organization-wide policy and
  management issues for the Information Technology Services department.
• Focuses on mid- to long-term planning activities, in consultation with executive leaders, including
  the development of goals and objectives that link to the organization's mission and vision.
• Plans, with key providers, and implements an appropriate model of support to patient care.
• Participates in decisions and policymaking and shares overall accountability with other members
  of the senior management team.
• Identifies, reports, and monitors IT risks for NLHS.
• Oversees the governance processes required to manage and support multiple health information
  systems and their integration into the Electronic Health Record.
  
• Oversees the governance processes required to manage and support multiple information systems supporting critical business functions such as Finance and Payroll, Human Resources, and Supply Chain Management.
• Provides provincial leadership for the development of Systems and Technology Strategies that meet the strategic direction of the provincial health information system, and the evolving business needs and changing technology to continuously refine the architectural approach and reviewing emerging Enterprise Application Architecture trends and determining adoption methodologies.
• Plans, organizes, directs, and controls all services provided by the Information Technology Services department.
• Ensures that adequate staffing levels and necessary equipment is available so that the department can function at a high level to support unique and complex technical implementations.
• Oversees the safe, effective sustainment of solutions and ensures that they satisfy all requirements, such as privacy and security while in compliance with privacy legislation (i.e. Personal Health Information Act).
• Oversees the consistent and effective delivery of information technology initiatives through the use and improvement of standard approaches for project management, application development, change management, privacy, and risk management.
• Oversees the safe, effective sustainment of solutions and ensures that they satisfy all requirements, such as privacy and security while in compliance with privacy legislation (i.e. Personal Health Information Act).
• Oversees the consistent and effective delivery of information technology initiatives through the use and improvement of standard approaches for project management, application development, change management, privacy, and risk management.
• Provides leadership through the department and reinforcement of a corporate culture that promotes a positive, productive work environment and provides for the recruitment, retention, training, and development of staff to ensure availability of expertise to discharge NL Health Services mandates.
• Builds and maintains a network of contacts with senior officials in provincial and federal government departments and agencies to ensure needs are being met, information and knowledge is appropriately disseminated in the field, and that they are engaged in the alignment, prioritization and monitoring of information technology initiatives.
• Supports sound financial management through accurate business planning and forecasting within assigned operational mandates.
• Collaborates with internal partners (e.g., Human Resources) on total reward planning to ensure adequate forecasts and calculations of expenditures for budgeting, reporting and other analytics are considered to develop compensation and benefits proposals.
• Leads a healthy, safe, diverse, and respectful workplace by championing and practicing sound human resources management by attracting, recruiting, and retaining high caliber talent.
• Develops and implements a program leadership model.
• Establishes and monitors performance objectives.
• Provides ongoing learning and development opportunities.
• Promotes teamwork, and ensures employees have the tools and resources they require to perform at their best.
• Fosters the development of others by supporting and promoting the achievement of professional and personal goals and creating a culture of continuous learning.
• Transition to Provincial Health Authority.
• Establishes unified provincial systems for program assigned to their portfolio. This will include working with the VP/COOs and other leaders from across the five regions to amalgamate and integrate existing departments, staff, and services, develop provincial policies and standards, increase efficiency, and enhance quality.

About You

Your education and experience include:

• A degree in business, mathematics, or computer science, supplemented by a master’s degree in a
  related field.
• A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible work experience in a senior management role withing
  the public sector, preferably in a health environment.
• Extensive knowledge and experience in application development, information protection and project management.

Your skills and abilities include:

Leadership ability, high ethical standards, integrity, effective engagement as a member of a team; the ability to facilitate and lead change; and commitment to the health care community and the organizational development, goals, and objectives of
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services.

Demonstrated equivalences may be considered.