Main area Informatics Merseyside Grade Band 6 Contract Recruiting into permanent and fixed term posts Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 350-TWS7471941

Employer Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Saturn House Town Liverpool Salary £38,682 - £46,580 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 05/10/2025 23:59 Interview date 16/10/2025

Band 6

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.

We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.

Job overview

How would you like to be involved in creating innovative solutions that directly benefit clinical staff and patients within the NHS? In the Informatics Merseyside Development Service, we use a variety of platforms to develop software applications and interfaces, supporting multiple NHS organisations.

We are looking for a well organised and enthusiastic individual, who is a strong problem solver with experience in the integration of clinical systems. This role will be specifically to support the integration team within the development service. Previous integration experience will be essential, and experience of SQL database management. For more information about this Lead Developer role, and about Informatics Merseyside, we will be hosting a brief and informal virtual session on Microsoft Teams, that you are invited to join. Please email Michael Bland, Head of Development Service (Michael.Bland@imerseyside.nhs.uk) if you would like to be invited to join this session.

What we can offer:

• Hybrid Working
• Role based training
• Continued personal and professional development
• A friendly and supportive environment
• Consideration of requests for Flexible working arrangements
• Health and wellbeing services and support
• Access to NHS staff discounts scheme
• Minimum of 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• The opportunity to participate in the NHS pension scheme

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be responsible for the provision of application support to partner organisations and customers and support with the design and development of complex bespoke software applications, including interfaces, databases and other web-enabled and non-web-enabled information systems.

Working for our organisation

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Job Purpose:

The objective of the Informatics Merseyside Development Service is to develop digital solutions through collaboration and innovation. We are a high performing team, consistently looking to evolve our best practices, knowledge, and skills to provide innovative digital solutions to our partners and customers.

We are a customer orientated service that is responsive and effective in the delivery of the digital requirements of our Partner Organization’s (POs) and Customers in line with local and national IM&T priorities. The Development service provision is required to keep pace with ongoing development of technologies, providing solutions that are interactive for the end user and support changes in models of care delivery within the NHS and the need for agile working. The requirements now are increasingly for advanced custom development capabilities, using an array of platforms, languages and technologies.

The post holder will be responsible for leading the design and development of complex bespoke software applications, including interfaces, databases and other web-enabled and non-web-enabled information systems.

Designs, develops and tests websites and complex bespoke software applications, including databases and other web enabled and non web enabled information systems.

Receives and assesses non-routine and complex enquiries and requests for service from partner organisations and customers.

Analyses partner and customer requirements and evaluates and selects appropriate technical solutions, where there are several technologies.

Provides training and on-going support toDevelopers in web design and development, and in the use of web, software, and integration development technologies.

Manages a variable workload, plans and modifies, often at short notice, a work programme containing complex tasks and activities to ensure that PO requirements are addressed in an appropriate and timely manner.

Person specification

Values

• Accountability
• Support
• High professional standards
• Responsive to service users
• Engaging leadership style
• Transparency and honesty
• Discreet
• Change oriented

Leadership, Finance & IT

• Able to work towards achievement of agreed objectives, assessing, identifying and implementing appropriate approaches without reference to manager
• Able to provide specialist advice and support to colleagues in the web/software development team
• Able to plan and organise activities which may require adjustment due to variable workload / interruptions
• Able to plan and modify as required, programmes of work which will include delegating and supervising the work of developers (entry level and non-senior)
• An ability to undertake intense periods of concentration and ability to multi task, managing interruptions as appropriate, while operating in a dynamic IM&T environment
• Ability to occasionally travel within the North Mersey community

Communication

• Ability to liaise with customers to understand and interpret diverse and non-routine requests
• Ability to explain complex IM&T issues to non IM&T customers
• Ability to communicate detailed IM&T information to colleagues within the Development Team
• Ability to provide application support & training to IM&T and non IM&T staff

Knowledge & Experience

• Significant experience of using Microsoft 365 applications
• Knowledge and experience of development technologies and languages
• Knowledge and experience of development methodologies and development life cycles
• Excellent Problem-solving skills, and a passion for development
• Ability to innovate and provide suggestions for advancement of capabilities. Ability to work to an excellent standard both alone and as part of a team
• Ability to work to an excellent standard both alone and as part of a team
• SQL Server
• SharePoint Online
• C#
• JSON
• React
• Knowledge of Health Level 7 (HL7) or FHIR messaging standards
• Previous Experience in a Development Environment

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience
• Formal Project Management Qualification (PRINCE2 Foundation) or ability to demonstrate substantial experience and success in supporting the delivery of projects
• Formal IT Service Management Qualification (ITIL Foundation)
• Rhapsody Professional Qualification
• SharePoint Online

Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply for all correspondence. All information regarding your application will come from apps.trac.jobs not NHS Jobs.

Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we offer a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants who consider themselves to be disabled who meet the minimum (essential) criteria for the role in the person specification. If you would like your application to be considered under the Trust’s guaranteed interview scheme you can indicate this in the personal information section of your online application form.

Should you require a reasonable adjustment to our recruitment process please email recruitment@merseycare.nhs.uk to ensure that measures can be put in place to support you.

We reserve the right to close any vacancies from further applications when we have received a minimum number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.

The Trust expects all post holders who require an enhanced DBS for their role and work in Children’s & Young People services to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration. Trans applicants who require a DBS check and do not want to reveal details of their previous identity can contact the DBS Sensitive Applications Team (01516761452 or emailsensitive@dbs.gsi.gov.uk) with their application number once they have completed their DBS application form. The team can prevent any previous identity showing on the DBS Certificate, unless the applicant has a conviction under their previous details in which case this will need to be disclosed.

Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Please be advised that the use of Artificial Intelligence on applications is monitored and if you choose to use this, you must declare this on your application form.

Please note: new entrants to the NHS will commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Name Michael Bland

Job title Head of Development

Email address michael.bland@imerseyside.nhs.uk

Name: Charlie McCoy

Job Title: Development Service Digital Solutions Manager

Email Address: Charlie.McCoy@imerseyside.nhs.uk