Technical Architect & Project Manager

Location:                           Flexible / Birmingham for team meetings

Time commitment:           37.5 hours per week

Duration:                          12-month Fixed Term Contract – with option to extend by mutual agreement

Reporting to:                     Head of Programme Management, Health & Care

Context

WM5G is looking for a capable and committed Technical Architect & Project Manager to manage the successful build and delivery of WM5G’s technical roadmap for our Health and Care propositions. This will start with the sourcing and implementation of asset and workflow management capabilities and then quickly evolve to deliver the first phase of our AI & automation roadmap for our Digital Discharge proposition. This is an exciting opportunity for a driven self-starter to manage the delivery of innovate technology capabilities in a fast-moving purpose-led public sector scale-up business.

WM5G was founded seven years ago as the UK’s largest connected solutions innovation company. The company is a subsidiary of the WMCA and is governed by an independent board and subject to usual audits and company accounts.

Since then we’ve worked in partnership to attract over £300 million of private sector investment in fibre and 5G to make the West Midlands the best connected region. In addition we’ve lead the design, delivery and benefit realisation of breakthrough connected solutions in key sectors – including and especially the health & care sector – comprising connectivity, internet of things (IoT), data & AI technologies and associated people, process and operating model transformation.

Over the last 5 years we’ve been working in partnership with the NHS and Local Authorities in the West Midlands to start to scale innovative technology solutions that to accelerate the diagnosis of bowel cancer, help patients to be discharged from hospital safely and support citizens to live independently at home for longer (reducing pressure on adult social care + hospitals).

In terms of discharge, today around 15% of hospital beds in the NHS are occupied by patients who are medically fit to be discharged but can’t be – often because there isn’t the care support available for them to do so. As well as costing the NHS ~£2.5 billion a-year in lost bed days/capacity these ‘delayed discharges’ reduce the NHS ability to reduce hospital waiting lists because treatment can only begin if a bed is available. To help our NHS partners address this, WM5G offers an innovative Digital Discharge Service (DDS) to help clinicians discharge medically-fit patients to recover successfully at home and free-up beds for other patients. Our DDS solution comprises a wide range of IoT devices that can be tailored for patients (incl. smart watches, motion sensors, bed pressure sensors, managed tablets and many others), 24/7 monitoring via a clinical-grade centre and a wide variety of in-person visits and support, depending on the patients’ need.

DDS is live in two NHS Trusts, with the third Trust about to go live, and we are in conversations with Government about accelerating the scaling-up of the service across two regions. We’ve proven impressive results so far and there is a strong business case for scaling-up the service to help the Government hit its number 1 KPI for the NHS – reducing hospital waiting lists. However in order for us to scale DDS, we urgently need to implement, run & operate asset & workflow management and other automation and AI capabilities – to enable us to scale DDS effectively and efficiently. Hence we’ve spent the last 3-4 months developing our technology roadmap and now need a capable Technical Architect and Project Manager to join us and manage delivery.

Responsibilities

The Technical Architect and Project Manager will be responsible for managing the implementation of WM5G’s technical roadmap – focussing on DDS – to ensure that WM5G successfully puts in place the technical capabilities required to scale DDS effectively and efficiently from supporting hundreds of patients to tens of thousands. The role with report to the Head of Programme Management who leads the delivery of WM5G’s health scale-up project portfolio – covering process, regulation/compliance, data, people and other areas.

As such the Technical Architect and Project Manager will be responsible for:

·       Contributing technical expertise to the scoring and evaluation of technology suppliers as part of the sourcing approaches that WM5G is undertaking to find the right technology partners

·       Manage the implementation of asset management and workflow management systems and then AI and automation capabilities – ensuring that key capabilities are delivered on-time, to budget and quality in-line with WM5G’s target architecture, target outcomes and other success criteria

·       Building strong relationships with the Director of Health & Care and her leadership team to ensure a strong understanding of the business, propositions and business requirements

·       Building strong relationships with Technology suppliers to ensure that they are appropriately supported and constructively challenged to deliver the outputs WM5G requires

·       Acting as guardian and custodian of the company’s technical architecture – keeping it up-to-date, ensuring delivery consistency and managing changes

·       Support the design of new capabilities and we move into the next phase of Roadmap development

Objectives & KPIs

As noted above the overall objective of this role is ensure that WM5G successfully implements the right technological capabilities to support the effective and efficient scaling of DDS – in-line with our technical roadmap and business requirements - vkeeping the patient safety at the heart while also enabling the organisation to benefit from new capabilities to do more and use data & AI to make further interventions.

1.      Contribute technical expertise to the scoring and evaluation of technology suppliers for the asset management and workflow management capabilities – KPIs: quality of technical and supplier analysis and insights; confidence of leadership team in quality of technical appointment;

2.      Manage the successful delivery of asset management and workflow management systems to quality, time and budget working with the relevant suppliers and WM5G health team – KPIs: performance versus deliverables, budget and KPIs in contract & plan;

3.      Support the development & drafting of the procurement specification for AI & automation technology capabilities taking requirements from the technical roadmap and AI strategy and translating these into a commercial specification – KPIs: quality/accuracy and clarity of documentation plus delivery on-time;

4.      Contribute technical expertise to the scoring and evaluation of technology suppliers for the key AI and automation capabilities – KPIs: quality of technical and supplier analysis and insights; confidence of leadership team in quality of technical appointment;

5.      Manage the successful delivery of asset management and workflow management technology capabilities to quality, time and budget working with the relevant suppliers and WM5G health team – KPIs: performance versus deliverables, budget and KPIs in contract & plan;

6.      Develop and manage WM5G’s technology architecture for DDS acting as custodial and managing changes – with the approval of the Director of Health & Care, MD and Finance Director where required – KPIs: clear and update-to-date architecture maintained mapping to business requirements; consistency of technology delivery versus architecture;

Please note we are looking for a self-starter who can set-up and lead this function themselves – with appropriate hands-on practical delivery experience and aptitude.

Person Specification

Essential:             

• 5+ years delivery experience of technology projects – ideally with a focus on new technology services and solutions
• Detailed understanding of technology systems and experience designing architectures across all layers of the stack – including connectivity/networks, cloud, data, IoT, applications, cyber and support
• Proven expertise understanding business requirements and translating them into technology requirements and end-to-end technology architectures
• Proven ability to manage the delivery of client facing technology projects to quality, time and budget
• Ability to build and maintain relationships with stakeholders across business and technology companies and represent WM5G, if required, in meetings with clients
• Exceptional presentation and communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technology requirements clearly and persuasively.
• Technology qualification from leading organisation or institution

Desirable:

• Knowledge of technology within the UK health and care sector, including ICBs, NHS trusts, and private healthcare providers.
• Experience working in a start-up or scale-up environment, driving rapid commercial growth.
• Familiarity with digital health, med-tech, or remote monitoring solutions.
• Strong knowledge of community diagnostics, remote monitoring pathways, or related healthcare technologies.

Additional Information

The above list is indicative only and not exhaustive. The Technical Architect and Project Manager will be expected to perform all such additional duties as are reasonably commensurate with the role.

Why Join WM5G

Be part of a mission-driven organisation transforming healthcare through technology and innovation.

Work in a dynamic and collaborative environment with opportunities for professional growth.

Play a key role in scaling impactful healthcare services that improve patient outcomes and system efficiencies.

Engage with industry leaders and shape the future of digital health in the UK.