Assistant Director - Digital Design and Delivery Ref: 44384

About the role

The Assistant Director, Digital Design and Delivery role is essential to delivering the University’s ambitions under Sussex 2035: Creating Progressive Futures, specifically the Digital & Data Futures strategic theme and the Recovery and Rebuilding Strategic Plan (2025–2028). 

The role provides strategic leadership across the University’s digital, data and technology change portfolio, ensuring that programmes and projects are effectively shaped, governed, and delivered to achieve institutional priorities. It brings together business partnering, business analysis, project delivery and business change management to create a coherent, high-performing function that translates strategic intent into well-defined initiatives, with clear ownership, robust planning and strong stakeholder alignment.

The postholder will establish and embed a disciplined portfolio governance and assurance framework, providing independent oversight, challenge and support across all change activities. This will include the active management of risks, dependencies, and benefits, as well as ensuring delivery is consistent with agreed standards and methodologies, and that stakeholder engagement and adoption are effectively led. Success in this role is critical to strengthening delivery confidence, maximising value from investment, and enabling sustainable, user-centered transformation at scale.

About you

Ideally, you will be an experienced and strategic digital leader with a strong track record of leading teams that design and deliver technology, data and transformation portfolios within large, complex organisations. Educated to degree level (or equivalent professional qualification) in IT, Digital Services, Business Administration or a related field, you will demonstrate ongoing professional development and a commitment to leadership excellence.

You will have a proven track record of delivering large-scale digital transformation, leading multi-disciplinary teams across business partnering, business analysis, architecture, programme and project delivery, and business change management. Combining strong governance, change and portfolio management expertise with excellent communication and relationship-building skills, you will be equally comfortable shaping long-term strategy and ensuring operational excellence.

Above all, you will be a collaborative, resilient leader with a demonstrable commitment to service improvement, user experience and delivering measurable value in a complex and evolving environment.

About our Division

IT Services supports the University of Sussex community with the technology, systems and expertise that enable students and staff to learn, teach, research and work effectively. Since its founding over 60 years ago, Sussex has built a distinctive tradition of innovation and challenging convention. We are helping carry that tradition forward through Sussex 2035, the University’s strategy for the next decade.

Led by our Chief Digital and Technology Officer and IT Leadership Team, we are embarking on a programme of modernisation, strengthening the foundations for institutional recovery and rebuilding. Our Digital and Data Futures programme will connect services, improve the quality and use of data, enable responsible AI and automation, and develop digital confidence and skills across our community.

Alongside wider campus renewal, investment in secure, resilient and sustainable digital infrastructure, including a major campus network replacement, will support the University’s ambitions for digital and data futures, environmental sustainability and human flourishing. Joining IT Services means helping shape this transformation and delivering inclusive, accessible services that make a meaningful difference to our community.

Why work here

Our university is situated off the A27, next to the beautiful South Downs where you will enjoy everything that our 150-acre campus has to offer. We are accessible by public transport; Falmer train station is a five-minute walk to campus and several bus stops are located within campus. We also have dedicated cycling paths and encourage our staff to use these with our offering of a cycle to work scheme.  

Sussex is a renowned, multi-accredited, research-led International University and this is only possible because of the people that work here. Whether you are a member of Faculty, part of a Professional Services team or a Student, it’s our people that make us great and we want you to be part of that. 

Find out more about our reward and benefits package. 

Find out about our equality, diversity and inclusion. 

Further Key Information 

Please contact the IT Business Services team at ITBusinessServices@sussex.ac.uk for informal enquiries.

The University of Sussex values the diversity of its staff and students, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

Eligibility

Visa Sponsorship Queries: TBC

The University requires that work undertaken for the University is performed in the UK.