Ellen recently got shortlisted for the Outstanding Leadership and Management Award at the Business Eye Awards 2024 so we’re casting the spotlight on her remarkable achievements and contributions. 

Ellen Dickson is VP of Enterprise Health at digital transformation company Telefónica Tech. With over 20 years’ experience in the IT sector, she is a trusted expert in healthcare IT. She is the driving force behind Telefónica Tech’s health team. Ellen initially joined the company with the task of growing the business in mainland UK, specifically in health. Within 3 years of embarking on this strategy, Ellen led the company to win its first 7 figure deal from an NHS trust in mainland UK.   

This year she has secured a significant milestone in its delivery of a five-year IT managed services contract to support encompass, the health and social care programme that is creating a single digital care record for every citizen who receives health and social care in NI.  Telefónica Tech’s global parent company has also invited Ellen to advise globally on healthcare digital transformation, hoping to adapt her learnings of delivering for frontline healthcare customers in the UK& Ireland to other regions and countries.  

Outside her key responsibilities, Ellen is passionate about encouraging women into technical roles in IT and advocates for the qualities females bring to teams outside core support functions. Being from Belfast, Ellen is passionate about local ESG and CSR initiatives and takes a hands-on approach, heavily involved in many of the company’s initiatives.  

Telefónica Tech is a sponsor of the Belfast Telegraph IT Awards and Ellen is heavily involved in this sponsorship and is part of the esteemed panel of judges across the IT industry in Northern Ireland. She is keen to come together as an industry, exchanging knowledge and expertise. In September 2024, she chaired a panel discussion to launch the 2024 awards in which she discussed insights, knowledge and expertise in the industry with previous winners of the awards.  

Transforming Healthcare  

Ellen has become an expert in the healthcare vertical. Working with clients such as Cambridge University Hospital, Encompass, and Children’s Health Ireland, amongst others, and she has continued to achieve success in the healthcare sector for Telefónica Tech. Previously, Ellen has worked as a Client Director across the tech sector on healthcare contracts, and now provides expert advice and support for strategy development for healthcare clients at Telefónica Tech, using her vast experience and knowledge. She also oversees the 24/7 team of employees dedicated to this vertical.  

The roll-out of encompass is a highly complex project and critical to the health and wellbeing of service users in Northern Ireland. It requires the highest levels of service to support approximately 70,000 staff members who will use the system once it is implemented across all Health and Social Care Trusts. Ellen is also the driving force behind the announcement in spring 2024 that Telefónica Tech will be providing numerous infrastructure technology solutions for the new digital children’s hospital in Dublin, opening in 2025, which is set to transform children’s healthcare in Ireland as a centre of excellence.  

Ellen is singularly focused on delivering and building a customer solution and focusing on one thing at a time, a different way of working than traditional business approaches.  

Leadership and Management  

Ellen is a vocal advocate for a culture of learning at Telefónica Tech. There is a huge amount of training involved in technical IT roles. To ensure staff are equipped for the highly demanding roles, Ellen introduced a comprehensive business case to other board members. She proposed that staff begin their training on the Epic system a year in advance of needing to implement the work, giving them time to complete the comprehensive training. This is to ensure that the company delivers excellent work to clients whilst ensuring they maintain a positive working environment of learning and employee retention.  

Ellen ensures that her team keeps the ‘bigger picture’ at the front of mind, rather than focusing on the technology. Shebelieves it is important to focus on clients, what they are doing and how Telefónica Tech helps them reduce risk, increase productivity, and keep patient data safe. 

Mentorship  

With a horizontal lens across the wider organisation, Ellen provides support and advice to other functions beyond ‘health’ in the wider business, demonstrating her tenacity, subject matter expertise and desire to achieve business growth in implementing similar models to achieve what she has achieved in health, across the business.  

Outside her core responsibilities, Ellen is an advocate for encouraging women into technical roles in IT, in which she believes they are underrepresented and believes it is her duty to act as a mentor to other women. For example, in partnership with Belfast Works Connect, Telefónica Tech has hosted sessions for long-term unemployed women. These events, held at the company’s Belfast office, focused on raising aspirations and addressing key issues such as mental health, neurodiversity, menopause, and work-life balance. 

Ellen also believes that at every level, including those in senior leadership roles, you can constantly learn and evolve. She is a huge advocate for learning from others and continues to prioritise her own professional development, absorbing and learning new ideas.  

Community Engagement  

One of the most important elements to Ellen’s leadership approach is that community should be at the core of the company. She is passionate about local communities, striving to help those disadvantaged in the local community and providing support and funding in whatever way Telefónica Tech can.   

It’s important to ensure that this commitment to ESG comes from the top of the business. Ellen actively leads on many ESG initiatives and plays an active role, attending charity football matches, hosting employment fairs, speaking at events and leading on the company’s Social Value Strategy.  

For instance, Telefónica Tech partners with Impact Training and Queen’s University Belfast to support a programme for students facing barriers to employment aged 16-19. This provides crucial software skills and industry insights, preparing students for careers in technology. Ellen is heavily involved in driving these initiatives and attends the graduations allowing face-to-face contact with graduates.