Senior Data Lead for the UK Human Functional Genomics Initiative

Research Division

This new full–time post is available immediately on a permanent basis. This role offers the opportunity for hybrid working – some time on campus and some from home.

About the role

We are seeking a Senior Data Lead for the UK Human Functional Genomics Initiative. The successful applicant will work with the Director of the UK Human Functional Genomics Initiative to develop and lead the UK Functional Genomics Initiative (FGx) Data Coordination Centre (DCC). The Senior Data Lead will be responsible for providing high level oversight, leadership and management of the staff and activity in the DCC. Through close collaboration with the Director, the FGx Executive Board and external partners they will be oversee a team tasked with building and testing bespoke applications for data management and analysis, and develop and maintain robust data management processes for the FGx initiative, maximising the integrity, quality and completeness of the data collected. The post-holder will also have a key leadership and strategic role, as part of the FGx Executive Group, providing senior business and data management expertise and input to drive development of innovative and reliable information systems solutions to underpin delivery of the FGx initiative portfolio and its overall business operation. The Senior Data Lead will oversee the management of data from a wide portfolio of research projects and you may be required to develop expertise in new areas.

The position will be aligned to the University of Exeter Research Software and Analytics Group, which supports cutting-edge research across the university, improving reproducibility and bolstering impact. The Group consists of Research Software Engineers, Research Data Scientists, and Research Data Stewards. As part of the advertised role, you will be required to grow a team to support activity in the FGx DCC.

About you

Successful applicant will be talented, versatile research data specialists working to a professional standard with up-to-date skills. You should have demonstrable experience of managing and curating complex, large and/or rapidly changing datasets, supplemented by an understanding of open research and the principles of FAIR data and how that is applied within an academic research setting. This experience could have been acquired working in industry or via a PhD degree that required significant application of research data management and/or data engineering techniques. Given the research focus for this post, prior experience of contributing to academic research projects involving genetic datasets is desirable.

About the research you will support

The successful candidate will support the UK Human Functional Genomics Initiative (FGx), a £28.5m investment from the Medical Research Council (MRC), in collaboration with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), with the aim to advance our understanding of how genomic variation influences human physiology and disease. As part of the FGx Initiative, we are establishing a scalable data sharing platform focused on the scientific priorities of the FGx initiative. Datasets across diverse modalities will be linked and annotated according to requirements for federated analysis. This role will be based at the University of Exeter but work across all partners involved in the wider FGx Initiative and will build a team of different skills and roles to staff the Data Coordination Centre (DCC).

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification.

Further information

Please contact Katie Finch, Head of Research Software and Analytics, k.j.finch@exeter.ac.uk.

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