Director Of Delivery Infrastructure

The Alan Turing Institute

Named in honour of Alan Turing, the Institute is a place for inspiring, exciting work and we need passionate, sharp, and innovative people who want to use their skills to contribute to our mission to make great leaps in data science and AI research to change the world for the better.

BACKGROUND

The Institute is seeking to recruit an experienced individual to a senior leadership role who will have ultimate responsibility for the Science and Innovation Delivery infrastructure for the Institute and be a key member of the Executive Leadership Team.

The postholder, with support from the CEO, Chief Scientist and other members of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) will work closely with the Infrastructure Directors and other management teams to align potential transformations in these areas with the Turing’s strategy. The postholder will contribute to ensuring the Institute meets its key strategic missions and will sit on the Executive Leadership Team, reporting to the CEO.

As well as the ongoing leadership of the Delivery Infrastructure areas, the postholder will lead on bringing these functions together and create an effective operating model to deliver the organisation’s goals. These areas have grown organically and independently to support the research delivery of Turing 1.0. At this time of transformation, it is a priority to bring these key areas of the Institute together to maximise the essential capabilities these functions have to drive the Turing’s science and innovation agenda.

This is a scale leadership role, the Turing’s infrastructure functions currently comprise of circa 100 people and are responsible for the following remits: 

Data Wrangling: Responsible for data culture, establishing key collaborations for the Data team, delivery of the data co-ordination framework for the management of health data in the realm of early detection, and embedding EDI priorities in data research team.

The Programme Management Unit: Responsible for the management, development and delivery of Turing’s scientific research and innovation areas, delivering high-quality research projects, research programmes, training, and knowledge exchange in data science and AI, totalling tens of millions of pounds.

The Research Engineering Group: Responsible for contributing skills in research software engineering and research data science and research computing in support of the delivery of our Grand Challenges as well as cross-cutting work on research infrastructure and tooling to support both the Institute's own needs and those of the wider data science and AI community

Tools, Practices and Systems (TPS): Responsible for managing a cross-cutting set of initiatives which seek to build open source infrastructure that is accessible to all and to empower a global, decentralised network of people who connect data with domain experts. Provides research infrastructure specialists to support the delivery of the Grand Challenges as part of its mission to transform open, ethical, reproducible and collaborative ‘best practices’ on data science and AI.

The Director of Delivery Infrastructure will build strong, credible relationships internally with science leadership and the Executive Team, and externally with UK and overseas organisations, UK government and other strategically important partners. The role holder will be a constructive, culturally attuned positive contributor and role model at a time of great change, challenge and opportunity for the organisation.

DUTIES AND AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• Contribute to the development and delivery of the organisation’s strategy and missions, in particular its research and knowledge exchange strategy, working closely with the CEO and CS and other colleagues.
• Provide and oversee the operational support that ensures the delivery of all research initiatives that fulfil the Institute’s mission.
• Anticipate, influence and interpret regional, national and international research developments in the areas of data science, AI and associated technology and delivery models, and advise on trends and developments appropriate to the Institute.
• Contribute to the development of the organisation’s plans and approaches to strategic research funding opportunities, to deliver against the core strategies, gaining buy-in and engagement from relevant academic and professional communities.
• Work with the CEO and ELT to review and implement where needed transformation of operations within the Turing’s Science and Innovation Infrastructure areas.
• Work with the Infrastructure Directors to ensure a sustainable operating model is in place across the infrastructure areas to attract, retain and develop research infrastructure professionals with the range of skills and at the scale required to support the Institute's research initiatives.
• Line manage the Infrastructure Directors and ensure the professional development of these individuals, including career development and succession planning.
• With the Infrastructure Directors, oversee strategic planning and financial analysis of these areas.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

The successful candidate will have:

• A degree in a technology science or engineering discipline with evidence of ongoing professional development.
• Experience of running complex operational support teams and of working as a member of a senior team in a large complex organisation.
• Previous working experience or the ability to understand research problems and approaches in sufficient depth to identify and resolve challenges in delivering research impact.
• Experience of developing and implementing funding strategies across a broad diverse organisation.
• Experience of implementing strategic organisational change.
• Experience and expertise in at least one of the infrastructure areas of computational infrastructure, data infrastructure, data standards, research engineering/software engineering, programme and project management.
• Experience of implementing processes for compliance with due diligence and trusted research requirements.
• Significant experience in managing diverse teams and staff performance.
• Interest in and experience of commercialisation of science and innovation.

Please see our portal for a full breakdown of the Job Description.

Terms and Conditions

This full-time post is offered on a permanent basis with an annual salary starting from £120,000 plus excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies, https://www.turing.ac.uk/work-turing/why-work-turing/employee-benefits.

 The Alan Turing Institute is based at the British Library, in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter.We expect staff to come to our office at least 4 days per month. Some roles may require more days in the office; the hiring manager will be able to confirm this during the interview.

Application procedure

Please see our jobs portal for full details on how to apply and the interview process.

Equality Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to making sure our recruitment process is accessible and inclusive.

This includes making reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability or long-term condition. Please contact us at adjustments@turing.ac.uk  to find out how we can assist you.