Research & Development (R&D) Specialist Data Analyst

Job overview

University Hospital Southampton is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us Job Title: Research & Development (R&D) Specialist Data Analyst Contract Type: Permanent Please be advised that this vacancy may close earlier than stated if we receive a large number of applications.

Main duties of the job

This is an exciting opportunity to join our growing Data & AI team within the Research & Development department at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, as a Senior Research Analyst. Working within the Southampton Emerging Therapies and Technologies (SETT) Centre, you will combine advanced analytical and data engineering expertise with line management responsibilities, leading a group of analysts and data engineers to deliver high-quality research data projects.

Our team supports clinical and academic research through the extraction, processing and analysis of routinely collected healthcare data, developing innovative tools and infrastructure to expand research capacity and improve patient outcomes.

You will play an important role in supporting research project delivery, ensuring technical quality, and working in the team to improve team processes and capabilities. The SETT Data & AI team works to drive future transformation in patient care through the streamlined extraction of high quality data at scale, and the application of state of the art analytical techniques to drive research. By developing a data landscape friendly to research, we aim to expand Trust-wide research capacity and improve patient outcomes through helping to shape the future of medicine. This is a creative and rapidly evolving unit within the hospital’s R&D environment, and successful candidates will have the exciting opportunity to help shape its direction and long-term aims.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The successful candidate will be responsible for supporting the delivery of complex research data analysis projects within the Data & AI team. You will support project development and delivery, maintain high technical standards, and contribute to the ongoing improvement of the team's capabilities and working practices.

The Data & AI team works closely with clinical and academic researchers across University Hospital Southampton and partner organisations, supporting a diverse portfolio of research projects using routinely collected healthcare data. Our work ranges from developing automated data extraction and transformation pipelines to undertaking advanced analytical studies, building innovative research tools and improving the infrastructure that enables research at scale. Through this work, we aim to expand research capacity, support scientific discovery and ultimately improve patient outcomes.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Research project development and delivery: Develop and manage a pipeline of research data projects, guiding enquiries from initial Expression of Interest through feasibility assessment, scoping, resource estimation and prioritisation into active delivery. Support the analytical delivery of allocated projects, monitoring progress, and working closely with researchers and research delivery teams to ensure projects meet their scientific and technical requirements.
• Technical and analytical leadership: Undertake complex analyses of routinely collected NHS healthcare data, alongside the design and development of robust, reproducible data extraction, transformation and processing pipelines across clinical information systems. Provide technical oversight, including code review, testing, validation and documentation, while supporting the adoption of consistent technical standards and high-quality development practices.
• Infrastructure, governance and service development: Contribute to the design and improvement of research data infrastructure, analytical tooling, development environments and automation capabilities to enable efficient and scalable study delivery. Help develop and embed team processes, policies and technical standards through knowledge-sharing, ensuring appropriate information governance and research compliance.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR We are looking for a motivated and experienced analyst with an interest in advancing healthcare research. The following skills and experience would position you well for this role:

• Advanced analytical and engineering expertise: Educated to degree level in a numerate or scientific discipline, alongside substantial professional experience in data analysis or data engineering with strong SQL and Python skills, experience working with complex datasets, and a sound understanding of reproducible data processing, software development and quality assurance.
• Project delivery and client-facing experience: Demonstrable experience of coordinating and delivering complex analytical or engineering projects in a client-facing environment, with the ability to engage effectively with stakeholders, understand requirements, assess feasibility, agree deliverables, manage expectations and communicate progress, supported by strong interpersonal, communication and relationship-management skills.
• Technical judgement and continuous improvement: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, experience of handling sensitive information, an understanding of data protection and quality assurance requirements, and the ability to independently resolve technical challenges, improve working practices and support colleagues through knowledge-sharing and mentoring.