National AI Awards 2025Discover AI's trailblazers! Join us to celebrate innovation and nominate industry leaders.

Nominate & Attend

Head of Clinical Data Science and Data Engineering

NHS
Cambridge
3 weeks ago
Applications closed

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Principal Scientist

Business Analyst

Study Start-Up Specialist

Head of Financial Crime & Innovation

Head of Data Engineering (Ad Tech)

Head of Data Engineering

Go back Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Head of Clinical Data Science and Data Engineering

The closing date is 13 July 2025

Join CUH during an exciting phase of innovation in healthcare, research, and education as we look to establish and develop a hub for our wide-ranging innovation work across the Trust.

We recognise that the Trust's data represents one of our most potent assets to support innovation, as well as research and quality improvement. But we have yet to fully exploit its potential. Our new Clinical Data Science and Engineering Unit will be the vital engine room for curating, sharing and utilising our data for novel purposes outside of the routine operations of hospital. It will work collaboratively with the Trust's core digital and data functions, performance and analytics, clinical and operational staff, academics and commercial partners to discover new insights and develop data-driven applications. It will also play a key role in managing the safe, secure and efficient deployment of such solutions - from predictive analytics to medical device-grade decision support tools - in line with policies and processes that it takes the lead in designing. The Trust is committed to funding the unit and the necessary digital technology infrastructure to drive innovation. The unit will consist of a mix of new positions and existing analysts and developers from within the Trust, with a desire to expand as needed to support our innovation goals.

Main duties of the job

The Head of Clinical Data Science and Data Engineering is an exciting opportunity to establish our Clinical Data Science and Engineering Unit. You will have a proven track record in designing and managing enterprise data architectures, leading large-scale data integration and analytics projects, and working with cloud platforms, modern data tools, and programming languages. You will have proven experience in working collaboratively with non-technicians to translate needs into projects and implementing innovative data solutions to enhance performance and efficiency, ideally within a healthcare setting. As a result, you will be comfortable operating as a recognised internal expert in AI techniques, the development-to-deployment-to-monitoring cycle, and the infrastructure that supports such technologies.

The expected balance of duties is approximately 50% of the post holder's time on management-related activities and 50% on technical duties.

About us

Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust comprises Addenbrooke's Hospital and the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge. With over 13,000 staff and over 1100 beds the priorities of the Trust focus on a quality service which is all about people - patients, staff and partners. Recognised as providing 'outstanding' care to our patients and rated 'Good' overall by the Care Quality Commissioner, is testament to the skill and dedication of the people who work here. CUH's values - Together - Safe, Kind, Excellent - are at the heart of patient care, defining the way all staff work and behave. The Trust provides accessible high-quality healthcare for the local people of Cambridge, together with specialist services, dealing with rare or complex conditions for a regional, national and international population.

CUH is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community - a place where we can all be ourselves. We value our differences and fully advocate and support an inclusive working environment where every individual can fulfil their potential. We want to ensure our people are truly representative of all the communities that we serve. We welcome applications for all positions in the organisation irrespective of people's age, disability, ethnicity, race, nationality, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity status or social economic background.

Job responsibilities

Please see the attached Applicant Information Pack (combined Job Description and Person Specification) for key duties and responsibilities.

This vacancy will close at midnight on 13th July 2025.

Interviews are provisionally to take place 21st July 2025.

Benefits to you

At Cambridge University Hospitals, we want to do all we can to support good working days. We offer development opportunities and a wide range of benefits, including on-site leisure facilities, shopping concourse and day nurseries. Our good work programme currently includes providing reduced cost Stagecoach bus travel to and from Cambridge University Hospital site. Park and Ride bus journeys between Babraham Road and Trumpington sites are free, as is the route to and from Cambridge train station and our hospitals. We also subsidise the cost of parking on site for eligible staff.

On CUH campus, hot food is available 24/7 and at a reduced cost for colleagues. Recently we launched the first of our staff pod break spaces. Located in the Deakin Centre, we have a purpose-created colleague-only caf, with free tea and coffee, a break space and private outside area for colleagues to rest, refuel and recharge. Just one of the ways we are working hard to support good working days at CUH.

CUH is committed to assisting employees in achieving a good work-life balance irrespective of role or personal circumstances. Flexible arrangements may include, but are not limited to, part-time working, job-share, term-time working and flexible start and finish times.

Please note if you would like to discuss the required hours of this role further, you should approach the contact given. In some cases, alternative working hours will be considered.

We welcome applications from the Armed Forces.

Person SpecificationQualifications

  • Master's degree (or equivalent experience) in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field
  • Evidence of continuous professional development
  • Substantial evidence of specialist knowledge and ongoing education relevant to data engineering, data science and AI/ML
  • Professional certifications in data architecture such as TOGAF, DAMA or equivalent

Experience

  • Experience in designing and managing enterprise data architectures in a complex organization
  • Proven track record in leading and delivering large-scale data integration and analytics projects
  • Experience with cloud platforms (e.g. Azure, MS Fabric, AWS), modern data tools (e.g. Power BI, Snowflake, Kubernetes, Docker), programming languages (e.g. Python, R, SQL)
  • Extensive experience in stakeholder management and partnership working across health and local government to deliver service improvements and change
  • Experience in Strategic and organisational business planning processes, writing and agreeing on strategic policy, guidance documents and complex operational business cases
  • Extensive experience working at a senior level in a large complex organisation and presenting complex material in a simple and accessible format to a senior audience and enabling decision-making and action
  • Experience in managing and developing staff
  • Experience in completing and submitting research bids and funding calls
  • Experience of working in or with health-tech small or medium-sized enterprises
  • NHS experience in a senior analytical, data engineering, data science and/or AI/ML role in the NHS

Knowledge

  • Knowledge of cloud environments and architectures
  • Extensive up-to-date knowledge of best practices in software development, data engineering, ETL and data science
  • Knowledge of information technology and its impact on data
  • Extensive knowledge of data protection and GDPR
  • Understanding of Cybersecurity and common issues
  • Extensive knowledge of using data science and AI techniques such as ML, simulation modelling, causal impact analysis, network analysis, NLP
  • Knowledge of health technology
  • Knowledge of NHS operations, policies, governance and organisational structures

Skills

  • Confidence and skilled in adapting to new software and programming language
  • Skilled in implementation and optimization of data management systems (Databases/Datasets/DataLakes/Lakehouses)
  • Ability to design and implement data pipeline technologies to extract sensitive information from databases/datasets to help understand a process or solve a problem and make informed recommendations based on detailed data insight
  • Ability to analyse complex and sometimes conflicting data sets with a logical approach
  • Ability to communicate sensitive information to senior and executive managers and use tact and diplomacy to influence decision making
  • Exceptional oral communication skills for a variety of formal and informal purposes
  • Confident when presenting to groups in internal and external meetings
  • Able to articulate a vision with clarity and adapt it to suit different audiences
  • Excellent written skills - able to set out options, conclusions and recommendations clearly and concisely in a range of written styles
  • Demonstrable proficiency in organising and running multiple complex programmes of work
  • Flexible in workload duties/dealing with tasks/hours and ability to work with multiple projects/conflicting demands
  • Experience participating in and leading projects using Agile methodologies
  • Self-motivated, enthusiastic, and organised, with excellent attention to detail
  • Proactive and delivers to timescales
  • Attention to detail in creating documentation
  • The ability to conduct descriptive statistics, Bayesian statistics, Inferential statistics, Probability distributions and theory, dimensionality reduction and sampling etc
  • Strong numerical and statistical skills

Additional Requirements

  • Willing to be flexible in working practices
  • Improvement mindset - able to identify flaws in our internal Quality Management processes, prioritise, and lead/complete improvement actions
  • Enthusiasm and commitment to learn new skills
  • Accepts responsibility and accountability for own work
  • Seeks and uses professional support appropriately
  • Able to work under pressure and to deadlines
  • Understands the principle of confidentiality
  • Understanding of need for sensitivity and discretion in particular circumstances
  • The ability to understand and behave at all times, towards patients, visitors and colleagues according to the Trust values of safe, kind, excellent
  • Able to deal with occasional distressing topics

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Address

£74,290 to £85,601 a yearpeer annum per rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

180-F-255161

Job locations
#J-18808-Ljbffr

National AI Awards 2025

Subscribe to Future Tech Insights for the latest jobs & insights, direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

10 AI Recruitment Agencies in the UK You Should Know (2025 Job‑Seeker Guide)

Generative‑AI hype has translated into real hiring: Lightcast recorded +57 % year‑on‑year growth in UK adverts mentioning “machine learning”, “LLM” or “gen‑AI” during Q1 2025. Yet supply still lags. Roughly 18,000 core AI professionals work in the UK, but monthly live vacancies hover around 1,400–1,600. That mismatch makes specialist recruiters invaluable—opening stealth vacancies, advising on salary bands and fast‑tracking interview loops. But many tech agencies sprinkle “AI” on their website without an active desk. To save you time, we vetted 50 + consultancies and kept only those with: A registered UK head office (verified via Companies House). A named AI/Machine‑Learning or Data practice.

AI Jobs Skills Radar 2026: Emerging Frameworks, Languages & Tools to Learn Now

As the UK’s AI sector accelerates towards a £1 trillion tech economy, the job landscape is rapidly evolving. Whether you’re an aspiring AI engineer, a machine learning specialist, or a data-driven software developer, staying ahead of the curve means more than just brushing up on Python. You’ll need to master a new generation of frameworks, languages, and tools shaping the future of artificial intelligence. Welcome to the AI Jobs Skills Radar 2026—your definitive guide to the emerging AI tech stack that employers will be looking for in the next 12–24 months. Updated annually for accuracy and relevance, this guide breaks down the top tools, frameworks, platforms, and programming languages powering the UK’s most in-demand AI careers.

How to Find Hidden AI Jobs in the UK Using Professional Bodies like BCS, IET & the Turing Society

Stop Scrolling Job Boards and Start Tapping the Real AI Market Every week a new headline announces millions of pounds flowing into artificial-intelligence research, defence initiatives, or health-tech pilots. Read the news and you could be forgiven for thinking that AI vacancies must be everywhere—just grab your laptop, open LinkedIn, and pick a role. Yet anyone who has hunted seriously for an AI job in the United Kingdom knows the truth is messier. A large percentage of worthwhile AI positions—especially specialist or senior posts—never appear on public boards. They emerge inside university–industry consortia, defence labs, NHS data-science teams, climate-tech start-ups, and venture studios. Most are filled through referral or conversation long before a recruiter drafts a formal advert. If you wait for a vacancy link, you are already at the back of the queue. The surest way to beat that dynamic is to embed yourself in the professional bodies and grassroots communities where the work is conceived. The UK has a dense network of such organisations: the Chartered Institute for IT (BCS); the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) with its Artificial Intelligence Technical Network; the Alan Turing Institute and its student-driven Turing Society; the Royal Statistical Society (RSS); the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and its Mechatronics, Informatics & Control Group; public-funding engines like UK Research and Innovation (UKRI); and an ecosystem of Slack channels and Meetup groups that trade genuine, timely intel. This article is a practical, step-by-step guide to using those networks. You will learn: Why professional bodies matter more than algorithmic job boards Exactly which special-interest groups (SIGs) and technical networks to join How to turn CPD events into informal interviews How to monitor grant databases so you hear about posts months before they exist Concrete scripts, portfolio tactics, and outreach rhythms that convert visibility into offers Follow the playbook and you move from passive applicant to insider—the colleague who hears about a role before it is written down.