At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead engineering on a groundbreaking platform for secure health data research.
- Company: Join the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science at the University of Oxford.
- Benefits: Enjoy high trust, autonomy, and the chance to make a real impact.
- Other info: Collaborative team culture with hybrid or fully remote working options.
- Why this job: Work on meaningful problems that improve healthcare and medical research.
- Qualifications: Strong technical leadership, communication skills, and a passion for solving hard problems.
The predicted salary is between 70000 - 90000 £ per year.
This is a rare opportunity to lead engineering on one of the world’s most ambitious open platforms for secure health data research. You’ll work on problems with genuine national and global importance, where software engineering can directly improve healthcare and medical research. We care deeply about openness, transparency and public trust.
You’ll collaborate closely with unusually thoughtful colleagues across engineering, clinical medicine, research, operations and information governance. In the role, you’ll work closely with our CTO and Head of Product to run the engineering team. You’ll enjoy high trust, substantial autonomy and real influence over both technical direction and engineering culture.
This is a role for somebody who enjoys making difficult things work in the real world, balancing technical ambition with pragmatism, persuasion and sound judgement. Success in this role depends on more than technical leadership; credibility, communication, and institutional empathy are also essential. It’s best suited to somebody excited by hard problems, meaningful impact, and working with exceptional people.
Who are we? We are the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science, at the University of Oxford, led by Professor Ben Goldacre. We built OpenSAFELY, a revolutionary open source platform for secure clinical research. Conceived at the start of the COVID-19 crisis, it has been used extensively to produce ground-breaking research using an unprecedented corpus of patient data which is not available anywhere else.
Our mission: Driving better use of data to improve the lives of citizens.
Our values:
- True multidisciplinary working, combining best practice from software development, academia, clinical work and information governance.
- Openness on code and methods, as a means to drive efficiency and quality.
- Transparency on use of data, to earn trust and prove delivery.
- Championing privacy through deeds rather than words.
- Open sharing of insights about ways of working, not just our outputs.
We aim to be fearless without being reckless when addressing systemic problems.
Why should you join us? We’re a truly interdisciplinary team of researchers, software developers, clinical informaticians and more, with a strong track record of delivering useful tools in a globally leading research setting. You’ll have the chance to use your software skills to save lives and further the state of medical data research. Our software delivery teams are collaborative, supportive, thoughtful and kind. We support hybrid or fully remote working, with in person team events throughout the year. We are actively seeking to increase our team’s diversity, and so we welcome applications from those in under-represented groups.
How to apply: In your application, please tell us how you meet the vacancy criteria.
Head of Engineering in Oxford employer: MindMatch
At the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science, you will be part of a pioneering team dedicated to transforming healthcare through innovative data solutions. Our collaborative and supportive work culture fosters personal and professional growth, allowing you to make a meaningful impact on global health while enjoying the flexibility of hybrid or remote working arrangements. Join us in our mission to drive better use of data for the benefit of citizens, where your contributions will be valued and your voice heard.
