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- Tasks: Lead a dynamic IT team managing cutting-edge infrastructure for life sciences research.
- Company: Join EMBL, a global leader in life sciences with a diverse workforce across Europe.
- Benefits: Enjoy hybrid working, generous leave, private medical insurance, and family allowances.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in science while developing your leadership skills in a supportive environment.
- Qualifications: Degree or equivalent experience in IT, with strong leadership and communication skills required.
- Other info: This role offers a 5-year contract with potential renewal and international recruitment opportunities.
The predicted salary is between 50000 - 70000 £ per year.
The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is a non-profit, Intergovernmental Organisation funded by 29 member states, one associate member state and two prospect member states. EMBL has over 2,000 members of personnel from over 80 nations based across its six sites: Heidelberg (Germany), Hinxton near Cambridge (UK), Grenoble (France), Hamburg (Germany), Rome (Italy) and Barcelona (Spain). In service of its world-leading life sciences services, training, and research, EMBL-EBI operates a substantial infrastructure estate, comprising 500PB of raw storage, high bandwidth networks, multiple High Performance Computing (HPC) clusters and a large VMWare presence.
The Head of Infrastructure Services leads a multidisciplinary IT team responsible for the operation and evolution of this massive infrastructure. They will build and maintain a service roadmap, adapting to the diverse IT requirements of the scientific teams across EMBL-EBI. This involves building strong internal relationships, both within the IT department and more widely with the teams managing public-facing bioinformatics services.
Specifically, this role will lead the Infrastructure team (currently 18 persons), supported by team leads, covering data centres, high performance computing, network and connectivity, storage and virtualisation. The Infrastructure team is part of the IT and Technical Services (ITS) department, which consists of five teams: Head office, Operations, Infrastructure, Applications and Web Development. The role will entail working closely with leading life scientists and technical users to develop solutions to complex problems and ensure that the infrastructure continues to serve the needs of its users now and into the future.
The Head of Infrastructure is crucial in ensuring operational excellence, efficiency, and continuous alignment of services with the needs of a dynamic research and service delivery organisation. EMBL-EBI supports hybrid working, and this position requires on-site working for at least 2 days per week.
Your role
- Strategic Leadership: Define the team's roadmap and align this with the rest of IT & EMBL-EBI's mission, defining the technical direction and development of the infrastructure. Work with the Head of ITS & the other ITS team leaders to develop and deliver the ITS strategy. Foster a service-oriented mindset within the team, prioritising reliable and user-friendly solutions.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders across EMBL-EBI. Ensure that services are tailored to meet their specific requirements.
- Technical Excellence: Oversee the design, implementation and operation of EMBL-EBI IT infrastructure. Continuously improve existing solutions to enhance reliability, performance, and adaptability.
- Team Development: Provide guidance and support to your team, ensuring they have the tools and resources to succeed in their roles. Facilitate professional development through training and skills-building activities.
You have
- A degree in a relevant area or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.
- A proactive and positive problem-solving mindset.
- Inclusive leadership skills; actively seek to identify your own biases and consider a range of perspectives to inform decision-making and the way you lead and collaborate with others.
- Demonstrate key leadership qualities: self-awareness, empathy, growth mindset, active listening, empowerment of others and superior communication skills.
- Dedication to developing effective relationships across EMBL while demonstrating a commitment to inclusive behaviours.
- Previous senior team management experience, providing leadership to a team in the delivery of a large IT infrastructure across multiple data centres.
- Experience building long-term IT service roadmaps with a user community and delivering on those roadmaps.
- Technical understanding of some of the following: High performance computing (HPC), High performance storage, i.e. Lustre, VAST, Weka etc., Large-scale storage, particularly object storage, WAN and data centre networking.
- Experience with large-scale hardware purchasing, managing large budgets and with long-term economic planning.
- Demonstrated experience building & maintaining professional relationships at all levels within an organisation (i.e. senior management, peers, technical & non-technical staff).
- Great communication skills - able to work with stakeholders to understand needs and communicate technology options and opportunities.
- Works well with other people. Listens, communicates and builds constructive relationships.
- The ability to nurture and maintain a positive team environment. Persuade and inspire others towards a common vision or goal.
You may also have
- Experience of leading a team in developing or operating IT services at scale (PBs of data, 100s of VMs, 100s of users).
- Familiarity with agile management practices (e.g. Kanban, Scrum) and their role in managing a team and projects.
- Experience providing IT services in an academic or research IT environment.
- Qualification or experience with ITSM (we use ServiceNow).
- Experience in facilitating teams to review current processes and develop new ones to improve operational efficiency, quality and simplification.
- Hands-on experience of bioinformatics tools, analyses and/or public biodata resources.
- Experience working in a diverse and multinational environment.
Benefits and Contract Information
- Financial incentives: depending on circumstances, monthly family/marriage allowance of £272, monthly child allowance of £328 per child, Non resident allowance up to £701 per month.
- Annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances.
- Hybrid working arrangements.
- Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover).
- Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to eight bank holidays.
- Relocation package including installation grant (as applicable).
- Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely).
- Family benefits: On-site nursery, child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances.
- Contract duration: This position is a 5 year contract renewable up to 9 years.
- Salary: Monthly salary starting at £5,848 after tax but excluding pension & insurances + benefits (Total package will be dependent on family circumstances).
- International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions.
- Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL-EBI, we strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ+ and individuals from all nationalities.
- Job location: This role is based in Hinxton, near Cambridge, UK. You will be required to relocate if you are based overseas and you will receive a generous relocation package to support you.
To apply, please submit a covering letter and CV via our online system. Applications will close on 13/07/2025.
Head of Infrastructure employer: Murnen Design
Contact Detail:
Murnen Design Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Head of Infrastructure
✨Tip Number 1
Familiarise yourself with the specific technologies mentioned in the job description, such as High Performance Computing (HPC) and large-scale storage solutions. Being able to discuss these technologies confidently during interviews will demonstrate your technical expertise and alignment with EMBL-EBI's needs.
✨Tip Number 2
Network with current or former employees of EMBL-EBI on platforms like LinkedIn. Engaging with them can provide you with insider knowledge about the company culture and expectations, which can be invaluable during your interview.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare to showcase your leadership skills by thinking of specific examples where you've successfully led a team or project. Highlighting your experience in managing multidisciplinary teams will resonate well with the role's requirements.
✨Tip Number 4
Research EMBL-EBI's mission and recent projects to understand their strategic goals. This knowledge will allow you to tailor your discussions during interviews, showing that you're not just a fit for the role but also genuinely interested in contributing to their objectives.
We think you need these skills to ace Head of Infrastructure
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Cover Letter: Make sure to customise your cover letter for the Head of Infrastructure position. Highlight your relevant experience in managing large IT infrastructures and your leadership skills. Mention specific examples that demonstrate your ability to build relationships with stakeholders and lead a multidisciplinary team.
Showcase Technical Expertise: In your CV, emphasise your technical understanding of high-performance computing, storage solutions, and networking. Include any relevant certifications or projects that showcase your experience with large-scale IT services, particularly in an academic or research environment.
Demonstrate Leadership Qualities: Use your application to illustrate your leadership style. Provide examples of how you've fostered a positive team environment, supported professional development, and engaged with diverse teams. This will help convey your inclusive leadership skills, which are crucial for this role.
Highlight Problem-Solving Skills: In both your cover letter and CV, include instances where you've successfully solved complex problems related to IT infrastructure. This could involve improving operational efficiency or adapting services to meet user needs, showcasing your proactive and positive problem-solving mindset.
How to prepare for a job interview at Murnen Design
✨Understand the Infrastructure Landscape
Familiarise yourself with the specific infrastructure technologies mentioned in the job description, such as High Performance Computing (HPC) and large-scale storage solutions. Being able to discuss these topics intelligently will demonstrate your technical expertise and alignment with the role.
✨Showcase Leadership Experience
Prepare examples from your past experiences where you successfully led a team in delivering IT infrastructure projects. Highlight your inclusive leadership skills and how you've fostered a positive team environment, as this is crucial for the Head of Infrastructure role.
✨Build Relationships
Emphasise your ability to build strong relationships with stakeholders. Be ready to discuss how you've tailored services to meet specific needs in previous roles, as stakeholder engagement is a key part of this position.
✨Communicate Effectively
Practice articulating complex technical concepts in a way that non-technical stakeholders can understand. This will showcase your communication skills and your ability to bridge the gap between technical and non-technical teams, which is essential for the role.
