Transformation Lead – Research Data Management & Fair Practice

Enjoy connecting people and turning ideas into practical change? Join The James Hutton Institute to help make research data more findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR). Reporting to the Director of Digital Transformation, you’ll turn agreed priorities into projects, working alongside researchers, Library colleagues and digital and technical specialists to improve data workflows, guidance and everyday research practice.

We’re looking for project delivery and facilitation skills, good knowledge of research data management and FAIR principles, and practical experience of using or evaluating AI tools for RDM. You don’t need to be an AI specialist or developer - just bring applied knowledge, sound judgement and a collaborative approach.

Research is increasingly dependent on high-quality data, digital methods and reproducible workflows. We are looking for a motivated and collaborative Transformation Lead to turn our ambitions for research data management (RDM) and FAIR data into practical improvements across the Institute, contributing to our wider open research objectives. This is a delivery-focused role reporting to the Director of Digital Transformation, who sets the Institute’s direction and ambition for RDM.

Working under the Director’s guidance, you will work across research, digital, technical and professional services teams to translate that direction into coordinated projects that deliver tangible and sustainable improvements to research practice. The role therefore leads agreed project delivery, rather than setting institutional strategy or heading a service.

Our approach to digital transformation puts people and culture at its centre. We are developing research data infrastructure alongside improved standards, workflows, guidance and skills, with the aim of making good research data practice easier to adopt as part of everyday research. This includes progressively making research data, models and analytical workflows more findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR).

About the role: Within the direction and priorities set by the Director of Digital Transformation, you will work with researchers, service owners and project sponsors to develop project proposals for the Director’s consideration, then lead delivery of agreed RDM and FAIR practice projects. These may improve research data services and infrastructure, data workflows, or associated guidance and training. You will contribute practical insight and recommendations to inform the Director’s decisions, rather than independently set the RDM agenda. The focus is research data and its reuse, rather than ownership of the Institute’s wider open science agenda.

A key part of the role will be connecting people. You will work directly with researchers to understand their needs and translate these into clear requirements, involving colleagues from IT, research computing, Library and Information Services, governance and other professional services to design and deliver practical solutions. You will work in partnership with existing service owners and subject specialists, complementing rather than duplicating their responsibilities for policy advice, guidance, training and operational services.

The role manages agreed change projects; it does not assume line-management responsibility for participating teams or transfer ownership of existing services. Project priorities, scope and resource commitments require approval through the relevant sponsors, managers and governance arrangements. Changes affecting an existing service will be agreed with its owner, with operational ownership and support responsibilities confirmed before implementation. You will not necessarily have a permanent project team. Our transformation model uses cross-Institute collaboration and staff secondments, with participation, time commitments and project responsibilities agreed with relevant line managers and sponsors.

You will build effective teams, coordinate agreed project contributions, influence without relying on formal authority and keep people focused on shared outcomes. You will also bring applied knowledge of using AI to support RDM, helping colleagues identify and test proportionate uses of existing tools - for example, assisting metadata creation, documentation or data discovery. Working with relevant specialists, you will assess usefulness and limitations, validate outputs and address confidentiality, data protection, intellectual property and research integrity requirements. This is not an AI specialist or development post: the emphasis is on practical application, sound judgement and sharing usable approaches with colleagues.

Importantly, successful delivery will mean more than completing a project plan. You will consider whether new approaches are actually being adopted, whether they improve research practice and how services and processes will be supported and maintained once project activity finishes.

Main duties of the role:

• Translate the RDM direction and priorities set by the Director of Digital Transformation into practical project proposals with researchers and service owners, seeking the Director’s agreement and the necessary scope and resource approvals through relevant sponsors and governance arrangements, and coordinate delivery of the agreed projects.
• Manage agreed projects from discovery and requirements gathering through implementation, adoption and handover to the agreed operational owner, working within established sponsorship and approval arrangements.
• Work with researchers to understand research processes, pain points and opportunities, translating these into practical requirements.
• Build effective project teams, including internal secondments, agreeing staff participation, time commitments and responsibilities with relevant line managers and sponsors.
• Co-develop RDM guidance, training and engagement with Library and Information Services and other relevant specialists, aligning project activity with existing provision and responsibilities.
• Identify, trial and evaluate practical applications of existing AI tools for RDM with researchers and specialists, documenting benefits, limitations and safeguards, and helping colleagues adopt approaches if justified by the evidence and approved requirements.
• Identify and manage project risks and dependencies, reporting progress to the Director of Digital Transformation and relevant sponsors, and escalating decisions or competing priorities beyond the agreed project remit.
• Track outcomes and adoption as well as traditional project milestones and deliverables.
• Work within agreed institutional governance and develop project-level arrangements with sponsors and service owners, confirming approval of service changes, operational ownership, support, resourcing and handover before implementation.
• Support learning across projects, helping successful approaches become reusable Institute-wide practice.

About you: We are looking for someone who combines project delivery skills with an understanding of research and research data. You will have experience of managing projects involving multiple teams or disciplines and be comfortable working in environments where requirements evolve as people explore problems and potential solutions. You should bring good knowledge of RDM and FAIR principles and be able to explain how these apply in practical research settings, with an appreciation of open and reproducible research.

Just as importantly, you will be an excellent communicator and collaborator. You will be able to work effectively with researchers, technical specialists and professional services colleagues; facilitate conversations between people with different perspectives; and turn complex issues into clear, achievable actions. You will bring working, applied knowledge of using AI for RDM, with practical examples of using or evaluating existing tools and judging the quality of their outputs. You do not need to be an AI specialist, software developer or technical infrastructure specialist. You do need enough confidence with research data and digital research environments to ask good questions, understand specialist advice, recognise when AI is inappropriate and help colleagues make informed, responsible choices.

Above all, we are looking for someone who enjoys making change happen. Someone who can bring structure to complex problems, build enthusiastic teams around them and stay focused on whether the resulting change genuinely makes research easier, more effective, more open and more reusable.

Person specification:

Essential:

• Relevant degree or equivalent professional experience in research, data/information management, project management, digital transformation or a related area.
• Demonstrable project management experience, including planning and delivering projects involving multiple teams, disciplines or stakeholders and managing priorities, risks and dependencies.
• Good knowledge of RDM and FAIR principles, with the ability to explain their practical application across the research data lifecycle to support open, reproducible research.
• Working knowledge of applying existing AI tools to RDM, evidenced by practical use or evaluation, with the ability to assess output quality, explain limitations and apply appropriate confidentiality, data protection, intellectual property and research integrity safeguards. AI development expertise is not required.
• Strong interpersonal, communication and facilitation skills, with the ability to build effective relationships and work collaboratively with researchers, technical specialists and professional services colleagues.
• Experience of coordinating cross-functional teams, including the ability to motivate and influence people where there is no direct line-management relationship.
• Ability to translate complex needs into practical change, including gathering requirements, developing solutions and supporting their implementation, adoption and longer-term sustainability.

Desirable:

• Experience of working in a research-intensive environment and delivering projects relating to RDM, FAIR data, Open Science or digital research.
• Knowledge of research data infrastructure and good practice, such as metadata, repositories, persistent identifiers, data management plans, research software and reproducible workflows.
• Relevant project, change or RDM qualification or professional development, such as APM, PRINCE2, AgilePM or equivalent.

Informal enquiries can be directed to Rupert Hough, Director of Digital Transformation. Any applications that miss the deadline will not be considered.