Senior Data & Insight Officer in Exeter

This new full-time post is available from February 2026 on a permanent basis. This role offers the opportunity for hybrid working – some time on campus and some from home. We welcome applications from candidates interested in working part-time hours or job-sharing arrangements.

Summary of the role

The Senior Data and Insights Officer will play a key role in further developing, maintaining and expanding the Data Connect services of data management, reporting and insight. The goal of the Data Connect service is to deliver the University’s Data Strategy, which aims to lay the foundations for excellence in data management, embed future-ready technologies, deliver an effective user-led service, and produce useful and usable data products. The service is critical to helping the University deliver excellent teaching and impactful research and achieve its strategic goals via enabling evidence-led decision-making.

The role will be assigned to one or more of the University’s data domains; delivering defined products and outcomes and developing working relationships, knowledge, and subject matter expertise to provide a holistic data and insights service. There will be the opportunity to shape the ways data and information is used and presented to inform decision making across the institution; providing analytics, including metrics and outputs at institutional level and divisional levels, and working closely with stakeholders of all seniority levels across the University.

We are recruiting to three vacancies. Two will be working across our portfolio which includes education, student experience, and HR data. One vacancy will be aligned to our Research Data team with specific responsibilities as listed below. Please highlight in your application if you have experience working with research management data:

• Develop and monitor key research metrics and risk warning systems that indicate the University’s performance in Research & Impact, and maintain associated dashboards.
• Prepare regular research performance reporting for the Research and Impact Executive Committee (RIEC), the University’s Executive Board and other relevant committees and stakeholder groups.
• Support the information requirements for the departmental annual research review meetings by collating, validating and presenting data from multiple sources.
• Lead the preparation of data for the Research Excellence Framework (REF).
• Support the information requirements for annual research planning exercise.

Main duties and accountabilities:

• Provide information and analysis, including the creation of dashboards and reports, to ensure that high quality data and insight is available to support the university’s strategic aims, inform decision making within the institution, and support statutory, regulatory and accreditation obligations.
• Work with colleagues across the University to develop the Data Connect service. This will involve maintaining and enhancing existing data products, generating new datasets and reports, sharing and supporting the interpretation of data and insight, and providing an excellent service for users.
• Identify, define and develop new data and reporting initiatives working closely with customers across the institution.
• Work with both technical and non-technical colleagues to translate business reporting requirements into effective data and reporting solutions, prioritising efficiency, resilience, and reusability.
• Develop and produce appropriate high-quality analysis, metrics, benchmarking, performance monitoring, scenario modelling and forecasting, working with colleagues across the Data Team to exchange knowledge, share and draw upon expertise, and develop a supportive, resilient working and learning environment.
• Provide support and technical expertise in shaping system data design, data collection, and technical processes to ensure robust reporting is feasible.
• Work closely with system owners and/or business leads to coordinate reporting schedules, ensure continuity of service at critical time periods, and establish processes for determining, investigating and resolving data quality issues. Proactively investigate business process changes which will affect the onward use of data including for reporting.
• Operate in line with the Data Team development process including completing the relevant steps, meetings, business sign-offs, documentation, data tests, communication strategy and reporting.
• Deliver support and informal training in the use of the Data Connect products and services to colleagues at all levels across the University.
• Engage with others in the Data Team to assist in the delivery of the Data Strategy, particularly by supporting the work of the Data Management and Governance Lead, the Data Modelling Lead, and the Data Literacy and Training Lead.
• Go about duties in a resource efficient way, minimising impacts to the environment wherever possible.
• Line manage others in the Data Team as requested and agreed with own line management.
• Participate in ongoing personal development including best practice methods of data modelling, attending online and in-person seminars by industry providers and completing personal research via social media or similar into latest tools and techniques.
• Contribute to the definition of team objectives and provide suggestions for improvements to services.

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role. Apply via our university portal with your CV and a cover letter outlining how your relevant experience, skills and qualities meet the Person Specification.

The University of Exeter

We are a member of the prestigious Russell Group of research-intensive universities and in the top 200 universities in the world (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 and QS World University Ranking 2024). We combine world-class teaching with world-class research, achieving a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework Award 2023, underpinned by Gold ratings for Student Experience and Student Outcomes.

Our world-leading research impact has grown more than any other Russell Group university in recent years, and we are home to some of the world’s most influential researchers, seeking to answer some of the most fundamental issues facing humankind today. More than 99 percent of our research is of international quality and 47 percent is world-leading (2021 Research Excellence Framework).

We encourage proactive engagement with industry, business and community partners to enhance the impact of research and education and improve the employability of our students. Read about our world leading research – Green Futures and how we are transforming education for a changing world. We are located in a beautiful part of the country and Exeter (a fast growing tech hub) is one of only a few UK cities to have been designated as a UNESCO Creative City.

We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and welcome applications from service people.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Commitment

We are committed to ensuring reasonable adjustments are available for interviews and workplaces. Whilst all applicants will be judged on merit alone, we particularly welcome applications from groups currently underrepresented within our working community. With over 30,000 students and 7,000 staff from 150 different countries we offer a diverse and engaging environment where our diversity is celebrated and valued as a major strength. We are committed to creating an inclusive culture where all members of our community are supported to thrive; where diverse voices are heard through our engagement with evidence-based charter frameworks for gender (Athena SWAN and Project Juno for Physics), race equality (Race Equality Charter Mark), LGBTQ+ inclusion (Stonewall Diversity Champion) and as a Disability Confident employer.

The College is proud to have a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment and impact to providing equality of opportunity and advancing the representation of women in STEM/M subjects. Our Inspiring Stories tell you more about how we support our staff, including through a mentoring programme to help our staff learn from the professional and life experience of colleagues and explore opportunities and actions for career progression.

Benefits

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

• 41 days leave per year
• Options for flexible working
• Numerous discounts at leading retailers
• Onsite gyms on all of our campuses and a cycle to work scheme
• Sector leading policies around maternity, adoption and shared parental leave (up to 26 weeks full pay), paternity leave (up to six weeks full pay) and a Fertility Treatment Policy
• Stunning campus environments in Exeter and Cornwall, in the beautiful South West of England

Further information

Please contact Ellie McCulloch, Assistant Director of Data Strategy and Delivery e.mcculloch@exeter.ac.uk. The starting salary will be from £43,482 on Grade F, depending on qualifications and experience. Applications close at midnight on 04/01/2026 - please apply via our careers page: University Careers Page.