Job Purpose

The Trusted Research Environment (TRE) Service Technical Lead plays a critical role within the MVLS Trusted Research Environment (TRE) Service team, providing strategic and technical leadership in the development, delivery, and service support of the organisation’s IT Infrastructure.

The postholder will be responsible for the day-to-day operation, security and delivery of the TRE services, ensuring the provision of robust, efficient, and secure services aligned with Service’s goals and objectives. This includes overseeing service availability, continuity, capacity planning, and adherence   to agreed service levels and operational processes such as incident, problem, change management.

Acting as the technical expert for the TRE Service, the role involves leading on the design, development, and enhancement of TRE capabilities, contributing to continuous service improvement initiatives.  The postholder will also support the strategic direction of the Service, producing technical papers as required, and serving as a principal-level expert in their field.

Main Duties and responsibilities

1.       Provide recognised expert advice and guidance on the application and operation of elementary physical, procedural and technical security controls, taking operational responsibility for system security within the TRE Service.

2.       Actively maintain a recognised expert level knowledge of TRE/ Secure Data Environment (SDE) technologies, offering definitive guidance and expert advice in the field of TRE Service and Clinical Research service administration.

3.       Make a leading contribution to monitor external environments to gather intelligence on emerging TRE/SDE technologies, compiling reports and technology roadmaps, and disseminating insights to relevant stakeholders.

4.       Be responsible for providing specialist advice, guidance and expertise to promote the adoption of best methods and tools in line with policies and standards, evaluating and recommending appropriate methods and tools as required.

5.       Play a leading role with the planning, design and improvement of service and component availability ensuring robust service continuity strategies are in place.

6.       Make a significant contribution on service delivery monitoring in line with agreed service level agreements, maintaining accurate and up-to-date records of key relevant information.

7.        Define and manage configuration items (CIs) using uniquely identified naming conventions and classification and ensure that operational processes are in place and secure configuration, and audit processes are maintained.

8.       Develop and manage implementation plans for complex change requests, assessing associated risks to the integrity of service environment inherent in proposed implementations (including availability, performance, security and compliance of the operational services impacted).

9.       Be responsible for evaluating and reviewing new system software and updates ensuring that changes support the achievement of service objectives and are implemented appropriately.

10.    Lead on monitoring service component capacity and take initiate actions to resolve any shortfalls according to agreed procedures.

11.    Provide technical expertise and oversight to enable the correct application of operational procedures across all aspects of the TRE Service.

12.    Ensure that appropriate action is taken to prevent, investigate and resolve problems in systems and services, documenting problems within the relevant reporting system(s).

13.    Manage incidents in accordance with agreed procedures, escalating incidents where necessary to responsible service owners and working closely with stakeholders to drive resolution.

14.    Undertake any other reasonable duties appropriate to the role.

Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills and Experience

Knowledge/Qualifications

Essential

A1 Ability to demonstrate the competencies required to undertake the duties associated with this level of post having acquired the necessary knowledge and skills in a similar or number of different roles.

Or: Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework (SCQF) level 9 in Computing Science or a related discipline, (Ordinary Degree, Scottish Vocational Qualification level 4), or equivalent (including professional accreditation with relevant formal training), and experience of personal development in a similar or related role(s).

A3 significant breadth and depth of specialist technical knowledge across a range of IT areas with specialist in depth understanding of Trusted Research Environment/ Secure Data Environment technologies.

A4 Understanding of clinical data protection and security requirements and obligations.

A5 Excellent technical knowledge of AI/ML tool research and development platforms

A6 Excellent technical knowledge of system security approaches for sensitive data environments

A7 Excellent knowledge of the application and maintenance of information security certifications and audit requirements

A8 Working knowledge of Public Cloud Services, Azure and AWS

A9 Strong understanding of customer behaviours, needs and expectations.

A10 Excellent understanding of technology horizon scanning and roadmap development

A11 Awareness of the research computing requirements of staff and research partners with a range of abilities and from different disciplinary backgrounds.

Desirable

B1 Understanding of the challenges of working in a Higher Education and Life Sciences environment

B2 Certification/ Knowledge of ITIL

Skills

Essential

C1 Excellent teamworking and leadership and people management capabilities, with the ability to collaborate with multiple internal and external stakeholders.

C2 Ability to strategically plan, design, and integrate emerging technologies into existing infrastructure to advance service capabilities and align with organisational objectives.

C3 Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to clearly articulate details and interact effectively with all stakeholders at varying levels of proficiency.

C4 Strong aptitude to be creative and innovative thinking.

C5 Demonstrated ability to consolidate expertise and knowledge from diverse sources to advance organisational objectives.

C6 Proven capability to conduct comprehensive security risk and vulnerability assessments, as well as operational impact analysis for server and storage systems.

C7 Ability to implement new methods and tools in-alignment with established standards and best practices.

C8 Strong change management skills, with a track record of guiding others through transitions effectively.

C9 Demonstrable analytical skills, with the ability to interpret complex information and inform decisions.

C10 Excellent problem-solving skills, in complex heterogeneous environments especially in which solutions need to be identified under time-sensitive or high-pressured conditions.

C11 Highly self-motivated and results driven with effective time and workload management capabilities.

C12 Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence and negotiate with stakeholders across organisational boundaries.

C13 Excellent decision-making abilities, with a strong sense of accountability and ownership of outcomes.

Desirable

D1 Strong conceptual and strategic thinking abilities, with capacity to align vision with organisational goals.

D2 Proven leadership skills with the ability to inspire, build trust, and motivate teams towards high performance

Experience

Essential

E1 Extensive hands-on experience designing, delivering, and supporting secure, complex IT environments, ideally within Trusted Research Environments, Secure Data Environments, or research-focused Higher Education settings.

E2 Significant experience in building and operating IT infrastructure.

E3 Strong understanding of customer behaviours, needs and expectations.

E4 Strong experience in technical service provision and management

E5 Broad experience of managing Linux/Unix in a complex heterogeneous environment.

E6 Demonstrable accountability in roles with significant impact on the user community.

E7 Experience in effective negotiation and collaboration with colleagues.

E8 Experience of identifying and tracking emerging trends and new technologies

E9 Experience of monitoring service performance against SLAs/ benchmarks

E10 Experience of managing staff and aligning the day to day and team objectives with the strategic vision

Desirable

F1 Robust understanding of research organisation, politics and culture.

F2 Understanding of clinical data protection and security requirements and obligations.

Terms and Conditions

Salary will be Grade 8, £49,559 - £57,422 per annum.

This post is full time and open ended. Relocation assistance will be provided where appropriate.

The University of Glasgow has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.  If you require a Skilled Worker visa to work in the UK, you will be required to meet the eligibility requirements of the visa route to be assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship.

Please note that this post may be eligible to be sponsored under the Skilled Worker visa route if tradeable points can be used under the Skilled Worker visa rules. For more information please visit: https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa.

As part of Team UofG you will be a member of a world changing, inclusive community, which values ambition, excellence, integrity and curiosity.

As a valued member of our team, you can expect:

1 A warm welcoming and engaging organisational culture, where your talents are developed and nurtured, and success is celebrated and shared.

2 An excellent employment package with generous terms and conditions including 41 days of leave for full time staff, pension , benefits and discount packages.

3 A flexible approach to working.

4 A commitment to support your health and wellbeing.

We believe that we can only reach our full potential through the talents of all. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our values. Applications are particularly welcome from across our communities and in particular people from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community, and other protected characteristics who are under-represented within the University. Read more on how the University promotes and embeds all aspects of equality and diversity within our community here.

We endorse the principles of Athena Swan and hold bronze, silver and gold awards across the University.

We are investing in our organisation, and we will invest in you too. Please visit our website https://www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/benefits-salary-and-flexible-workingfor more information.

Closing date: 23:45 on Monday 21st July 2025