Panel Manager
The Panel Manager is a new role and reflects the growth of RDS’s Researcher Access Service – the core platform for supporting researchers to apply for, and get access to, public sector data. The role holder will work closely with RDS’s delivery experts and the Public Health Scotland eDRIS team to help deliver a smooth-running service. They’ll also contribute to the development of the service as it scales.
They will lead the end-to-end management and governance of the RDS panel responsible for reviewing and approving secure access to administrative data for research. This role ensures that data access requests are assessed rigorously, ethically, and in line with regulatory and organisational standards. The postholder will play a key role in enabling safe data use while maintaining public trust and transparency.
About you
You will have a background in managing or supporting research and governance, and a good understanding of the use of anonymised data for research. You could have managed a panel before, or worked elsewhere in research, in governance or applying for data, for instance, and want to bring those skills to the “other side”. You’ll be accountable, discrete, highly organised, and demonstrate great attention to detail.
You’ll be working with a broad range of people, so you’ll feel confident to build influential and collaborative relationships, facilitate discussions and support transparent decision making. Ideally, you’ll also understand the UK’s data access landscape, including Trusted Research Environments and data linkage initiatives and want to make the best panel and data service in the UK, in our approach to supporting secure and effective data research.
About us
Research Data Scotland (RDS) is a charity set up by the Scottish public sector and leading universities. We help researchers find and make use of data that can improve the lives of people in Scotland. Working in partnership, we do this by widening the range of data available, creating new data assets and providing a single point of contact for safe, secure and effective access to public data in a trustworthy manner.
Key details
Role: Panel Manager
Salary range: £47,215 - £57,939
Hours: 32 per week (Full time - at RDS we offer a four day week for our full-time colleagues)
Location: Edinburgh (with remote-first ways of working)
Employment type: 12 month fixed-term contract
Closing date: 26 October 2025
How to apply
We like to keep our application processes as simple and human-centred as we can.
To apply, we just need your CV and a cover letter outlining how your skills and experience match the job and person specification.
If you’re ready to apply, upload your CV and covering letter to the portal. Or email us at jobs@researchdata.scot for an informal chat about RDS and the role.
If we can make any adjustments to our standard application or selection process to make things easier for you, please let us know.
Download our Equalities Monitoring form to send back with your application.
View our Privacy policy to find out how we handle your data safely and securely.
Apply now
Click below to read the full job advert and apply. When you're ready, you'll be asked to upload a CV and cover letter outlining how your skills and experience match the job and person specification.
