Project Manager – Health Data Research Programme (fixed term)
Do you believe in the power of data to improve people’s lives? Do you want to enable exciting data driven research to take place securely and for the public good? Research Data Scotland needs you!
At Research Data Scotland (RDS), we’re on a mission to unlock the potential of public sector data securely, responsibly, and for the benefit of everyone in Scotland. We’re delivering an exciting programme of cross-organisational driver projects funded by the UK Government (Health Data Research Service)– and we’re looking for a Project Manager to be part of it.
Key details
Role: Project Manager
Salary range: £47,215 - £57,939 per annum
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: Fixed Term Contract (12 months). We are happy to discuss a secondment from similarly minded organisations providing you have prior agreement from your department director or line manager.
Closing date: 5 October 2026
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.
Data is often locked away in lots of individual systems, across many different organisations, and isn’t in a format that makes access or integration easy. We can help researchers to unlock the potential of this data by giving them information and advice that speeds up and simplifies their work.
RDS aims to provide a step change in the service to researchers, whilst maintaining the high standards of information governance and data security already in place. We aim to work as openly as possible, maintaining standards in transparency and ethics. Our focus is on providing a streamlined service for researchers, as well as extending the range of data available through the service, particularly in the areas of Covid-19, NHS imaging, geospatial data, children and justice services.
Our partners include Scottish Government, Public Health Scotland, National Records of Scotland (NRS), and the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. We work closely with the national and regional safe havens. And we are in contact with other organisations in Scotland and across the UK in the data research sector, including public sector, research and commercial bodies.
About the job
RDS is undertaking an exciting co-ordinated programme of work to transform the operating model for data access for research in Scotland, with partners in the Scottish Safe Haven Network.
The Scottish Safe Haven Network covers 5 federated Data Safe Havens. Each Safe Haven node has responsibility for controlling secure and ethical access to patient-level data for scientific and clinical research.
We are looking to recruit an experienced Project Manager to plan, co-ordinate and support the delivery of several driver projects, working closely with colleagues in RDS and across the Scottish Safe Haven Network. The postholder will provide professional project management expertise, build effective relationships and drive progress.
The projects will range from technical aspects of digital enquiry to agreeing a sector wide framework for data governance. Each project will involve some aspect of transformation in data management, technical delivery and/or process support, so knowledge of change management processes would be helpful.
You will work within the established RDS Project Management Framework for managing these projects from concept to conclusion, with collaboration and engagement of Safe Haven Network stakeholders a key feature of the role. This role will also look to learn from projects as they develop and share learnings and disseminate best practice across the whole data landscape.
If you’re excited by innovation, enjoy working in complexity, and want to play a key role in transforming how data is accessed for research, this is a brilliant opportunity to grow your impact and your career.
Applications for secondments from organisations that offer this type of developmental opportunity are welcome.
About you
You are a credible and curious self-starter. You are highly organised and have proven project management experience, preferably in the public sector or academia. You are passionate about how data driven innovation can transform services and improve wellbeing and have good knowledge of/experience in working with sensitive data and/or secure data platforms.
You’re a confident and adaptable Project Manager who thrives in change and enjoys finding and solving problems. You’re naturally curious, open to new ideas and comfortable challenging the status quo when it leads to better outcomes.
You bring strong relationship‑building skills and know how to bring people with you – whether that’s senior stakeholders, delivery teams or external partners. You communicate clearly, listen well, and can translate complexity into practical, actionable plans.
You’re delivery‑focused, but not rigid. You balance structure with flexibility, using judgement to adapt methodologies and tools to suit the context rather than forcing one‑size‑fits‑all solutions.
Above all, you take ownership, learn from experience, and are motivated by delivering meaningful change that adds real value.
About the team and ways of working
The Data Team at RDS is made up of experienced data analysts, project managers and data operations specialists with experience across the UK data landscape. RDS is an organisation where you will work in a highly competent and knowledgeable team to forge new ways of getting important data to researchers securely and at scale.
The role will require facilitation of multiple internal and external stakeholders to agree priorities and deliver at pace. In this context curiosity and adaptability are critical skills.
Life at RDS
We are a small friendly and highly engaged team of people. We promote continuous learning and work hard to build an inclusive and supportive workplace culture. We live our values of integrity, transparency, courage, collaboration and humility.
At RDS we offer a Four Day (32 hours) week for our full-time colleagues, with hybrid working on offer from day one. You can choose to work flexibly from home or use one of our office desks in the Edinburgh Futures Institute. The whole RDS team meets one day per month in-person in Edinburgh or at an off-site away day in the Central Belt. Individual teams organise their own in-person days to collaborate, develop and socialise together.
We offer up to 30 days’ annual leave (including public holidays) and have no set closure days. We have a generous pension and enhanced parental/adoption leave. Our flexible benefits include a Cycle to Work scheme, Dental Insurance and discount vouchers. Our Culture Group helps us seek feedback from colleagues across the organisation to make RDS an even better place to work.
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.
Equal opportunities
Research Data Scotland is an Equal Opportunities employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. All our hiring decisions are based on merit, qualifications and business needs. We’d really appreciate you sending a completed equalities monitoring form with your application, so we can ensure we are meeting our commitments.
Other information
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