Chief Technology Officer
UK Biobank
Manchester - United Kingdom
UK Biobank has been described as the world’s most important health database. It is a world-leading biomedical database and research resource based on a large prospective cohort study of half a million volunteers from across the United Kingdom recruited between 2006 and 2010. Researchers from around the world can study the rich variety of genetic, biochemical, lifestyle and health-related information that is available on each participant, making the resource unprecedented in its size and scope.
The database is a major contributor to the advancement of modern medicine and treatment and has enabled several scientific discoveries that improve human health, with more than 12,000 papers published to-date arising from the use of UK Biobank data.
With funding recently committed by UKRI, the organisation is investing in its future infrastructure and will be moving to new ‘state-of-the-art’ premises in Manchester during 2026. Together with commitments of philanthropic funding, UK Biobank has an ambitious programme to build upon its existing capabilities to support the piloting of several new enhancements to the resource, and to extend its breadth of health record linkages and curated health outcomes. This is at the same time as developing the next iteration of our industry-leading research analysis platform, which is being scaled in terms of capacity and capability.
UK Biobank is at a pivotal point of transformation, and we are seeking a highly experienced and innovative Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to take responsibility for enabling technology-led change across the organisation, to maximise the ways in which UK Biobank can further enhance the research resource, and to ensure the efficient, effective and secure accessibility of our data and samples (including >30PB of health, lifestyle and socioeconomic data) to an ever-growing researcher community.
Within UK Biobank, the role of the CTO works at Board level with responsibility for setting the strategy and vision for our data and technology needs and for ensuring information security across the organisation. The CTO will provide strategic direction and set priorities for the IT Director (who is primarily responsible for IT implementation and delivery), and the DevOps teams (that are responsible for developing and maintaining our application and data systems and supporting technology services).
The CTO will take responsibility for developing and executing our technology strategy, shaping our technological vision and goals, and overseeing all aspects of technology development and implementation. This includes managing our development teams, driving innovation, identifying opportunities for growth and ensuring the security and reliability of our systems. The CTO will cultivate a culture of innovation and ongoing enhancement within the technology department, encouraging teamwork and a proactive stance on problem-solving.
Ultimately, the CTO will play a key role in driving the organisation’s future success through strategic technological advancements, identifying solutions to petabyte scale data distribution strategies for complex international life science data sets with usage across academia, pharmaceutical and wider industry.
Enquiries or applications can be made, in confidence, to Evan Yeckley or Natalie Derry at WittKieffer.
Applications should include the following:
- an up-to-date Curriculum Vitae; and
- a covering letter (of no more than two pages) summarising your experience, attributes and your view of your overall suitability for the role.
Completed applications should be submitted electronically to [email protected] or [email protected].
The closing date for applications is 15 November 2024.