Research Computing Lead

University Of Glasgow; Glasgow; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 58,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Job summary

The University of Glasgow is seeking a CoSE IT Research Computing Lead to direct development, delivery and operations of research computing systems within the College of Science and Engineering. You will lead a team, collaborate with RCaaS and IS teams, and drive secure, scalable platforms for research and teaching staff.

Responsibilities include setting an 18-month roadmap, partnering across the university, and ensuring quality assurance, risk management and cost recovery for computing

Qualifications

• A1 Demonstrated leadership and management skills at mid-to-senior level.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership of research computing services and manage operations across the College.

Skills

Team leadership

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder communication

Leadership

Analytical skills

Stakeholder management

Accountability

Technical requirements

Problem solving

Technical proposals

Education

SCQF level 9/10/11 degree

Postgraduate qualification

Professionally qualified in relevant discipline

Tools

Linux/Unix servers

Job description

Job PurposeThe CoSE IT Research Computing Lead is responsible for leading the development, delivery and operational support for research computing systems in the College of Science and Engineering (CoSE). The postholder will provide leadership for research computing professionals and engage closely with the CoSE IT Service Operations teams and wider Information Services teams, including RCaaS, to establish secure and scalable platforms for our research and teaching staff.The role holder will lead a team and will possess a broad range of expertise in research computing technologies and collaborate with IT professionals and academics to enhance research and teaching through continuous improvement and innovation.These services are research-driven and the postholder will establish close collaborative relationships with the research community to understand and respond to changing needs and technologies to support research and teaching programmes.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provide technical leadership of research computing services managed and delivered across the College of Science and Engineering planning, managing and operating the systems in support of University of Glasgow world leading research.
2. Provide expert solution advice and design to introduce new infrastructure services to support research collaboration and innovation, driven by research requirements across multiple disciplines.
3. Working with the CoSE IT Senior Management, develop a vision and 18-month roadmap for the colleges research systems and related services, partnering with key stakeholders from across the University to establish a harmonised global approach, minimising unhelpful redundancy and promoting best practice.
4. Partner with relevant colleagues within Information Services / IT Services to ensure the security and resilience of college research computing infrastructure services underpinned by the development of a suitable quality assurance approach including sufficient management processes and audit controls.
5. Establish and maintain metrics and produce concise reporting that demonstrates performance and utilisation of college research computing infrastructure services, working with relevant University finance colleagues to ensure these support charging and/or cost recovery of research computing infrastructure services.
6. Contribute actively to research computing infrastructure best practices and emerging threats and opportunities, providing expert guidance to shape the strategic direction of research computing infrastructure services, propagated through college and to local College, School and project-level provisions.
7. Oversee a sizeable number of complex work-packages to ensure each initiative is managed and delivered to time and budget to support world leading research.
8. Make a significant expert contribution to major funding bids, internal business cases and related activities where research computing infrastructure is a core dimension.
9. Act as a change agent, working at the forefront of IT change initiatives; advocating for harmonised approaches, demonstrating flexibility in consensus, and working to promote the delivery of the research computing infrastructure service strategy.
10. Undertaking the responsibility of Technical Relationship Lead, collaborate with key stakeholders including PIs, research managers and College and University IT professionals to identify complex research computing infrastructure requirements and ensure needs are reflected in plans and implemented services.
11. Provide line management for CoSE IT research computing staff including responsibility for performance and development, managing workload and recruiting staff where necessary.
12. Perform such other duties, appropriate to the grade, as may be directed by the line manager or Head of College IT.

Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills and Experience

Knowledge/QualificationsEssential

• A1 Ability to demonstrate the competencies required to undertake the duties associated with this level of post having acquired the necessary professional knowledge and management skills in a similar or number of different specialist roles. Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 9, 10 or 11 (Ordinary/Honours Degree, Post Graduate Qualification), or equivalent, including being professionally qualified in relevant discipline, with a broad range of professional experience in a management role(s)
• A2 Excellent technical knowledge across a range of computing infrastructure areas with specialist in-depth knowledge of Linux/Unix enterprise servers, compute and storage
• A3 Excellent technical knowledge of high-performance and high-throughput computing infrastructure and service provision
• A4 Excellent knowledge of computing infrastructure requirements of researchers across multiple disciplines, including understanding of research computing infrastructure approaches

Knowledge/QualificationsDesirable

• B1 Knowledge of sensitive (including clinical) data processing requirements including trusted research environments / secure data environments
• B2 Knowledge of UK data protection laws and certification and accreditation schemes related to the processing of sensitive data for research
• B3 Knowledge of administration of physical infrastructure including data centres, power management, networking and enterprise systems

SkillsEssential

• C1 Excellent team leadership, planning, organisation, time and workload management skills with proven ability to prioritise demands and meet deadlines, with an understanding of the importance of equality and diversity and a commitment to help create an inclusive culture.
• C2 Strategic thinker with the ability to step back from a problem and look at the wider environment requirements and constraints
• C3 Ability to communicate a technological vision concisely and in a compelling fashion to senior stakeholders
• C4 Display role model behaviours with the ability to inspire and motivate operational colleagues to deliver service excellence
• C5 Excellent analytical skills with confidence to challenge and continually improve, diving into the detail as necessary to understand issues (people, process, and technology)
• C6 Ability to build and maintain broad network of relationships with diverse stakeholder groups (research PIs, IT professionals, University and College Senior Management) establishing a good knowledge of customer behaviours, needs and expectations and building an environment of trust/integrity
• C7 Strong sense of accountability and ownership of problem space
• C8 Be able to set clear technical requirements to achieve a or goals, delegate tasks, and provide feedback
• C9 Proven ability to work independently, demonstrate problem solving skills and ability to understand where escalation to a more senior colleague is appropriate

SkillsDesirable

• D1 Ability to write technical proposals and business cases

ExperienceEssential

• E1 Have significant experience in supporting research computing technologies (i.e. applications, software engineering, storage, advanced instrumentations, visualisation, data analytics and management systems), in a large, complex research organisation, including provisioning and managing compute and research storage services
• E2 Experience of maintaining IT security and resilience, including risk assessment, vulnerability management, major incident response, and backup/recovery strategies and disaster recovery
• E3 Experience of working collaboratively with senior technical and non-technical colleagues with the ability to influence and negotiate at all levels including colleagues who are not part of the direct team
• E4 Experience in identifying emerging technological influences/disruptors and informing senior stakeholders of the impact of these in technical / architectural roadmaps and strategic plans
• E5 Experience in coaching teams to quickly resolve complex problems in the provision of IT services
• E6 Experience of managing the full lifecycle of infrastructure services from initial concept through operational leading to eventual service decommissioning

ExperienceDesirable

• F1 Experience of developing new business cases and funding proposals for investment in infrastructure development
• F2 Experience of delivery using Agile tools and techniques
• F3 Experience of managing compute services with cost recovery or access charging models
• F4 Experience of working within complex / devolved structures in a Higher Education environment and having developed an understanding of the issues and challenges that this presents

Terms and Conditions

Salary will be Grade 8, 50,253 - 58,225 per annum.

This post is full time (35 hours per wieek) and open ended (permanent).

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.

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 - pensions handbook , benefits and discount packages.
3. A flexible approach to working.
4. A commitment to support your health and wellbeing, including a free 6-month UofG Sport membership for all new staff joining the University.

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 .

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 for more information.

Closing Date: 6 September 2026 at 23:45pm

Discipline(s): Management Professional & Administrative

Job type: Recruit (Replace Different Grade)