Research & Development Specialist Data Analyst

NHS; Southampton; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent healthcare institution in Southampton is seeking two Research & Development Specialist Data Analysts to join their Data & AI Research Unit. Ideal candidates will have a degree in a relevant scientific discipline and at least two years of analytical experience using SQL and Python. This role offers the chance to contribute to innovative healthcare research and work in a collaborative environment. The position is full-time, offering a salary range of £38,682 to £46,580 PA Pro Rata.

Qualifications

• At least two years experience in a statistical, research, or analytical role.
• Comfortable working collaboratively with clinical and academic teams.
• Experience in a client-facing environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop automated SQL extraction pipelines for research projects.
• Support NHS Wessex Secure Data Environment programme.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams for data research.

Skills

Proficiency in Python

Proficiency in SQL

Analytical problem solving

Experience with large databases

Good interpersonal skills

Education

Degree in a numerate or scientific discipline

Tools

Advanced MS Excel

Power BI

Job description

Research & Development Specialist Data Analyst

The closing date is 23 January 2026

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.

Please see below for detailed job description of the role.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for two highly motivated research data analysts to join our rapidly expanding Data & AI Research Unit, working at the cutting‑edge of NHS data research within the R&D department at UHS. These posts form part of a team created to support the delivery of the Southampton Emerging Therapies and Technologies (SETT) Centre, and scale data research across the region.

About us

University Hospital Southampton is one of England’s largest acute teaching Trusts, offering a wide range of learning and development opportunities to support your career aspirations. Located on the south coast with an international airport and direct rail links to London, Southampton offers an ideal setting to live and work, with the New Forest, South Downs and Jurassic Coast.

At UHS we’re committed to providing a flexible working environment where possible. Whether you are balancing family, study, or your wellbeing with your career, we want to support you so you can help our patients.

At UHS, we proudly champion individuality, recognising that outstanding care is only possible with a diverse, inclusive team. We’re committed to creating an anti‑racist, anti‑discriminatory environment where everyone feels valued, safe, and empowered to make a meaningful impact in our communities. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences to join us in building a healthcare community where everyone can belong, thrive, and contribute.

Job responsibilities

The SETT Data & AI Research Unit is the data science arm of the hospital supporting clinical research through the design of scalable and reproducible analytical/ML pipelines. We’re a highly collaborative and forward‑thinking team at the forefront of NHS data research and are passionate about unlocking clinical data at scale to drive better outcomes for our patients.

Our analysts also contribute to the team’s longer‑term innovation projects to advance the field of health data research. The role involves building relationships with clinicians, academics, and partners in UHS, as well as across NHS and university networks. We’re looking for creative, self‑starting analysts who thrive in collaborative environments with multidisciplinary teams. Candidates must have working engineering/analytical proficiency in our core stack of SQL and Python. This is a great opportunity to join a rapidly growing unit and play a key role in shaping the future of data‑driven healthcare.

The SETT data team are also an integral part of the Wessex SDE programme hosted by UHS. The Secure Data Environment programme is a national programme aimed at maximising the use of NHS data, providing safer, more secure, and faster access to different types of NHS data as well as ensuring consistent standards and interoperability.

What you’ll do

The Data & AI Research Unit works closely with Research & Development to support clinical and academic researchers. The unit collaborates with teams spanning various specialties within the hospital, in academia, and across the NHS. These range from national collaborations to drive big data NHS research efforts, to the in‑house development of novel and experimental tools to streamline data analytics, to tackling significant operational challenges such as complex discharges and patient flow through the deployment of machine learning algorithms.

• Develop automated SQL extraction pipelines to produce high‑quality datasets for research projects, from cohort identification through to transformation and standardisation of clinical data.
• Support the team’s aims to expand research capacity within the hospital and across the wider region.
• Support the NHS Wessex Secure Data Environment programme, linking regional data across care settings.
• Work collaboratively with healthcare practitioners, academics, operational teams, and research groups.
• Support the team’s efforts to develop innovative tools to streamline data research, and help to direct the team’s longer‑term aims.

What we’re looking for

The following skills and experience would position a candidate well for this role:

• Degree in a numerate or scientific discipline, with demonstrable working experience applying a critical and analytical approach to problem solving.
• Proficiency in our core stack of Python and SQL (other development experience is also welcome), and experience working with large clinical or commercial databases.
• At least two years experience in a statistical, research, or analytical role (either commercial or health‑related), including working with sensitive data.
• Comfortable working collaboratively with multidisciplinary clinical and academic teams, acting as the technical subject matter expert and able to translate for non‑technical colleagues.
• Proactive self‑starter, able to drive projects independently from conception to delivery, and enjoys working with autonomy over their own work.
• Experience in a client‑facing environment with good interpersonal and communication skills, and experience of active collaboration within a larger team.
• A desire to continue developing data science skills from the wider team’s combined expertise, including statistics and machine learning. Educational or working background in a bioscience, clinical or related field can be helpful, but not essential.
• Knowledge of research within the NHS can be helpful, but not essential.

Attached you will find the person specification document which provides more detail about the essential and desirable skills and experience needed for this role. We highly recommend you review this document and use it when completing your application as these criteria are used by hiring managers as guidance during shortlisting.

Person Specification

Trust Values

• Always Improving
• Working Together

Qualifications / Training Required

• Educated to degree standard in a numerate discipline or equivalent experience relevant to the role.
• Evidence of continued professional development relevant to the role.
• Good Clinical Practice (GCP).

Previous or Relevant Experience Necessary

• Experience of corporate databases and multi‑user environments for reporting, being able to demonstrate the use of these databases/software to create reports and provide information.
• Experience of report writing and analysis reporting and able to adjust approach dependant on the audience.
• Advanced MS Excel skills including macros.
• Experience of working with SQL.
• Knowledge/ experience of NHS information requirements such as reporting data sets and standards; Information Governance.
• Experience of working with BI tools such as Power BI or QlikView.
• Experience of working with industry standard programming tools such as Python / R.
• Experience of working in the R&D landscape.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust

£38,682 to £46,580 a year Per Annum (PA) Pro Rata