Deputy Director, DARE UK

Purpose and responsibilities of the post

Purpose of the role

Reporting to the DARE UK Director, the Deputy Director is a senior strategic leader responsible for shaping and delivering the programme’s next phase of impact.

The post-holder will provide intellectual and operational leadership across the programme, translating strategic ambition into executable plans while ensuring delivery at pace and scale. They will work across research communities, funders, infrastructure providers, technology partners and senior stakeholders across UKRI and government to embed community voice into the design of a UK-wide secure data research ecosystem.

This is a high-profile role requiring visible sector leadership, strong partnership-building capability and confidence operating at Board and executive level. The Deputy Director will deputise for the Director as required and play a central role in positioning DARE UK nationally and internationally.

Main Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Co-develop and evolve the DARE UK strategy, roadmap and future phases in response to emerging opportunities, policy developments and sector needs.
• Shape the long-term vision for a federated UK sensitive data research ecosystem, including shared standards for governance, ethics, metadata and interoperability.
• Identify strategic partnerships and funding opportunities to secure programme sustainability beyond the current phase.
• Represent DARE UK at senior forums, influencing policy, research and infrastructure agendas.

Programme Delivery and Oversight

• Lead end-to-end delivery of the programme, ensuring alignment between strategic objectives, commissioned work and measurable outcomes.
• Oversee commissioning, governance and performance management of programme activities and working groups.
• Ensure robust financial oversight, risk management and reporting in collaboration with HDR UK and UKRI partners.
• Maintain effective systems, governance structures and delivery frameworks across partner organisations.

Stakeholder and Community Leadership

• Build and sustain trusted relationships across UKRI councils, academia, government departments, devolved administrations, technical suppliers and public contributors.
• Convene and align diverse stakeholders to co-design standards, services and technical-social specifications.
• Lead strategic engagement and communications activity to secure sector-wide buy-in and adoption.

People and Organisational Leadership

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team spanning programme management, communications, public involvement and engagement, and community engagement.
• Foster a high-performance, collaborative culture aligned with HDR UK values.
• Provide clarity, direction and stability in a complex and evolving landscape.

Knowledge, skills and experience

Essential

• Senior leadership experience in complex, multi-stakeholder environments spanning research, government, infrastructure and/or technology.
• Proven track record of delivering large-scale, strategically significant programmes in fast-paced and ambiguous contexts.
• Experience working with executive teams, Boards and senior stakeholders, demonstrating sound judgement and political awareness.
• Strong strategic thinking capability, with the ability to translate vision into structured delivery plans.
• Demonstrable experience influencing, negotiating and building consensus across diverse communities.
• Strong programme governance, risk management and financial oversight experience.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to represent programmes at national level.
• Effective line management experience, leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver high-impact outcomes.

Desirable

• It is highly desirable to have a knowledge of Trusted Research Environments (TREs), sensitive data research, the AI training and development process, information governance, public involvement and engagement, software development processes, and secure data infrastructures.
• Understanding of the UK data research and infrastructure landscape.
• Experience delivering cross-sector programmes spanning academia, government and industry.
• Confidence constructively challenging technical experts and facilitating multidisciplinary collaboration.

Please note, as we are a UK-based organisation, applicants must be living in, and eligible to work in, the UK. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time. 

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

We politely request no contact from recruitment agencies or media sales. We do not accept speculative CVs from recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.