The N8 CIR is establishing a community of professional IT staff who are focused on specialist infrastructure in support of research — research infrastructure engineers (RIEs).
The successful applicant will be responsible for designing, developing and driving forward the Research Infrastructure Engineering (RIE) Theme in concert with other theme leaders; managing / coordinating RIEs working on cross-institutional N8 CIR projects; engaging nationally and internationally as appropriate; jointly leading the support group for the EPSRC National Tier-2 HPC service, Bede.
The successful applicant will be building on the strong foundations laid by Simon Hood, Head of Research Infrastructure and Platforms at the University of Manchester, who previously held the role.
The benefits to research of research software engineers (RSEs) are now well established and there is a growing number of professionals employed as RSEs across the UK. The N8 CIR is building on this success by establishing a parallel and overlapping community of professional IT staff who are focused on specialist infrastructure in support of research — research infrastructure engineers (RIEs).
The community will: share knowledge, skills and success stories in areas such as high-performance and high-throughput computing, research storage platforms and cloud-based (e.g., AWS and Azure) developments; raise awareness of the vital nature of the RIE role in support of research; and foster the recruitment and development of future RIEs.
The appointee will lead activities to develop communities of practice for Research Infrastructure Engineers across the partnership.
We are looking for an effective and capable leader to head the N8 CIR RIE Theme. This will involve working closely with the N8 CIR Executive, the Bede Support Group (BSG), the research and RIE community at each of the N8 partners and with the wider Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) community including initiatives such as Women in HPC of which we have just become a chapter member.
The role will become increasingly important as the project builds on the success of the recent Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) Retreat. The event brought together professionals working on all aspects of digital research infrastructure to help begin thinking about how they can work together to further accelerate research and discovery.
Application Details
The successful applicant must be based at one of the N8 institutions – Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield or York. This 0.2 FTE role will suit someone who is not already at 1.0 FTE or for whom the time can be ‘bought out’ from their existing role.
Applications are welcome from all sections of the N8 community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. We particularly welcome applications from those communities currently under-represented in the DRI community.
If you would like an informal chat about the role please contact Gillian Sinclair (N8 CIR Programme Manager; gillian.sinclair@manchester.ac.uk).
Full details of the responsibilities and person specification for the role can be found in the PDF below.
If you would like to apply for the role please send a covering letter and a CV to Gillian by the 29th of April 2022.
RIE Theme Leader Role Description
