Head of Informatics

Head of Informatics

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- **Location**: Alderley Park
- **Salary**: Competitive Salary

This role is based at Alderley Park, with the flexibility to work remotely for part of the working week.

Based at Alderley Park, Medicines Discovery Catapult is a national facility connecting the UK community to accelerate innovative drug discovery. We provide unique scientific capabilities and act as a gateway to UK resources and expertise, supporting UK SMEs to drive the development and industrialisation of new approaches for the discovery of new medicines.

By validating new ways of discovering medicines and driving key talent and expertise across the sector, we will support the UK life sciences industry, SMEs and innovators to deliver growth for the UK economy and maintain the UK’s heritage position as a global leader in medicines R&D. Ultimately, new industrialised technologies are vital for delivering new medicines to patients, faster.

We are looking for the very best people to join the Medicines Discovery Catapult team in driving the UK to the forefront of commercial success for medicines discovery, committing to place the patient at the beginning of discovery and helping the sector move faster to the patient.

The values of the Catapult are:

- Excellence - we continually strive to deliver the best solutions for our partners and for each other. In everything we do, we instil confidence.
- Integrity - Our strong commitment to what we do and why we are here drives us to do the right thing for our partners and each other.
- Community - We’re a strong team, we work well together, and we respect each other.
- Innovation - We’re driven by the need to make a difference. We constantly look for ways to drive change in our sector and how we work.

**Role purpose**

The Head of Informatics will lead and drive the operational delivery of the MDC Informatics capability, with a focus on delivery of external and internal partnered projects and on delivering the data & software infrastructure that is required for MDC success.

Data and data analytics are at the core of modern medicines discovery, with increasingly rich and complex data sets available to support innovative drug discovery projects. However, this value is only unlocked if the data can be readily accessed, interpreted, integrated with other data sources, and understood. In MDC Informatics, we have established access to a diverse set of data and resources and have overlayed these with a suite of novel tools, including AI-driven approaches, to advance and accelerate drug discovery and development. We leverage these novel capabilities and expertise to support drug discovery innovators in three ways;
- First, to deliver partnered projects that enable SMEs to access the correct data and analysis at the right time, to address their questions;
- Second, to build integrative workflows and deep learning techniques that enhance analysis and understanding of complex laboratory data;
- Third, to access new data sources through collaboration and co-develop the next generation of informatics tools and services that will address sector needs.

**Main duties and responsibilities**
- Ensure clear scope, workstreams, tasks and resource allocation as well as quality assurance around the development and delivery of core deliverables.
- Develop and manage processes and protocols to ensure data compliance around projects that are delivered in the team, managing risks and liaising with MDC Data Protection and Legal functions as required.
- Strategic leadership of the MDC Informatics capability, utilising their data and informatics experience and knowledge of MDC capabilities to develop, implement, communicate, and evolve MDC strategy in this area.
- Direct line management of individuals with a range of experience and technical background - including management of other line managers - providing ongoing coaching, development, and performance management.
- Promote and represent the capability in internal and external communications, raising awareness of MDC Informatics.
- Represent MDC Informatics in business engagement activities, to secure new commercial and grant-funded projects, aligned to MDC strategy.
- Identify and progress opportunities to develop innovative partnerships with key national players, for example to access and exploit data sets that add value to UK medicines discovery innovators.
- Liaise with MDC lab functions, to ensure that cutting edge informatics is embedded in our projects and workflows, to maximise the value of each data set.
- Personally lead large, complex collaborations to completion that involve multiple internal and external stakeholders.
- Liaise with colleagues in MDC Discovery, Operations and Commercial functions to ensure seamless working across the business, and effective delivery.
- Active member of the MDC Discovery Leadership Team, contributing to or leading cross MDC business initiatives as required.

**Qualifications, experience and k