Data Operations Engineer

This role is for 12-month maternity cover

About Smart Data Foundry

Smart Data Foundry has a purpose to unlock the power of financial data as a force to improve people's lives.

What we do

We enable the research ecosystem to flourish through the provision of research ready real financial data.

We create data-driven insights based on real financial data, that identify areas to inform policy change and enhance regulation.

Role Purpose

This role is for 12-month maternity cover

The Data Operations Engineer provides first-line support to researchers, data scientists, and partners using our Trusted Research Environment (TRE). You will help users navigate data access, troubleshoot issues, and ensure compliance with data governance requirements whilst supporting user requests daily. As part of our growing 30-person data sharing organisation, you will have opportunities to develop new skills and take on increasing responsibility as we expand.

The role requires you to have or learn command line code skills as you work within University of Edinburgh's private cloud environment, as the primary point of contact for users accessing financial and research data through our secure TRE. You will run, adapt, and eventually write code to perform data quality checks to ensure privacy standards are met prior to making data available to researchers in the secure environment. You will also perform disclosure checks on any research outputs generated, prior to wider dissemination outside the secure environment

You will also support access and requests for safeguarded and open data across our portal, AWS, AWS, and Business Systems.

The Data Operations Engineer helps to organise, implements, and communicate the data management controls related to handling data securely, including performing quality and disclosure checks of partner data.

Key Responsibilities

User Support

• Respond to user queries via help-desk system
• Guide researchers through TRE access procedures and data navigation
• Troubleshoot data access and usability issues
• Liaise with system administrators and data providers to resolve user problems
• Manage and verify user permissions for key data assets and infrastructure
• Communicate timelines and potential solutions to internal and external stakeholders

Data Quality & Compliance

• Writing and adapting code to perform data quality checks to ensure privacy standards are met prior to making data available to researchers in the secure environment
• Writing and adapting code to perform disclosure checks on any research outputs generated, prior to wider dissemination outside the secure environment
• Execute data requests by running command-line scripts and queries
• Run automated data quality checks using command-line tools (e.g., TDDA checks)
• Perform disclosure checking on research outputs before release
• Assess data usability and report quality issues to users and data partners
• Maintain audit logs and compliance documentation
• Support secure data transfer operations within the TRE

Process Improvement & Documentation

• Identify opportunities to streamline user workflows and automate routine tasks
• Create and update user guides and process documentation
• Contribute to efficiency improvements in data ingress and egress procedures

About you

• Ability to learn and adapt to utilising UNIX command line
• Ability to work in a team and problem-solve data issues
• Ability to develop processes within technical environments to partially or fully automate ingress and egress where possible, finding efficiencies in the process
• Ability to liaise with stakeholders to communicate timelines, potential improvements, and deal with user issues as an intermediary within the environment
• Ability to estimate and communicate potential timelines to internal and external stakeholders
• Willingness to learn data quality and management principles and routines
• Ability to capture technical processes clearly and concisely in written format
• Ability to deal with ambiguity and react quickly in an evolving and fast paced environment.
• Ability to work autonomously, under pressure and with conflicting and changing priorities.
• excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Personable approach with ability to develop positive working relationships at all levels within an organisation
• Self-motivated and proactive