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The Health Data Research Service (HDRS)
A national initiative to enable approved researchers to access UK health data safely and securely.
Role Description
- Reports to: Director of Strategy
- Contract Type: Secondment (6-month duration)
- Location: Two/three days a week in the office, either on-site in Euston, London, or Hinxton, Cambridgeshire. Travel between offices will be needed on a regular basis.
- Full/ Part time + FTE: Full-time (though 0.8 FTE applications will be considered)
- Salary: Civil Service Grade 7 or equivalent
Role Purpose
Working at the heart of HDRS’s strategy function, you will help shape how the organisation turns its long-term ambition into clear strategic priorities, propositions, and programmes of work. Working closely with the Director of Strategy and senior leaders, you will bring together complex information, evidence, and perspectives from across health, data, research, policy, and technology to identify the questions that matter, develop new areas of strategic thinking, and provide clarity where there is ambiguity. You will have the opportunity to work across a broad and evolving portfolio, moving from open-ended questions and emerging challenges through to structured analysis, compelling written outputs, and actionable recommendations that help inform HDRS’s direction and decision-making.
Roles and Responsibilities
Strategic Analysis and Development
- Identify and structure the key strategic questions facing HDRS, helping to anticipate what the organisation will need to understand and decide over the longer term.
- Bring together complex evidence, perspectives, and dependencies from across health, data, research, policy, and technology to develop a coherent strategic view.
- Support the Director of Strategy and senior leadership in developing HDRS’s long-term strategy, propositions, priorities, and strategic choices.
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Strategic Project Development
- Proactively identify areas requiring further strategic work and develop clear proposals for how they should be explored.
- Scope and initiate strategic projects, discovery sprints, and pieces of analysis, defining the objectives, approach, stakeholders, outputs, and resources required.
- Lead or support projects through to clear conclusions, recommendations, and actionable next steps, working with colleagues and subject-matter experts across HDRS.
Synthesis, Writing, and Strategic Communication
- Distill complex and often competing information into clear insights, narratives, and recommendations for senior audiences.
- Produce high-quality strategy papers, Board materials, briefings, propositions, and presentations, often working from limited or incomplete information.
- Help ensure that HDRS’s strategic thinking is coherent, evidence-based, and communicated consistently across the organisation and externally.
Cross-Organisational Insight
- Develop a strong understanding of the health, health-data, and research landscape and bring relevant external developments and perspectives into HDRS’s strategic thinking.
- Work across HDRS to connect different areas of expertise, identify gaps and dependencies, and ensure that strategic issues are considered from multiple perspectives.
- Build effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders to gather insight, test propositions, and develop a rounded understanding of complex issues.
Personal Specification
Skills and Experience
Essential
- Strong experience in strategy, policy, consulting, health, data, research, digital, or a related field.
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to structure ambiguous and complex problems.
- Exceptional written communication skills and the ability to produce clear, concise, and persuasive material for senior audiences.
- Ability to rapidly absorb complex information from multiple sources and synthesise it into a coherent view.
- Strong intellectual curiosity and ability to work independently with limited direction.
- Experience of taking an ill-defined question and turning it into a structured piece of work with a clear objective, approach, and outcome.
- Ability to work effectively across organisational and professional boundaries.
- Good understanding of the UK health system and/or health data environment.
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Desirable
- Experience of health data, health research, life sciences, NHS transformation, or digital health.
- Experience developing organisational or sector strategy.
- Experience working with senior leaders, Boards, or government.
- Experience of designing and running discovery, research, or strategic projects.
- Understanding of the emerging role of AI in health and research.
How to Apply
For details of how to apply, visit: Strategy Lead | HDRS
We require:
- An up-to-date CV (around two pages). Please submit a PDF document labelled ‘CV’ with your name and the role title.
- A supporting statement. Please submit a statement (750 words max) that outlines your interest in this particular organisation and role, and your fit against the essential experience criteria set out in the person specification and role description. Please label this document ‘Supporting Statement’ with your name and the role title.
The deadline for applications is 11:59 pm on 19th October 2026.
For more information, visit: Strategy Lead | HDRS
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