Research Software Engineer

Job summary

The NHS holds one of the world's richest health datasets, yet much of its value remains locked within secure environments. Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is addressing this challenge by building secure, privacy-preserving research infrastructure that enables high-impact research without moving or exposing sensitive data.

We are seeking a Research Software Engineer to support the technical delivery of secure data interoperability platforms across regional and national research networks. The post holder will play a hands-on engineering role, building software that enables federated analysis, cohort discovery, and advanced analytics within trusted research environments. This role will also contribute to the development of secure Artificial Intelligence and agent-based analytical workflows, supporting next-generation NHS research and operational use cases.

Main duties of the job

Design, develop, and maintain secure research software to enable federated analysis across distributed health data environments.
Build and extend cohort discovery and feasibility tooling that supports non-disclosive, real-time exploration of datasets.
Develop and deploy software pipelines that enable secure execution of analytical code (R/Python) against OMOP CDM and related datasets.
Support the technical delivery of AI-enabled and agentic workflows within highly governed environments.
Implement containerised solutions using Docker and Kubernetes to ensure reproducible, auditable research environments.
Apply software engineering best practices, including version control, automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code.
Work closely with data scientists, researchers, information governance teams, and external partners to ensure solutions meet governance and security requirements.

About us

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest teaching hospital trusts in England, providing acute and specialist services across multiple sites and working closely with partners across the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System.

The Trust is at the forefront of secure data innovation, developing trusted research environments and federated analytics platforms in collaboration with academic, regional, and national partners. As a teaching hospital and learning organisation, we actively support continuous professional development, open-source collaboration, and the translation of research into real-world clinical and operational impact.

Job description

Job responsibilities

The post holder will be a core technical contributor within the research and data engineering function, responsible for building and maintaining secure software that enables federated health data analysis. This includes developing software connectors, cohort discovery tools, and OMOP-aligned analytical pipelines that operate within privacy-preserving frameworks such as DataSHIELD.

The role will involve writing robust, production-ready code in R and Python, supporting secure execution of complex analytical workflows within air-gapped or highly regulated environments. The post holder will contribute to the technical implementation of agent-based and AI-enabled workflows, including the integration of Model Context Protocols to support safe interaction between AI tools and sensitive data.

The post holder will be expected to work to high standards of software quality, security, and documentation, ensuring that all solutions are reproducible, auditable, and compliant with NHS information governance requirements. They will collaborate closely with researchers, clinicians, and digital teams, contributing technical expertise while operating within defined project priorities and governance frameworks.

Person Specification

Assessed

Essential

Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science, or a related field.
Demonstrable previous experience developing solutions that utilise and fully leverage the capabilities of Kubernetes for orchestration of containers and supporting cloud services
Further demonstrate experience in developing software solutions that are designed to leverage the capabilities of cloud technology
Good communicator, able to work under pressure, team player, cheerful and diplomatic

Desirable

Meets the specification

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

Employer details

Employer name

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

Address

Royal Preston Hospital

Sharoe Green Lane

Preston

PR2 9HT

Employer's website

http://jobs.elht.nhs.uk/

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