Clinical Data Engineer

Job description

Job responsibilities

NHS Job Description

Job Title: Clinical Data EngineerBand: 8a Department: Health Data Institute (HDI), Royal Berkshire Hospital Foundation TrustResponsible to: Principal Analyst Accountable to: Head of Data Science & Advanced Analytics Base: Princes House, RG15UZ; with requirement to work across sites and partner organisations.

Job Purpose

To design, implement, and maintain data engineering and advanced analytics solutions that support research, service delivery, and AI within the Health Data & Informatics function. The post-holder will act as a subject matter expert, ensuring the Trust harnesses data as a strategic asset while maintaining compliance with NHS information governance, security, and ethical standards.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

Data Engineering & Pipeline Development

• Design, build, and maintain automated, scalable, and secure data pipelines for ingestion, cleaning, transformation, and integration of diverse health datasets.

• Optimise infrastructure to support analytics, machine learning, and clinical decision support.

• Implement open-source, cost-effective, and cloud-based solutions where appropriate.

• Contribute to the Trusts Secure Data Environment and Federated Data Platform for population health and research.

Advanced Analytics & AI Enablement

• Develop and operationalise models to address clinical, operational, and research priorities.

• Apply modern approaches, including machine learning, NLP, and deep learning, to extract insights.

• Support deployment into Trust systems, ensuring safe integration with clinical workflows.

• Monitor models post-deployment, updating for accuracy, fairness, and compliance.

Governance, Ethics & Security

• Ensure all work complies with NHS standards for data protection, confidentiality, and security.

• Promote ethical AI, transparency, and avoidance of algorithmic bias.

• Apply DPIA, DTAC, and other frameworks consistently across projects.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

• Work with clinicians, IT, BI, research, and operational colleagues to translate healthcare needs into data solutions.

• Partner with external organisations including NHS hubs, academic institutions, and industry collaborators.

• Communicate technical findings to diverse audiences, tailoring language to non-specialists.

• Manage expectations where findings may be sensitive or contentious.

Innovation & Continuous Improvement

• Identify and implement opportunities to improve services, patient outcomes, and workforce wellbeing through data.

• Keep abreast of emerging data, AI, and cloud technologies to inform Trust strategy.

• Champion reproducibility, version control, and best practice across the analytics community.

Leadership, Training & Supervision

• Act as SME for data engineering and AI within the HDI.

• Mentor analysts, scientists, and placement students in reproducible and code-based approaches.

• Provide professional leadership across informatics and analytics functions.

• Support change initiatives that embed advanced analytics across the Trust.

Project & Resource Management

• Plan, manage, and deliver projects from scoping to delivery, applying Agile principles where appropriate.

• Balance multiple workstreams, ensuring high-quality and timely outputs.

• Manage relationships with external suppliers and contractors to ensure value and service quality.

Communication & Working Relationships

• Engage regularly with internal and external stakeholders, including Arcturis, Thames Valley AI Hub, Informatics Research Centre, and University of Reading.

• Present complex information to multi-disciplinary groups of varying sizes.

• Negotiate and influence stakeholders where evidence challenges assumptions.

• Build collaborative relationships with academic, industry, and NHS partners to support innovation.

Planning & Organisation

• Support development and delivery of HDI strategy, aligning with national and regional priorities.

• Contribute to policy and service development that strengthens analytics and data engineering capability.

• Identify opportunities for efficiency and performance optimisation within the team.

• Ensure robust project management, risk management, and progress reporting.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Engineering, or equivalent.

• Proficiency in Python, SQL, ETL, APIs, and cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP).

• Knowledge of ML algorithms, operationalisation, and model monitoring.

• Strong understanding of governance, security, and ethical frameworks in health data.

• Excellent communication, influencing, and negotiation skills.

• Experience delivering complex projects and mentoring others.

• Postgraduate qualification (MSc/PhD) in data science, ML, or related subject.

• Experience with health data standards (HL7, FHIR, SNOMED).

• Familiarity with NHS datasets and national initiatives.

• Experience with BI tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or Looker.

• Research track record with academic or industry partners.

Analytical & Judgement Skills

• Applies advanced methods to large and complex datasets.

• Evaluates competing methodologies and balances rigour with operational relevance.

• Anticipates and mitigates risks such as bias or unintended consequences.

• Exercises independent judgement in situations of incomplete or conflicting evidence.

Physical, Mental & Emotional Effort

• Primarily desk-based role requiring long periods of concentration at a computer.

• Occasional movement of equipment and travel between sites.

• Frequent requirement for sustained focus when coding or problem-solving.

• Occasional exposure to sensitive or distressing data.

• Requirement to manage expectations and deliver contentious findings with diplomacy.

Working Conditions

• Office and hybrid working, with flexibility subject to Trust policy.

• Use of VDUs for prolonged periods.

• Occasional regional/national travel to meetings and conferences.

• Collaborative, multi-disciplinary working across healthcare, academia, and industry.

• Active engagement in CPD and knowledge-sharing.

• Completion of all mandatory training.

• Participation in appraisal and development planning.

• Contribution to training and mentoring of colleagues.

• Promote fairness, inclusion, and respect in all activities.

• Ensure solutions are designed and tested for equity and bias reduction.

• Contribute to a positive and inclusive team culture.

• Take responsibility for own health, safety, and wellbeing.

• Report incidents and hazards promptly.

• Ensure safe use of equipment and promote a culture of safety across the team.

Other Duties

• Provide cover during periods of absence or peak demand.

• Support additional projects and initiatives relevant to the role.

• Maintain awareness of and compliance with Trust policies.

• Contribute to continuous service improvement in line with Trust priorities.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• BSc - Data, Mathematical or Medically related field
• MSc - Data, Mathematical or Medically related field

• Relevant course (Medical, Mathematical, IT, Data)
• Project Management Qualification (e.g. PRINCE2)

Experience

• Minimum 3 years in a Data related field
• Proficiency in SQL
• Proficiency in Python (Machine Learning, Deep Learning or LLM Frameworks)

• Minimum 2 years experience in Data related field
• Minimum 2 years in a Business or Management Consulting field
• Experience of Docker, Hadoop, PySpark, Apache or MS Azure
• Minimum 2 years NHS/Healthcare experience

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

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Princes House

London Road

Reading

RG15UZ

Employer's website

https://www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk/