Director of Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI)Director of Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI)

Job Title: Director of Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI)

Jisc grade: TGE5

Salary: c£78,500 per annum (negotiable based on experience) + comprehensive benefits package

Job Type: Permanent

Hours: 35 hours per week

Reports into: Group CTO

Working style: Hybrid - A blend of working from home and your nominated hub office. We have hubs located in London, Bristol, Manchester and Oxford.

About Jisc:

At Jisc, we're driven by a simple ambition: to use technology to transform education, research and innovation.

For more than 30 years, we've been the digital partner for the UK's education and research sectors, providing world-class networks, innovative digital services and expert guidance that help universities, colleges and research institutions thrive.

Our work supports millions of learners, educators and researchers every day, enabling everything from groundbreaking discoveries and life-changing research to exceptional digital learning experiences. While many people may not realise it, the technology and services we provide help power some of the UK's most important educational and research achievements.

Join Jisc and you'll be part of a purpose-driven organisation where your ideas can have a real impact. Together, we're shaping the future of learning, research and innovation for the benefit of society.

The role:

We're looking for a strategic and influential Director of Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) to shape Jisc's role within the UK's digital research infrastructure landscape.

This is a senior leadership role responsible for defining Jisc's strategic direction for digital research infrastructure, ensuring our capabilities, partnerships, and investments are aligned to the needs of the research and higher education sectors. Working across a complex and collaborative ecosystem spanning universities, funders, government bodies, national programmes, research organisations, and technology partners, you will help position Jisc as a trusted partner, enabler, and integrator.

The role is externally focused and strategic in nature, bringing together expertise from across Jisc to develop a coherent vision for digital research infrastructure. You will work closely with colleagues across technology, research, networking, security, platforms, and data services to identify opportunities, shape future investment priorities, influence national discussions, and ensure Jisc continues to deliver meaningful value to the sector.

What you’ll be doing:

• Define and lead Jisc's strategy for digital research infrastructure, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities, sector needs, and emerging technology trends.
• Position Jisc as a leading strategic partner within the UK research ecosystem, building trusted relationships with universities, government departments, funders, national programmes, and technology providers.
• Represent Jisc in national digital research infrastructure discussions, acting as a credible and influential voice with stakeholders including UKRI, DSIT, research-intensive institutions, and sector partners.
• Shape Jisc's role within federated infrastructure models, ensuring interoperability, integration, and alignment with national and international standards.
• Work collaboratively across Jisc to align networking, security, identity, platform, and data capabilities in support of the organisation's digital research infrastructure ambitions.
• Develop strategic approaches to investment, partnerships, and funding, ensuring long-term sustainability, customer value, and sector impact.
• Build and champion the evidence base for research computing and digital research infrastructure, helping organisations understand the strategic and economic value of investment.
• Support the development of business cases, propositions, partnerships, and delivery pathways that enable Jisc to meet sector needs effectively.
• Establish clear measures of success and ensure investments deliver tangible benefits for customers, partners, and stakeholders.
• Provide visible and inclusive leadership, fostering collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement across teams and partnerships.
• Contribute to the development of Jisc's culture, operating model, and leadership community, promoting openness, trust, and high performance.

What we are looking for:

We're looking for an experienced strategic leader who combines technical credibility with strong stakeholder engagement and a passion for enabling world-class research through digital infrastructure.

Successful candidates will be able to demonstrate:

• Experience developing and leading technology strategies, infrastructure strategies, or large-scale transformation programmes within research, higher education, technology, government, or similarly complex environments.
• A broad understanding of digital research infrastructure, including how networking, compute, platforms, data, security, and identity services work together within federated environments.
• Strong knowledge of enterprise and large-scale architecture principles, interoperability standards, integration approaches, and operating model design.
• Understanding of research infrastructure domains such as high-performance computing, cloud services, trusted research environments, secure data access models, federated identity, large-scale networking, and cyber security.
• The ability to evaluate emerging technologies, including AI, advanced computing, hybrid cloud, and data-intensive research platforms, translating innovation into practical strategic direction and investment priorities.
• Experience shaping investment strategies, partnership models, funding approaches, and business cases that balance innovation, resilience, sustainability, and long-term value.
• Strong commercial and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to make informed decisions across centralised, distributed, partnered, and federated infrastructure models.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the credibility to build productive relationships and secure alignment across complex organisations and partnerships.
• Experience working effectively within politically and organisationally complex environments, navigating competing priorities and delivering results through collaboration and influence.
• Outstanding communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts and strategic priorities to a wide range of technical and non-technical audiences.
• The ability to articulate the value, impact, and return on investment of digital research infrastructure to senior leaders, funders, policymakers, and sector stakeholders.
• A collaborative and inclusive leadership style that promotes trust, accountability, innovation, continuous learning, and high performance.

We recognise that skills and experience can be developed through a variety of career paths. If you're excited about the opportunity to shape the future of digital research infrastructure but don't meet every requirement, we'd still encourage you to apply.

Don’t meet every single requirement?

We know that sometimes people can be put off applying for a job if they think they can’t tick every box, so we encourage you to apply even if you do not meet 100% of the requirements, but if you feel this role is perfect for you. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles!

Hybrid working:

Specific patterns for working in the office are not mandated, and the frequency of time worked in the office is agreed with your manager. Meeting in person is something we value, so you may need to travel on occasion to any of our hub offices.

Why work for us?

At Jisc, every role is meaningful, and every individual is valued. We foster a culture of continuous learning and personal growth, offering opportunities to develop new skills and make a real impact in education and research. With a strong focus on work-life balance, we embrace flexible working that prioritises outcomes over hours, empowering you to create a rhythm that energises both your professional and personal life.

Our Guiding Principles:

Jisc’s culture is powered by our four guiding principles: putting customers first, driving innovation, creating impact, and championing inclusive collaboration to deliver sustainable outcomes and shape a better future.

Discover the amazing benefits we provide! Here’s what you can look forward to:

• Flexible work pattern, which can adapt to suit your schedules and personal commitments
• 31 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) that includes three closure days over Christmas
• Buy up to an additional 5 days leave during the flexible benefits window
• Generous flexible pension schemes
• A range of wellbeing lifestyle benefits including company paid health care cash plan, mental health first aiders and support
• A company culture of continuous learning with access to thousands of LinkedIn Learning courses, and lots of resources and opportunities to support your development
• Allocated allowance of up to £250 to equip your home office
• Financial well-being support including access to preferential loan and savings plans, mortgage advice, will writing tools and support and resources to help you make the most of your money
• A wide range of discounts and cashback from retailers and big-name high-street stores
• Family friendly policies including enhanced parental, maternity and paternity and co-parental leave as well as opportunity for career breaks
• Support your volunteering with up to 3 days volunteer leave

Equity, diversity and inclusion:

Jisc believe our people make all the difference in cultivating an inclusive culture that welcomes ideas, encourages innovation, and values belonging.

We work hard to create an equitable experience for our candidates and workforce which embraces all aspects of their identity including race and ethnicity, religion and belief, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, trans identities, age, class, disability, neurodivergence, or veteran status.

Application process:

Please let us know how we can best accommodate you throughout the recruitment process. We’re committed to making our process accessible and comfortable for everyone - just tell us what works best for you.

Interested? Don’t leave it too late to apply. We may close the vacancy early once we’ve received enough applications. Just so you know, we review CVs as soon as we can and aim to provide an update on your application within 4 weeks of receiving it. However, you may hear from us a lot sooner, so please keep an eye out for our emails or calls!

We’re really looking forward to getting to know the real you. While we encourage the use of AI tools to help you get started on your CV or cover letter, we encourage you to review your application before submitting. Make sure it truly reflects your own voice, experiences, and personality.

If you are currently a Jisc employee, please apply through your Dayforce Employee profile.

We have a thorough background screening process that verifies the details you share with us in your CV and your application. Any inaccurate information supplied during the application stages can lead to a job offer being withdrawn.

Sponsorship:

Jisc has an active sponsor licence to recruit on a Skilled worker visa basis. Candidates wishing to apply who require sponsorship should determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for the role by assessing their circumstances against the relevant Home Office criteria. Jisc does not offer any financial re-imbursement towards the applicant costs, such as re-location, skilled worker visa and dependant costs or the immigration health charge.

No agencies please