Principal Lead, TRE Accreditation and Assurance (2 years FTC) (Hiring Immediately)

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Principal Lead, TRE Accreditation & Assurance to lead the review and development of Our Future Health's Trusted Research Environment (TRE) accreditation and assurance framework.

Reporting to the Director of Assurance, you will play a key role in strengthening our approach to secure research access, ensuring our accreditation processes remain robust, proportionate and scalable as the programme grows. You will bring specialist expertise in information governance, accreditation and assurance, working collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to develop and implement sustainable improvements.

Despite big improvements in healthcare in our lifetimes, today millions of people in the UK still live in poor health as they get older. Diseases like cancer, dementia, diabetes, and heart disease affect the lives of many people in our communities. Our goal is to create a world-leading resource for health research, to improve our understanding and spot the patterns of how and why common diseases start, so treatments can begin sooner and be more effective.

Our Future Health will be the UK's largest ever health research programme, bringing people together to develop new ways to detect, prevent, and treat diseases. We are a charity, supported by the UK Government, in partnership with charities and industry. We work closely with the NHS and with public authorities across all nations and regions of the UK.

What you'll be doing:

In this role, you will lead the development and implementation of improvements to our TRE accreditation process and ongoing assurance arrangements. Working closely with teams across Information Governance, Information Security, Technology, Legal and Access Governance, your key responsibilities will include:

• Lead the review, redesign and implementation of our TRE accreditation framework, including accreditation requirements, assessment methodologies, policies and processes.
• Develop and implement robust ongoing assurance arrangements, including monitoring, periodic reviews, audits, reassessments and management of non-compliance.
• Lead the delivery of the TRE accreditation and assurance improvement programme, managing priorities, milestones, dependencies and risks to ensure successful implementation.
• Provide specialist advice and evidence-based recommendations on complex accreditation, information governance, security and assurance matters.
• Collaborate with internal teams, independent assessors, TRE owners and external stakeholders to develop effective, consistent and proportionate accreditation processes.
• Coordinate engagement with relevant governance bodies, supporting the review and approval of revised accreditation requirements and processes.
• Strengthen the quality and consistency of independent assessments, ensuring accreditation and assurance arrangements meet relevant regulatory requirements and standards.
• Establish sustainable governance arrangements, operational processes and guidance to support the effective implementation and ongoing management of the revised framework.

Requirements

Ideally, you will have substantial experience in accreditation, assurance, information governance or related activities within a regulated environment, such as health research, the NHS, government or industry.

You will bring a strong understanding of secure data environments and the ability to translate complex governance and technical requirements into practical, sustainable solutions.

To succeed in this role, you will also have some of the following skills and experience:

• Strong knowledge of information governance, data protection and information security frameworks, including UK GDPR and ISO 27001.
• Experience designing, implementing or improving accreditation, certification or assurance frameworks, including assessment methodologies, monitoring, audit and compliance processes.
• A good understanding of Trusted Research Environments (TREs), Secure Data Environments (SDEs) or comparable secure data platforms, including their governance, operational and security requirements.
• Proven experience leading complex, cross-functional programmes or improvement initiatives, translating strategic objectives into practical outcomes.
• Experience in risk assessment, assurance planning, governance and regulatory compliance within data-intensive or regulated environments.
• An understanding of the legal, ethical and governance considerations associated with sensitive health data, genomics and large-scale research datasets.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with experience engaging senior leaders, governance bodies, independent assessors and external partners.
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