Associate Product Manager

Do you believe in the power of data and think this power should be used to improve the lives of the people living in Scotland?  Yes?  Research Data Scotland needs you!

Are you a brilliantly organised individual who thrives on keeping multiple plates spinning?!  Do you love getting into the nitty gritty of digital products and services, gaining an intimate knowledge of platforms and navigating your way through the variety of tasks that keep everything running? If this sounds like you, keep reading! We’re looking for a digital super-star to support our project work and help us keep providing access to data in a secure and efficient way.

About us

Research Data Scotland (RDS) is a charity set up by the Scottish public sector and leading universities. We help researchers find and make use of data that can improve the lives of people in Scotland. Working in partnership, we do this by widening the range of data available, creating new data assets and providing a single point of contact for safe, secure and effective access to public data in a trustworthy manner.

Data is often locked away in lots of individual systems, across many different organisations, and isn’t in a format that makes access or integration easy. We can help researchers to unlock the potential of this data by giving them information and advice that speeds up and simplifies their work.

RDS aims to provide a step change in the service to researchers, whilst maintaining the high standards of information governance and data security already in place. We aim to work as openly as possible, maintaining standards in transparency and ethics. Our focus is on providing a streamlined service for researchers, as well as extending the range of data available through the service, particularly in the areas of Covid-19, NHS imaging, geospatial data, children and justice services.

Our partners include: Scottish Government, Public Health Scotland, National Records of Scotland (NRS), and the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. We work closely with the national and regional safe havens. And we are in contact with other organisations in Scotland and across the UK in the data research sector, including public sector, research and commercial bodies.

About the job

The Associate Product Manager plays a vital role in delivering user-focused digital products and services that make it easier for researchers to find and access data in a secure and efficient way.

They are responsible for supporting a range of digital projects at RDS collaborating with internal teams and external agencies to maintain and develop our digital platforms and support the delivery of high-quality services.

Working methodically, the role holder will ensure our live platforms (website, metadata catalogue and Researcher Access Service) are well managed, overseeing a planned programme of service improvements, functionality and design of new features.

This is an ideal opportunity for someone developing their digital product and delivery career or moving into agile delivery from another project management or coordination background.

About you

You are a self-starter, with some experience of working with customer-facing digital platforms. You’ll understand the importance of accuracy and diligence, while working across a range of projects. You’ll have a natural ability to form strong working relationships and communication forms a huge part of this role, so you’ll be adept at sharing accurate verbal and written information across our organisation and to our delivery partners meaning we get things right first time.

Life at RDS

We are a small friendly and highly engaged team of people. We promote continuous learning and work hard to build an inclusive and supportive workplace culture. We live our values of; integrity, transparency, courage, collaboration and humility.

At RDS we offer a Four Day (32 hours) week for our full-time colleagues, with remote-first working on offer from day one. You can choose to work flexibly from home or use one of our office desks in the Edinburgh Futures Institute. The whole RDS team meets one day per month in-person in Edinburgh or at an off-site away day in the Central Belt. Individual teams organise their own in-person days to collaborate, develop and socialise together.

We offer up to 30 days’ annual leave (including public holidays) and have no set closure days. We have a generous pension and enhanced pay for parental/adoption leave. Our flexible benefits include a Cycle to Work scheme, Dental Insurance and discount vouchers. Our Culture Group helps us seek feedback from colleagues across the organisation to make RDS an even better place to work.