Philip Couch
Institution:The University of Manchester
Research Technical Professional & Information Systems Programme Manager
PhD in Chemistry (Molecular Astrophysics); Principal Investigator for the SDE Team Development Hub
SDE Team Development Hub
Developing technical capability and capacity for UK Secure Data Environments
Our Project
The future of secure research depends on skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced colleagues who can navigate complex technical and governance landscapes. In addition to defining core competencies at entry, mid, and senior levels for existing colleagues to help them to navigate and plan their career progression, we're developing the next generation of secure data environment professionals through hands-on projects, structured mentoring, and bespoke training and development plans. Discover how we're using insights from our competency framework to guide our students and trainees, and how their real-world experiences are feeding back into the framework to ensure it remains grounded in practice.
Student Projects
To ensure future sustainability for the technical workforce, we are supervising students from Masters degree programmes at the three host institutions. Over two academic years, we have proposed research and technical projects with real-world usecases from Secure Data Environments in the North West of England. In addition, all of our research team provide mentoring to students to help them to develop technical/professional skills and to discover formal training opportunities that will help them to standout in the jobs market post-graduation, and to inspire them to pursue careers designing, developing, and operating SDEs. Find out more about our students below:
Emaan Hajara
Institution:University of Manchester
MSc Health Data Science '24–'25
Completed September 2025
Designing a Secure Hybrid Cloud Architecture for SDE
Built a secure hybrid cloud architecture from scratch, linking on-premises resources with Azure. Created a reproducible blueprint demonstrating secure and cost-effective infrastructure.
Read full story →Waleed Ali
Institution:Lancaster University
MSci Computer Science '25–'26
Completed March 2025
Cloud Data Engineering and Graph-Based Data Lineage for the NHS Secure Data Environment
Built an end-to-end ETL pipeline using a Medallion architecture with Synthea synthetic patient data, orchestrated through Azure Data Factory with transformation logic in Databricks notebooks.
Read full story →Rushil Singh
Institution:University of Manchester
MSc Health Data Science '25–'26
Starting July 2026
Hardware enabled Confidential Compute in the Health Data Science Research Domain
Review current application of hardware enabled Confidential Compute in other high governance domains and make recommendations for best practice in SDEs in the UK
Read full story →RTP Professional Placements
This programme has funded 3 full-time trainee positions for early careers Research Technical Professionals with aspirations to design, build, and operate secure research infrastructure. Find out more about our trainees below:
Justin Leung
Institution:University of Manchester
Role:Research Technical Professional
Focus:GPU platform and hybrid cloud deployment with Microsoft Azure
"The mix of technical training, meetings, and exposure to real project requirements has given me a clear sense of direction"
Saurav Sudhar
Institution:Lancashire Teaching Hospitals
Role:Research Technical Professional
Focus:Karectl, a Kubernetes-based Trusted Research Environment implementation
"Learning how tools and technologies such as Kubernetes, Terraform, and Azure are applied in practice, which is far more valuable"
Teddy McManus
Institution:University of Liverpool
Role:Research Technical Professional
Focus:Azure TRE infrastructure for mental health and civic health research initiatives
"Valuable to see how different disciplines and backgrounds can come together to support healthcare professionals and researchers"
Us
Meet the multidisciplinary team behind the SDE Team Development Hub.
Site Leads
Gary Leeming
Institution:University of Liverpool
Technical Director, Civic Health Innovation Labs
Former Chief Technology Officer at Connected Health Cities
Vishnu Chandrabalan
Institution:Lancashire and South Cumbria Secure Data Environment
Director & Chief Clinical Information Officer
Team won HDRUK national award; OHDSI Titan award nomination
The Team
Georgina Moulton
Charlie Stockton-Powdrell
Ruth Norris
Michael Adekoya
Mike Harding
Edd Tempest
Madeleine Raggett
Chris Cheyney
Rachel Thompson
SDE RTP Competency Framework
We have developed a comprehensive competency framework alongside a growing community of Trusted Research Environment and Secure Data Environment developers and operators. The framework maps core skills, experience, tools, and technologies to the Five Safes pillars and SATRE requirements, enabling service providers to grow capability whilst expanding technical teams, and to empower practitioners to plan for their professional progression. By grounding the framework in real-world practice and test-driving it in real SDE development teams, we are helping to ensure the sustainability and excellence of UK secure data environment programmes.
Key Features
Six Core Domains
Comprehensive coverage of Safe Access & Identity, Data Management, Governance & Compliance, and more.
Competency Mapping
Detailed competency levels with proficiency descriptions for career development.
SATRE Aligned
Mapped to UK research ethics frameworks for consistent professional standards.
Collaborative Design
Developed by teams across Manchester, Liverpool, and Lancashire institutions.
Interactive Tools
Explore skill matrices, mappings, and detailed competency frameworks.
Ready to Develop Your Skills?
Dive into the competency framework and start your learning journey today.