Head of Epidemiological Data Center | Robert Koch Institute (RKI) | Application deadline: 18 January 2026

🧬 Position sought:
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is seeking a Head of the Epidemiological Data Center (d/m/w) to lead Department Unit 23, starting as soon as possible. This is a permanent senior leadership role at Germany’s central Public Health Institute.

📊 Key tasks:
• Lead and strategically develop the Epidemiological Data Center (FG 23), including staff and budget responsibility
• Further develop data management for the RKI “Health in Germany” panel (45,000+ participants)
• Advance reproducible, standard-compliant data processing and quality assurance (e.g. FAIR, EHDS, FDM)
• Oversee IT and data infrastructure projects, including a panel data curation platform (e.g. FHIR standards)
• Coordinate data protection across the full research data lifecycle
• Develop concepts for integrating secondary data in cooperation with academic and non-academic partners
• Build and maintain national and international collaborations in health data management
• Provide scientific leadership for statistical consulting (sampling design, power calculations, analysis concepts, reporting)

👤 Profile requirements:
• University degree (Master or equivalent) in Data Science, Information Science, Life Sciences, Sociology or a comparable field
• PhD highly desirable
• Several years of experience in organisation, management and leadership roles
• Strong background in project management, controlling and facilitation of coordination processes
• Experience leading teams and developing service-oriented structures
• Extensive expertise in survey and health data (qualitative & quantitative), data documentation and anonymisation
• In-depth knowledge of data protection for personal health data
• Language skills: German C2, English C1

⭐ Desirable:
• Experience designing and operating technical data infrastructures (e.g. Kubernetes, Dagster, API-based workflows)
• Knowledge of statistical and programming languages (R, Stata, Python)
• IT project management experience and certifications (e.g. PRINCE2®)

💼 What’s offered:
• Permanent position with senior responsibility
• Salary up to E 15 TVöD or civil service appointment up to A 15 BBesO (depending on eligibility)
• Work at the core of Germany’s national health monitoring and data strategy 🇩🇪
• Highly interdisciplinary, international working environment 🌍

📍 Location: Berlin
⏰ Start date: As soon as possible
📨 Apply by: 18 January 2026
🌐 How to apply: via interamt.de (Reference no. 140/25)