Research IT

A brown wooden desk seen from above. There is an open silver laptop on it, a cup of coffee, and pages of white A4 paper with planning details and writing on them scattered about the desk.

COMPASS: Guiding the Future of Digital Research Leadership

Phil Bradbury, Research Software Engineer, and Adrian Harwood, Head of Research Software Engineering, introduce COMPASS. a community supporting digital research technical leaders to share operational best practice across institutions.

What is dRTP COMPASS?

Research IT’s Phil Bradbury, secured funding from the UKRI-funded DisCouRSE Network+ project earlier in the year to establish dRTP COMPASS (Community of Operational Management, Peer Advice and Shared Support); a new community of practice focused on the operational management of digital Research Technical Professional (dRTP) groups.

The project is a collaboration between Manchester and the Universities of York and Durham and is designed to help dRTP leaders share practical approaches, learn from each other, and build reusable tools and guidance for teams of different sizes and structures.

Many managers of research software, data, infrastructure, platforms and other digital research technical teams face similar challenges in their roles, whilst undertaking the broadly core duties of capacity planning, understanding demand, reporting impact, supporting people, and making the work of technical professionals more visible within institutions. The challenges they face are often solved separately, but in similar ways. At its heart, dRTP COMPASS is about connecting operational leaders and aspiring leaders so they can share their experiences and feel less isolated.

Although it has started within the research Software Engineering space, the vision has always been dRTP-wide from the very beginning. The approach also reflects the wider ambition of DisCouRSE: to build leadership capacity and community links across the dRTP landscape. This broadening of the membership is a key focus of phase 2 of the project for which Phil secured a second round of funding from DisCouRSE. This is an opportunity to strengthen a broader network of people working to make digital research technical careers more visible, sustainable and supported.

Why dRTP operational management needs a community

Digital research technical groups are central to how universities deliver research. They provide the expertise and experience that underpins innovation through robust software, reliable data and workflows, secure platforms, usable support services and all-round sustainable digital infrastructure. Yet the people managing these groups often have to navigate complex questions without a shared “runbook”:

  • How do we prioritise work?
  • How do we evidence impact?
  • How do we manage mixed portfolios of research projects, service commitments and internal development?
  • How do we support career development aspirations while meeting institutional demand?

dRTP COMPASS aims to address these questions collectively. Rather than promoting a single model of how every group should operate, the community will help managers understand what works in different contexts, adapt useful practices, and develop outputs with shared-ownership that can be adopted by dRTP teams across the sector.

Many managers of research software, data, infrastructure, platforms and other digital research technical teams face similar challenges in their roles, whilst undertaking the broadly core duties of capacity planning, understanding demand, reporting impact, supporting people, and making the work of technical professionals more visible within institutions. The challenges they face are often solved separately, but in similar ways. At its heart, dRTP COMPASS is about connecting operational leaders and aspiring leaders so they can share their experiences and feel less isolated.

What can it do for you?

The community will provide a practical forum for people who manage, coordinate or lead dRTP activity. That includes RSE group leads, data science and data stewardship managers, research infrastructure and platform leads, technical service managers, research technology coordinators, and anyone else responsible for planning and supporting digital research technical work.

For individuals, dRTP COMPASS offers a place to ask questions, compare approaches and learn from peers who face similar operational pressures. For teams, it offers access to community-owned tools, templates, and policy frameworks that can reduce duplication and improve consistency. For institutions, it offers a route to better understand demand, capacity, impact and sustainability across the digital research technical workforce.

The community is especially keen to welcome people beyond established RSE management networks. If you manage a group of digital research technical professionals but do not identify as an RSE manager, this community is for you too. The problems dRTP COMPASS is trying to solve cut across job titles, job descriptions, institutional structures and technical specialisms.

CapX: from Manchester tool to community-owned platform

The project also marks an important step for Capacity eXtended (CapX), a tool developed within the University of Manchester RSE team to support capacity planning, operational management and reporting. Conceived by Head of RSE, Adrian Harwood, back in 2022, CapX has since grown from a local solution to a platform with wider potential, helping teams bring together information about people, projects, demand and delivery in a way that supports better planning and clearer conversations with stakeholders across the University.

Screenshot of the CapX system showing time allocation for a person

Becoming open source and community owned is a major achievement for CapX. It means the tool can develop in response to the needs of a wider community, with contributions, feedback and real-world adoption shaping its future direction. Through dRTP COMPASS, CapX is being adapted in partnership with other institutions, helping ensure that it remains flexible enough for different operating models while retaining a shared foundation.

How do I get involved?

If you manage, lead, coordinate or support a digital research technical group, we would like to hear from you, especially if you are not an RSE group! You do not need to commit to using CapX or to being part of the steering group. The community is open to people working across the wider dRTP landscape who want to share practice, explore common challenges, contribute ideas, or adopt outputs developed through the project.

You can find out more about dRTP COMPASS, follow the project’s progress and access emerging resources via the community website.

Whether you want to contribute to the development of CapX, compare operational models, test emerging resources, or simply connect with others facing similar questions, dRTP COMPASS is an opportunity to shape something useful for the sector. We hope you will join us.

For more information, contact Phil Bradbury or Adrian Harwood at Manchester.