Agile Research Delivery Team- Clinical Practitioner

Job overview

• We are seeking an enthusiastic and motivated individual with a passion for healthcare and research. You will be adaptable, organised and able to work across different environments. You will play a key role in delivering research across a variety of settings, including primary care, community, residential care, and hospitals. Working alongside Research Nurses, Clinical Research Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals, and Research Facilitators, you will:
• - Support the set-up and delivery of NIHR portfolio studies. Engage with sites to facilitate research activity - Identify, recruit and consent participants - Support data collection and participant follow-up in line with study protocols

A driving licence and access to a car are essential, as you will be required to travel across the region. Travel expenses will be reimbursed in line with Trust policy.

Main duties of the job

The focus for this role is to provide support to the delivery and/or setup of National Institute for Health and Care Research Delivery Network (NIHR RDN) Portfolio studies across varied health and care settings. This will require flexible autonomous working across disciplines and the Regional RDN (RRDN) region. This post has a dual function and the post holder will either contribute to research delivery and/ or research support for wider care settings dependent upon regional need. Research delivery will involve the correct identification, recruitment, delivery and follow up for research participants according to the appropriate research protocols. Research support will involve engaging with stakeholders to promote research activity, site identification, set up and associated governance. The post holder will need interpersonal and leadership skills to facilitate collaborative working relationships across a breadth of stakeholders to maximise engagement opportunities. This post may contribute to line management for a team of research delivery staff working autonomously in a variety of specialties and settings. The role will work alongside different professions from multiple organisations involved in health and care research and will be an integral part of the Agile Research Delivery Team which sits within the RRDN core team.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the full Job description / person spec

Are you ready to take on a new and exciting challenge?

Do you thrive in dynamic environments and enjoy working across a variety of healthcare settings?

We are excited to offer an opportunity for a Band 5 Clinical Research Practitioner to join our Agile Research Delivery Team (ARDT), supporting the delivery of high-quality research across the South East region. This post is based at the Innovation Centre Medway. This role offers a fantastic opportunity to develop within a supportive and forward-thinking team.

If you’re passionate about improving healthcare through research and want to be part of a supportive, forward-thinking team that works flexibly across care settings, we encourage you to apply.

The post holder will also work closely with the Study Support Service and the Stakeholder and Engagement team. The postholder will be accountable to the Senior Agile Research Delivery Team CRP/Research Facilitator.

ROLE OF RDN From October 2024, the NIHR Clinical Research Network became the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN). The RDN continues to support the effective and efficient initiation and delivery of funded research across the health and care system in England for the benefit of patients, the health and care system and the economy, with a name that better reflects the scope and purpose of the network to support:

• Clinical trials and other well-designed health and social care research studies (including studies that are delivered outside of an NHS setting);
• Public health studies that require the recruitment of individuals within an NHS setting (that is, acute, ambulance, mental health, community or primary care) or an episode Version control July 2025 V1.0 of care which involves contact with the NHS. The whole of England is supported through 12 NIHR Regional Research Delivery Networks (RRDNs). These work with the national Coordinating Centre to provide a joint RDN leadership function so that the NIHR RDN as a whole functions as a single organisation with a shared vision and purpose across England. Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust is the Host Organisation for the South East RRDN region. The NIHR RRDNs have three key roles.
• First, to provide support to research sites to enable the effective and efficient initiation and delivery of funded research across the health and care system in England.
• Second, to enable the strategic development of new and more effective research delivery capability and capacity. This includes bringing research to under-served regions and communities with major health and care needs.
• Third, to work jointly with the Coordinating Centre in the strategic oversight of the NIHR RDN. This ensures that the Portfolio is maintained as a cohort of high-quality, fully-funded, viable and deliverable studies. It also ensures that the NIHR RDN as a whole serves the needs of researchers and R&D teams and is responsive to the changing domestic and global environment for health and care, life sciences and health research. NIHR RRDNs need to develop excellent relationships with the organisations commissioning and providing health and social care across their regions, which are mapped onto NHS regions and integrated care systems. They help to support research undertaken by those providers and at sites across the region, and promote research meeting the needs of local populations. NIHR RRDNs work together with an RDN national Coordinating Centre to support health and care research for the benefit of patients, the health and care system and the economy as a whole

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.