CRDC Research Business Manager

Job overview

University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded funding by the NIHR to establish a Commercial Research Delivery Centre (CRDC). The Research Business Manager will play a pivotal role in its development, management and delivery of its strategic objectives.

The key objective of which is to make participation in research more inclusive by broadening access to the wider regional population. This will involve developing contractual relationships with other health and social care providers. The role will require a good knowledge of primary care research delivery.

The postholder, along with other senior members of the team, will be critical to the successful development of strategic partnerships within the NHS and social care, academic institutions, and the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. The post holder will require specialist knowledge commercial contract research and the needs of the industry.

The post holder will bring experience of the set up and performance management of commercial contract clinical research studies, performance management, research information systems and staff management.

The post holder will oversee the finances and budget of the CRDC. They will also deputise for the Head of Research on other financial and budgetary matters and   manage the research contracts and finance team.

Main duties of the job

• Lead on the development of the CRDC hub and spoke delivery model for commercial clinical trials across Sussex.
• Provide on-going professional leadership, management and governance of the CRDC.
• Responsible for management of the departmental budget and staff establishment control, including ensuring appropriate allocation of financial resources. Ensure that expenditure is monitored against budget and maintain financial control.
• Responsible for meeting the Trust’s obligations in compliance with external audits and regulatory inspections by relevant bodies.
• Responsible for making recommendations, providing advice and able to prepare strategic reports/briefings for the Head of Department, steering/reference groups and others as required.
• Contribute to the strategic planning of commercial trials, identifying potential impacts on wider organisation, resource requirements and building in contingency and adjustments as necessary.
• In conjunction with the Head of Research develop short, medium and long term business plans, achieving quality outcomes to ensure that the service develops in line with the needs of the Trust.
• Demonstrate effective stakeholder management across different departments and at all levels.  Respond to and resolve conflict between different stakeholders for example when a researcher disputes the need for certain regulations.
• Deputise for the Head of Department as required, expanding on knowledge, skills and experience within personal professional development

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Research & CRDC Business Management

• Lead on the development of strategic partnerships within the NHS, academic institutions, and the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. The post holder will require specialist knowledge commercial contract research and the needs of the industry.
• Responsibility for the management of the CRDC income and expenditure position. The budget is multi-stranded with the budget from the grant being £3.5 Million over 7 years, years plus income from the delivery of a portfolio of commercial studies.
• Budget holder and signatory; will authorise expenditure and be responsible for selecting suppliers of out-sourced research services or authorising such purchases, taking into account cost, quality, delivery time and reliability.
• Responsible for financial negotiations with out-sourced providers and sponsors on CRDC business.
• In addition, the postholder will need to negotiate costings with commercial sponsors in conjunction with study delivery teams.
• The postholder will be responsible for performing study-wide national costing reviews under NHS England's National Contract Value Review (NCVR) process.  This applies to commercial studies where UHSx are the Chief Investigator site or where we have agreed to undertake the costing review.  This involves reviewing protocols, laboratory manuals and any other sponsor-provided documentation to ensure sponsor adherence to the NIHR tariff and maximum cost recovery for the NHS.  Suggested amends to costs will need to be completed in NIHR's Interactive Costing Tool in CPMS.
• Initiate and develop robust systems and proportionate risk assessment and governance processes for the management of commercial research in community settings.