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Job overview
Fixed term post until 19 July 2027
UK Government requires improvement in the speed of set-up for clinical research to 150 days or less, from regulatory submission to first patient. There are significant financial and reputational penalties at site level where the site level components of this timeline are not attained. The Royal Marsden must attain these expectations and provide a world-leading environment for clinical research, to drive improvements to patient care.
Success will require significant cross-organisational engagement, negotiation and influence, a dynamic, innovative and tenacious approach, and exceptional project management skills.
The performance programme will be the sole focus of the post until 29 January 2027. From 27 January 2027 to 19 July 2027, the role will balance the performance programme and additionally undertake some of the responsibilities of the Deputy Director, Research Operations (Core Services) whilst they are on a leave of absence (returning July 2027). In this regard, the post holder will also be responsible for oversight of the Joint Clinical R&D Core Services function and the line management of senior staff (n=8) with direct responsibility for quality assurance, Generic Tissue Bank / tissue services, Software as Medical Device (SaMD) quality, laboratory quality, research database and statistics, business intelligence, governance and operations, and secretariat, and indirect responsibility for research legal services and research finance.
Main duties of the job
This post will act as the senior responsible person at The Royal Marsden to ensure compliance with the 60 and 30 day components at site level, ensuring significant material reductions to the time taken to set-up and recruit first patient that are sustainable in the long term. Specifically, the post holder will develop, implement, oversee, and be accountable for, a radical short term programme that must: - Attain 100% compliance with 60 day set-up metric. - Attain 100% compliance with 30 day first recruit metric where applicable. - Attain 100% compliance with the collective 90 day set-up metric where applicable. - Increase attainment of 1st UK, European and global patient recruitment. - Ensure that where The Royal Marsden is Lead NHS Site, always be the first site to open and recruit.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For further information please refer to the job description and person specification
- To implement the programme in liaison with cross-organisational colleagues with differing priorities and resourcing across Joint Clinical R&D Core Services, support services, and research delivery units. • To oversee the programme delivery, acting as a senior and highly effective point of escalation to troubleshoot and overcome issues and risks. • To be accountable for the programme delivery and outcomes, including reporting to Board level and ensuring that all internal and external data is reviewed, cleansed, compared with other organisations and updated as necessary. • To lead a review of each study to identify and implement learning lessons and outcomes for future improvement.
Person specification
Experience
Essential
- Extensive experience of working in clinical research ideally in a governance or operations role, specifically in the set-up of externally sponsored research studies.
- Extensive experience and excellent skills in managing and developing staff and successfully establishing and maintaining high performing, effective teams.
- Experience of working with staff from a range of backgrounds and different levels of seniority.
- Extensive experience of managing change.
Desirable
- Experience of developing a strong culture of customer service.
- Experience of working across organisations.
- Experience of delivering training sessions.
Skills / knowledge
Essential
- Exceptional understanding of the NHS clinical research performance management framework and metrics.
- Able to work unsupervised, managing and prioritising workload, meeting deadlines and exercising initiative.
- Strong leadership skills and excellent interpersonal skills.
Education/Qualifications
Essential
- Higher degree qualification (e.g. MSc) in a relevant subject.
- Recognised Good Clinical Practice certification.
- Commitment to continued professional development.
Desirable
- Project management qualification (e.g. PRINCE 2).
- People management and leadership qualification.
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Head of Clinical Research Performance with The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London, London, England. It is listed as a Band 8 role. The advertised salary is £85,641 - £97,746 per annum. The contract type is 12 months (Fixed Term until 19 July 2027). The application deadline is 21 Jul 2026.
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