Job overview
The RRDN Director is the senior officer responsible for the overall leadership, delivery and management of the RRDN. They oversee and drive the work of the RRDN Strategic Development, Operations and Health & Care Research Directors.
The purpose of the RDN is 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 and the public, the health and care system and the economy. The RRDN Director is accountable for enabling this regionally by providing efficient, effective and nationally consistent supporting services and activities in line with the requirements of the RRDN Host Organisation Contract with the Department of Health and Social Care, with particular emphasis on addressing the needs of the life sciences industry (across both commercial contract and commercial collaborative research).
Main duties of the job
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 is to ensure 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.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
● Overall leadership, delivery and management of the RRDN ● Be accountable to the Host Lead, NIHR RDN CEO and the RDN Board for;
○ the establishment and delivery of the RRDN ○ the operational performance of the RRDN ○ the management and assurance of RRDN funding ○ oversight of the development and delivery of the RRDN 3 year Strategic Implementation Plan ○ ensuring the Host Organisation fulfils the obligations of the RRDN Host Organisation Contract ○ ensuring the vision, values and behaviours of the RDN are embraced across the RRDN
● Strategic oversight, development and approval of RRDN business, financial, strategic development and impact plans, and associated reports ● Develop and optimise potential for high quality and sustainable health and care research within the region and nationally in alignment with RDN vision, direction and strategic aims
Person specification
Skills
Essential
- Highly developed leadership, strategic thinking and planning skills with ability to demonstrate these in highly political environments
- Strong external communications skills in a politically sensitive environment with knowledge of and experience in handling media relations
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Experience of working in the health and care research sector, the health and social care service sector or academic environment at a senior level
- Professional research leadership, both strategic and operational at a senior level
- Experience of working across complex organisational structures and effective matrix management
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for NIHR Regional Research Delivery Network (RRDN) Director with Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust in Guildford, South East, England. It is listed as a Manager and corporate role. The advertised salary is £115,052 - £132,053 pa pro rata. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 30 Jul 2026.
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