R&D Deputy Director

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King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£1.8 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and more than 15,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King's College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in the London Borough of Bromley.

We encourage all our staff to have a healthy work/life balance. In doing so, you can apply for flexible working from the beginning of your employment. We offer a range of options which are designed to suit different circumstances and priorities in line with service requirements.

flexible-working

Job overview

The Deputy Director of R&D is a leading member of the R&D Senior Management Team and will provide credible, effective and visible senior leadership of R&D, through technical knowledge and expertise of research operations, research governance and research workforce development. The post holder will also be a key member of the KCH R&D Leadership team.

The post holder will provide strong operational leadership within R&D and has overall responsibility for building effective management links and relationships across R&D and its partner organisations to ensure efficient management and development of successful research collaborations.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will provide expertise in relation to research governance and the regulatory environment within R&D Department, across the Trust and our university partners to ensure that research undertaken within the Trust undergoes consistent, high-quality and proportionate regulatory reviews in a timely manner.

The post holder will be the point of escalation for concerns and research incidents across the Trust relating to research governance and will be key in the resolution of complex regulatory issues and investigation of incidents, in order to ensure that research within the organisation is delivered appropriately and safely for our patients in an environment of continuous improvement.

The post-holder will provide strong leadership across the R&D teams to ensure the Trust meets its regulatory obligations and maintains a high-quality compliant research environment.

The postholder is responsible for ensuring good clinical practice standards in research delivery, promoting engagement and involvement of staff and patients in research and driving developments pertaining to research delivery, the research equity and diversity agenda plus the development of our research workforce.

The post holder is a source of expertise and advice for the Trust for issues pertaining to research related education and training for the health care professions.

Working for our organisation

The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. The trust-wide strategy of Strong Roots, Global Reach is our Vision to be BOLD, Brilliant people, Outstanding care, Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do. By being person-centred, digitally-enabled, and focused on sustainability, we aim to take Team King's to another level.

We are at a pivotal point in our history and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people.

King's is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone's contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust's carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Management & Leadership
• To take operational accountability for all aspects of the Trust's NHS R&D functions, adopting a flexible approach in order to deliver the operational strategy and year-on-year business plans in conjunction with the R&D Directors
• Full line-management responsibilities of at least 50% of RDU matrons and managers (50% managed by Head of Research Workforce), R&D Operational Manager and Head of Research Workforce including oversight of administrative and research support staff within and associated with the staff/teams. This will include job design, recruitment, induction, appraisal, training and development and retention of staff as well as managing sickness and absence, disciplinary and performance issues that may arise.
• Lead and support organisational initiatives to ensure efficient service delivery and productivity and compliance with Trust and R&D goals; this could include consultation with staff and promoting new ways of working, implementing new policies and procedures.

Finance
• Act as authorised signatory on behalf of R&D for relevant budgets and resource requests.
• In conjunction with the R&D Director, lead the annual business planning process and the completion of business plans for RDN-funded service, and review establishment in relation to service developments.

Patient Safety, Risk and Quality Management
• Ensure that all Trust policies including child protection, vulnerable adult and Human Tissue Act legislation are adhered to by staff in a research setting.
• To promote a culture of continuous quality improvement across the R&I Directorate
• Responsible for ensuring participant complaints are reported appropriately, investigated in collaboration with other colleagues in the R&D Directorate and responded to appropriately.

Education, Training and Professional Development
• Lead by example and act as a positive role model for all staff, taking responsibility for your own professional development.
• Ensure the implementation of a succession planning programme for key leadership roles

EPIC for Research
• • Acts as R&D lead for optimisation and development of EPIC functions for research and integration of good practice for source data integrity and regulatory compliance among research teams-in conjunction with the R&D Systems Lead.

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further details of the main responsibilities of the role.

Person specification

Management

Essential criteria

• Experience of line management and leading a team
• Highly developed senior leadership and influencing experience with the ability to enthuse, motivate and involve individuals and teams to deliver complex initiatives.
• Ability to motivate members of staff at all levels and demonstrate strong leadership skills.
• Ability to work efficiently alone & as a member of a multi-professional team.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of communication with a wide variety of people.

Education and Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Relevant Masters degree/ professional qualification or equivalent experience.
• Recognised management/leadership qualification.
• Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Certification

Experience

Essential criteria

• Significant experience in a management role in either NHS or academic environment.
• Extensive experience of research governance management in the NHS, academia or pharmaceutical industry.
• Evidence of extensive experience of financial budgetary management across complex funding streams
• Extensive experience in the development and delivery of research systems and processes.
• Experience of managing or overseeing clinical research projects including key performance indicators.
• Extensive experience with difficult HR situations with staff, skilled in conflict resolution.

Desirable criteria

• Post-graduate research experience.

Knowledge & Skills

Essential criteria

• An excellent understanding and extensive experience of research governance and other relevant regulations relating to clinical research
• In depth knowledge of non-commercial funding and application processes for clinical research.
• In depth knowledge of non-commercial funding and application processes for clinical research.
• Skilled in presentations at a national and local level and the ability to present to large groups of people.
• Strong and demonstrable interpersonal skills with an ability to communicate with a diverse range of contacts, both internal and external to the organisation.

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of different funding streams that exist to support NHS based research.
• An understanding of commercial research in the NHS and academia.

IMPORTANT

• Check your email account regularly as this is how we will communicate with you
• If you delete the job from any of your accounts, you may be prevented from accessing further communications
• To enquire about your application or inform us of any changes in your circumstances, please contact the named person on this advert
• Please provide email addresses for referees where possible
• Click here to see the range of benefits we offer
• Please review the documentation on our recruitment microsite, particularly the Trust's criminal records checking policy
• All staff have a responsibility for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and for ensuring they are aware of the specific duties relating to their role.
• Please note that the closing date is given as a guide. On occasion, we might close a vacancy early due to a high number of applications being received. You are advised to submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reports and Other Corporate Publications

King's Health Partners Academic Health Science Centre Website

King's College Hospital is part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC), a pioneering collaboration between King's College London, and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Documents to download

• JD & Person Spec - B8c R&D Deputy Director (PDF, 616.3KB)
• Denmark Hill Site Map (PDF, 1.2MB)
• Princess Royal (PRUH) Site map (PDF, 1.4MB)
• Visa and Sponsorship Information (PDF, 344.6KB)
• Pay bands and pay points from 1 April 2025 (PDF, 44.6KB)