Senior Clinical Scientist in Clinical Scientific Computing

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Job overview

If you are a clinical scientist, specialising in clinical scientific computing, and passionate about making a positive difference to the delivery of healthcare within a leading London NHS Trust, keep reading! We have a vacancy for a senior clinical scientist to join our Clinical Scientific Computing team within the Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering at UCLH.

We are looking for a state registered clinical scientist, but welcome candidates with appropriate experience who could attain registration, via the equivalence route, within 3 years. You would be joining the team at a time of change, as we re-align to meet the challenges facing the Trust, support new digital technology, strengthen our interactions with clinical and technology stakeholders, and develop to provide a full range of scientific computing services. If you understand the importance of developing your emotional intelligence, big picture thinking and communication skills alongside your scientific skills we'd like to talk!

You will work closely with the Head and Deputy Head of Clinical Scientific Computing as well as clinical scientists and analysts within Clinical Scientific Computing and other members of staff within Medical Physics.

Main duties of the job

You will develop strong and productive working relationships with clinicians, scientists and clinical managers and also with staff in UCLH Digital Healthcare Technology and their commercial partners.

We have significant commitments to support clinical services in Radiotherapy, Proton Beam Therapy, Nuclear Medicine, Sterile Services, Neurophysiology and Women's Health but have a key role in implementing and managing systems that cover many other clinical areas. You will be part of a specialist team providing some on-call support and extended hours support to Radiotherapy and Proton Beam Therapy.

You will use your organisational skills to manage projects involving multiple clinical, commercial and technical stakeholders, whilst also bringing your technical and scientific skills and your understanding of the regulatory requirements, risk and quality management to evaluate, specify, implement and manage clinical systems.

We have close links with UCL and are accredited by the National School of Healthcare Science to support trainees in Clinical Scientific Computing. We want you to take an active role in supporting research, development and innovation and will be keen to understand and support you to use your strengths and develop your interests whether they be in programming, data science, AI or another area of clinical scientific computing.

Working for our organisation

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is one of the most complex NHS trusts in the UK, serving a large and diverse population. We provide academically led acute and specialist services, to people from the local area, from throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. Our vision is to deliver top-quality patient care, excellent education, and world-class research.

We provide first-class acute and specialist services across eight sites:

• University College Hospital (incorporating the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing)

• National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery

• Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals

• University College Hospital Grafton Way Building

• Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine

• University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre

• The Hospital for Tropical Diseases

• University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street

We are dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of many complex illnesses. UCLH specialises in women's health and the treatment of cancer, infection, neurological, gastrointestinal and oral disease. It has world class support services including critical care, imaging, nuclear medicine and pathology.

We are committed to sustainability and have pledged to become a carbon net zero health service, embedding sustainable practice throughout UCLH. We have set an ambitious target of net zero for our direct emissions by 2031 and indirect emissions by 2040.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For the full Person Specification and more information regarding the main responsibilities of this role, please refer to the attached Job Description.

Come and be a part of the best NHS trust in England to work for, according to our staff*

UCLH top trust to work at in England - for the second year running! : University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

*In the most recent NHS staff survey UCLH had the highest percentage of staff who said they would recommend us as a place to work, out of all general acute or acute/community NHS trusts in England - for the second year in a row.

UCLH top trust to work at in England - for the second year running! University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Once again, UCLH has received the highest score of all general acute and acute/community NHS trusts in England for staff that would recommend us as a place to work.

To discover more about what makes UCLH a great place to work, visit: Why Choose UCLH?

Person specification

- Knowledge and Qualifications

Essential criteria

• 1st or 2nd class honours degree in computer science, a physical science, engineering, or equivalent
• Relevant PhD or equivalent (MSc / MEng with additional specialist training or research experience)
• State Registration as a Clinical Scientist / able to register within 3 years of appointment.
• Corporate Membership of relevant professional institutes (eg IPEM, IET)

Desirable criteria

• Chartered Engineer or Chartered Scientist
• Evidence of training and development in Leadership & Management

Scientific & Technical

Essential criteria

• Broad knowledge across the full range of working procedures and practices in clinical scientific computing including relevant legislation, national and international standards, NHS policy, and professional and other guidelines.
• Advanced knowledge of software engineering best practices (including issue tracking, testing, documentation, version control and continuous integration) that enable the delivery of reliable, sustainable and trustworthy outputs
• Advanced knowledge of statistics and mathematics applied to acquiring reliable insight from data.
• Advanced knowledge of computer hardware and software at both operating system and application level and also of medical device IT systems.
• Broad knowledge of architecture, configuration, security and performance management of networks using TCP/IP protocols
• Broad knowledge of security issues associated with computer systems within the Trust, NHS and health sector, and the measures required to address these.
• Broad knowledge of data management, including storage, archive, backup and data publication technologies
• Broad knowledge of medical devices and of other areas of medical physics and clinical engineering practice and procedure.

Clinical

Essential criteria

• Knowledge of clinical practice and the implications for clinical scientific computing.
• Basic knowledge of relevant anatomy, physiology and pathology.
• Advanced understanding of the potential risks to patients, staff and organisations arising from system failure, human error and clinical scientific computing practice
• Advanced knowledge and understanding of quality and risk management as they apply to clinical scientific computing.

Management & Leadership

Essential criteria

• Knowledge of how to offer effective supervision.
• Understanding of quality and performance management and their application to a clinical scientific computing service.

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of appropriate standards and systems of financial accountability in a public sector organisation

Scientific & Technical

Essential criteria

• Significant experience of a scientific healthcare environment
• Experience of managing computer operating systems especially Unix and Windows
• Experience of a wide variety of computing systems and application packages
• Experience of managing IT systems in a clinical environment
• Experience of managing IT projects
• Experience with the core tools of data science and analytics, in a programmatic framework such as R, Python, or Julia
• Experience with at least one specialist technique or tool in data analytics, such as natural language processing, neural networks, Bayesian inference, Gaussian processes.
• Experience with the authorship, development, testing and maintenance of software for clinical research & development. This might include (but is not limited to) software supporting data processing and statistical analysis, image analysis tools, front- and back-end web development, mobile apps, high-performance simulation software, or mathematical software.
• Experience with at least one programming language used for research (such as C, C++, Fortran, Javascript, Julia, Python, or R) at a level and breadth commensurate with seniority
• Experience of programming both applications and systems

Desirable criteria

• Experience in the supervision of research and development work.
• Experience of holding grants and supervising research workers.

Management & Leadership - experience

Essential criteria

• Significant experience of providing services in a scientific healthcare environment.
• Experience of supervising staff and trainees.
• Experience of participating in, leading discussions and taking minutes at committees / working groups involving scientific and technical information.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of managing resources and project budgets.
• Experience of identifying service development opportunities and progressing business plans.

Scientific & Clinical - skills and abilities

Essential criteria

• Ability to apply knowledge and experience in making judgements regarding the safe and optimal configuration and use of medical IT systems, involving objective assessment of benefits and risks associated with the available options.
• Ability to perform options appraisals in complex situations based on complex information and judgements.
• Ability to provide specialised advice on the use of medical IT systems for patient diagnosis, management and treatment, for routine care and when planning and implementing a research programme.
• Ability to write complex programs in a variety of high level languages such as C++ and VB
• Ability to develop and support complex database applications using SQL server

Desirable criteria

• Ability to manage networks of Unix and Windows server and client computer systems

Communication

Essential criteria

• Able to produce clear and unambiguous written reports, guidance, policies, procedures and business cases which can be understood by staff and stakeholders from a variety of professions.
• Able to communicate risk associated with cyber security and data management in a clear manner to persons with no specialist knowledge, including clinicians, managers and external stakeholders.
• Able to communicate complex information at postgraduate level to other professional groups
• Able to present scientific papers at national meetings and conferences.
• Able to train groups of other professional staff.
• Able to deliver teaching and training on complex subjects.
• Ability to present information effectively for senior clinicians and Trust managers.
• Ability to chair meetings effectively.
• Ability to negotiate solutions to problems where conflicting views exist.
• Able to deal with complex and unpredictable situations.

Management & Leadership - skills and abilities

Essential criteria

• Ability to supervise staff and trainees effectively and sympathetically.
• Able to encourage colleagues and contribute positively to the team.
• Able to manage change and introduce new technologies and working practices.
• Able to implement policies and procedures in own work.
• Ability to articulate and report the status of assigned projects and systems.
• Able to assess impact of policy / procedure changes on safety and service provision.

- Specific Personal Qualities

Essential criteria

• Able to exercise initiative to solve complex problems independently and with confidence when dealing with issues within own specialist area of competence.
• Able to prioritise and manage own time and workload under pressure.
• Great attention to detail.
• Commitment to develop and communicate the contribution of clinical scientific computing to healthcare and a vision of how to further realise benefits in this field.
• Ability to use computer software at an advanced level to gather, organise and process information.
• Record of presenting work at scientific meetings.

Desirable criteria

• Research / Development Track Record.

At UCLH, we have a real 'One Team' ethos, and our values - safety, kindness, teamwork and improving, are central to the way we work. This is supported by our staff, who voted us as the #1 NHS Acute Trust to work for in the whole of England.

At UCLH we take equality of opportunity seriously and are committed to being a diverse and inclusive employer, with a culture that creates a real sense of belonging and trust. It is our fundamental aim, to recruit, retain and promote a diverse mix of people who are representative of our local communities. Applications are encouraged from candidates of all backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives to support our world class research, innovation and creativity.

UCLH recognises the benefits of flexible working for staff and has a dedicated policy which allows staff to apply for flexible working right from the beginning of employment. For more information please go to: https://www.uclh.nhs.uk/work-with-us/why-choose-uclh/flexible-working.

We offer our permanent staff an interest free season ticket loan for travel, all our staff have access to free independent and confidential support, large retail discounts, a staff discount platform, cycle to work scheme and on-site accommodation to name a few.

Additionally, UCLH Arts and Heritage's staff wellbeing programme, Creative Comfort, offers a variety of ways to engage with the arts as a member of UCLH staff. You can try out the weekly choir, weekly art club and join the Culture Club for exclusive access to free and discounted tickets for opera, exhibitions, theatre and more.

We recognise, reward and thank colleagues by nominating them for our annual Celebrating Excellence Awards, which are funded by UCLH Charity.

We are also members of www.mytrustbenefits.co.uk/ which offers discounts on high street retail stores, offers on travel deals, and also to take advantage of cash back schemes.

This vacancy may close before the current listed closing date. You are advised not to delay submitting your completed application.

Please note that all correspondence regarding your application will be via email. The emails will be sent to you via TRAC.jobs and not via NHS Jobs, we encourage you to check your inbox regularly.

Please note that if you are at present in a training position on the 2016 new junior doctor's contract and are applying for a Trust doctor role your salary will not be pay protected.

You will be placed on the appropriate point of the Trust Doctor pay scale based on your previous experience.

Please note that if you have not heard from us within 3 weeks of the closing date of the advert to assume that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion.

The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• Job Description (PDF, 840.3KB)
• Functional Requirement (PDF, 262.3KB)
• UCLH Values (PDF, 860.9KB)