Translational Research Portfolio Support Manager

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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

• To provide direct line management for Translational Research Facilitator (TRF) staff within the Experimental Cancer Medicine Team.
• Overall managerial responsibility for recruitment, retention, disciplinary and grievance, and all human resource related staffing issues for the TRF team.
• Ensure the annual performance review and identification of development needs are conducted in accordance with Trust policy.
• Provide leadership within the team and act as a role model and resource for all team members.
• Maintain own professional development and identify learning needs and opportunities.
• Participate and contribute to the continued training and development of nonclinical staff across the Research Division, in relation to Translational Research.

TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH TRIALS MANAGEMENT

• Act as a pivotal point of contact for Investigators, study sponsors and other relevant parties in relation to translational research studies running within the ECMT.
• Provide guidance to Investigators during set up and throughout the study in relation to sample handling and data collection requirements for Investigator led trials.
• Be responsible for developing and implementing processes to ensure safe and efficient handling of samples according to protocol and regulations.
• Work with ECMT Investigators, providing advice into the development of translational research, including protocol development and grant applications.
• Implement and ensure maintenance of systems to track the status of the translational research portfolio to support monitoring of the delivery of projects and supporting any key business related decisions within the ECMT.
• Be responsible for overall workload management within the TRF team, ensuring cross cover is maintained and flexibility allowing for frequent last minute changes to patient schedules and sample collection requirements.
• Be responsible for ensuring data capture mechanisms are completed efficiently and effectively within agreed timeframes.
• Be responsible for team reporting mechanisms to measure data capture/ entry against agreed performance metrics.
• Work with members of the Molecular Tumour Board to maintain/ further develop reporting of molecular results for patients on translational research studies within the ECMT.
• Be responsible for reporting mechanisms to measure turnaround times of sample retrieval/ shipment from and to required destinations as required per protocol.
• Development and delivery of action plans to address any actual or potential deviations from agreed data capture metrics.
• Ensure team, divisional and national study targets are achieved within agreed timeframes.
• Provide expertise at the point of trial feasibility and assessment of resource requirements.
• In conjunction with the ECMT Research Manager collate and provide relevant information relating to the capabilities of the assigned team in preparation for strategic partnership meetings.
• Ensure the TRF team is aware of the archiving process for all clinical trials, ensuring adherence to the current Trust archiving guidelines.
• Maintaining in-house team LIMS system, developing additional functionality in accordance with data collection and sample collection requirements.
• Responsible for developing processes to ensure the completion, quality and integrity of data collected within in-house LIMS system. This will require data interrogation/ data quality checks.

QUALITY AND SERVICE DEVELOPMENT

• Work collaboratively with the ECMT Research Manager, the MCRC Biobank Quality and Laboratory Manager, the Translational Programme Lead, and Research Quality and Regulatory Compliance Team to ensure that quality systems, governance expectations, and agreed ways of working are consistently implemented, embedded, and maintained across the team.
• Build and maintain effective internal and external relationships to support timely and accurate retrieval, handling and transfer of research samples, ensuring pathways are efficient, compliant, and aligned with the required minimum governance standards.
• Conduct scheduled and ad-hoc internal audits of TRF activity, ensuring compliance with HTA, GCP and local SOPs, documenting findings, and driving corrective and preventative actions.
• Lead proactive monitoring of quality and operational performance within the TRF team. This includes maintaining and regularly reviewing a Quality Management Plan for ECMT, triangulating information from audits, error logs, training records, and competency assessments to identify trends, risks or training gaps.
• Identify concerns early and respond effectively, taking ownership of corrective and preventative actions (CAPAs), escalating issues to senior staff where appropriate, and ensuring learning is embedded into routine practice.
• Exercise a high level of initiative and independent judgement, planning and prioritising workload effectively while working within established protocols and SOPs. The postholder is expected to recognise when issues fall outside existing guidance and to seek advice from the ECMT Research Manager and MCRC Biobank Quality Manager as needed.
• Lead or participate in designated projects on behalf of the ECMT Research Manager, particularly those relating to quality improvement, sample governance, digital systems, or harmonisation of processes across research delivery teams.

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

• The post-holder will oversee induction training, support and mentoring for new non-clinical post holders within the TRF team, and will be responsible for regular review of staff competencies to ensure TRF staff are fully trained and up to date with relevant SOPs, policies and regulations.
• Support and contribute to the education and training needs of the TRF team, ensuring the objectives of the organisation are reflected.
• Provide hands on training for blood or tissue sample handling, including the use of specialist equipment, i.e centrifuge, freezers.
• Participate in Trust-wide education programmes and study days, regional and national meetings and research seminars as appropriate. Disseminate information to ECMT or research division as appropriate.
• The post holder will have knowledge of the Human Tissue Act (2004) and will provide specialist knowledge to Investigators, researchers, Translational Research Facilitators as appropriate in relation to the Human Tissue Act (2004) ensuring studies running within the ECMT comply.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Scientific/ Business degree or relevant experience in scientific and medical research, including Translational Research
• Current GCP certification

Desirable criteria

• Post graduate certificate in clinical research or other relevant post graduate qualification/ experience
• Management qualification

Experience

Essential criteria

• Line management experience.
• Significant experience in clinical trial administration and translational research coordination in the NHS, academic and/ or commercial setting
• Experience of using a wide range of IT software and data collection applications
• Experience in managing projects and able to independently deliver projects on target

Desirable criteria

• Experience of performance monitoring and management
• Previous experience of working in the NHS
• Experience in leading/ initiating change
• Experience of conducting audits and being involved in service improvement initiatives
• Post-graduate administration/ business experience

Skills

Essential criteria

• Relevant experience working in a laboratory environment/ biobanking experience
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to negotiate, influence in contentious situations
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Intermediate level of IT skills
• Strong leadership skills
• Effective organisational, prioritisation and time management skills
• Ability to assimilate complex information

Desirable criteria

• Ability to manage simultaneously a wide variety of issues and projects

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• In-depth understanding of clinical research process, patient information systems and relevant clinical research relevant standards and legislation, specifically of the Human Tissue Act 2004
• Knowledge of medical terminology and oncology
• Knowledge of external organisations including research partners in the higher education and commercial sectors

Desirable criteria

• Understanding of cancer biology and different treatment modalities
• Knowledge of research funding arrangements within the NHS
• Knowledge of quality management systems

VALUES

Essential criteria

• Ability to demonstrate the organisational values and behaviours

OTHER

Essential criteria

• Ability to work to tight and/ or unexpected deadlines
• Flexible and adaptable
• Conscientious and hardworking
• Ability to work unsupervised or as part of a team
• Innovative and positive approach with the ability to troubleshoot effectively

Desirable criteria

• Evidence of CPD
• Evidence of achievement under pressure

The closing date for this post may be extended if there are insufficient applicants or brought forward if there is a high volume of applicants.

Application Information - If you have not heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, I regret that on this occasion your application will have been unsuccessful.

Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

Pre-Employment Checks - To confirm your suitability for the role, we will carry out pre-employment checks in line with NHS Employment Check Standards. These include:

• Identity verification
• Right to work check
• Disclosure and barring service (DBS)/Criminal record check (dependent on role, payment of this will be the applicants responsibility)
• Professional registration and/or qualification check
• Occupational health assessment
• Employment history and reference validation

All applicants external to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust will be required to provide their HMRC employment history to cover the most recent three years employment. This information will used to validate employment history and references.

If you require sponsorship, we will assess your eligibility based on current government guidance. If the role is not eligible and you cannot demonstrate your right to work, your conditional offer may be withdrawn.

✓ If You're Offered the Role - you will be agreeing to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.

The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and will form part of the recruitment process. In the event that you are successful following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.

Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

No Smoking Policy - You should be aware the Trust operates a No Smoking Policy and therefore employees are not permitted to smoke at work.

Additional Information - We want to ensure that everyone who works at the Christie or uses our services is welcomed, valued and treated with dignity and respect. The Christie values diversity and is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all and fair representation across the organisation at all levels. In support of these commitments, we particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority people and people with disabilities for this post. Appointment will be only on merit.

We are committed to creating a balanced and diverse workforce. As such we welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Together we will foster inclusion and tackle inequity and health inequalities in cancer care.

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity in all our activities. We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery in any of its forms, including slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour, and human trafficking. We are fully committed to acting ethically and with transparency in all our business dealings and relationships, and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our organisation or supply chains.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Documents to download

• Job Description & Person Specification (PDF, 479.0KB)
• The Christie Values and Behaviours (PDF, 919.5KB)
• Strategy Brochure (PDF, 1.0MB)
• Travel to The Christie (PDF, 3.8MB)