Job summary
Permanent Contract
- Are you interested in clinical research, medicines, health, or wellbeing?
- Do you like to read & learn?
- Do you take pride in finishing a task with a high-level attention to detail?
- Does the idea of being the key co-ordinator driving important clinical trial projects forward sound interesting?
- Are you looking for a unique administrative role?
- If so, keep reading!
The Trust has a thriving research portfolio in many disease areas, with an increase in new Clinical Trial projects each year.
We are looking for two Clinical Trials Administrators (CTA) to join our team, due to staff moving on to ventures new! The CTA hub team are responsible for ensuring clinical research projects are set up, obtain confirmation of Capacity & Capability & are maintained (via project amendment process) and closed by archiving project documentation.
Whilst an understanding of clinical terminology and patient pathways would be useful, you'll be supported to learn this during your induction period.
This induction period is flexible around you & your learning! In the first few months, you'll learn the basic outlines of the processes, research terminology & how to navigate around research documents. You'll then fine tune your understanding of the process with each new project and learn the other CTA tasks such as archiving. As such, the role can take between 6-12 months to learn fully, so you'll need to allow yourself time and patience to learn the role fully.
Main duties of the job
The CTA role primary focus is to set-up clinical trial projects to open locally to legislative requirements, Departmental and Trust Standards as defined by the Trust Research Policy, UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research and National Institute for Healthcare Research (NIHR) objectives. These projects can range from patient quality of life studies to new drug trials.
Setting up clinical research projects can take between days to months. As such, you'll always be thinking forwards, proactively planning to drive projects. There will also be times where you'll need to reflect on your work to ensure you have done everything in your ability to progress projects. The nature of research can be stop/start and as such, it is integral that you remain calm during busy times but are also able to remain organised & reflective of work at pause points. You'll need be skilled at judging your time efficiently & will use the pause points to pick up the other workload mentioned below.
Other aspects of the CTA job role includes; processing changes to ongoing projects (via amendment process), completing reviews of study documents, arranging monitoring of projects and maintenance of ongoing study documentation, assisting in closing and archiving projects.
About us
As an organisation, the NHS offers a wide range of benefits including flexible working, fantastic pension contributions, market leading annual leave allowance, career progression and regular conversations, not to mention our Blue Light Card and NHS exclusive discounts.
The benefits of working in Somerset include the idyllic countryside, with our areas of outstanding beauty and stunning coastlines. You'll get to enjoy these perks whilst still only being a stone's throw away from bustling city centres like Bristol, Bath and Exeter and only two hours away from London.
There are excellent educational facilities in the area and, when compared to other regions, house prices are reasonable. You'll experience the best of both in Somerset, the countryside and the cosmopolitan - there is truly something for everyone!
What do our CTAs like about the role?
Jan says "I have been in my role for over 23 years, & I enjoy the variety of working on trials. It's also lovely to be part of something much bigger than my role & to work with a supportive team."
Debra says "Research improves health & experience across wide spectrum of disease areas to benefit patients. I love being a part of an innovative team that makes a difference."
Shanice says, "Working as a CTA provides me with opportunity to read & learn about the myriad of investigations, medications & treatments in research. It's a privilege to be an important part of bringing these studies to life locally"
Job description
Job responsibilities
Although the work of a CTA cant be completed in isolation (think of research like a relay race between clinical & admin teams), when competent, youll be responsible for your own projects, ensuring they are set-up to a high standard, following process and meeting important targets.
Youll need to have great concentration & attention skills, as youll be reading project documents & extricating information to gain a good understanding of each project. This understanding is key to ensure trial activities are deliverable locally, projects are conducted safely & according to the relevant legislation. Youll also need to adhere to version control.
A vital part of setting up a project locally, is ensuring supporting departments within the Trust are aware of the project & seeking safety approvals. This often requires summarising complex information in a concise manner. Youll also work with other research staff both locally and nationally, clinicians & drug companies to ensure Trust readiness. Co-ordinating busy staff & working in parallel with other processes is a balancing act. As such, great communication is key!
This role is varied & interesting but a different pace from other NHS admin work due to the autonomous nature of set-up. Please refer to the Job Description for full details.
If you think you could work as a CTA, we'd like to hear from you! We would strongly encourage you to organise a visit to the dept to meet the team & learn more about what we do.
Communication and Key Working Relationships
The successful candidate will liaise closely with other departmental staff, trial administrators and support officers, Trust Clinicians and Research Nurses, Drug Companies, Academic Organisations and Trust Research Office staff. Communication will mainly involve use of email although there will also be a requirement to attend both Trust and external meetings.
Although youll drive your projects forward autonomously, you will be joining a friendly, supportive team! This team support your learning & will act as a safety net to ensure your research projects are ready to open. Additionally, we see quality improvement and process streamlining as priority, and each team member can have a say in this!
Planning and Organisation
The successful candidate will;
- Manage several projects at various stages of development concurrently
- Prioritise & adapt their workload as necessary
- Manage & adhere to version control of documentation
- Have excellent IT & admin skills
The ability to prioritise and flex workload is important, as well as being able to take your own initiative to drive projects forward. Whilst the process of setting up a project remains the same, each project has its own hurdles to work-around. As such, we are looking for someone who is not afraid to use their initiative (within boundaries of Job description) to investigate possible solutions to problems that occur.
The majority of the CTA working day is PC based, so youll need excellent IT skills. The CTAs use a system called EDGE to record the progress of each project being set-up. The CTA team have produced a library of workflows within EDGE, which act as a to-do list & a guide to complete many of our processes. MS office is used extensively to prepare documents for opening projects, so youll need to be very confident using word, excel etc.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Although the work of a CTA cant be completed in isolation (think of research like a relay race between clinical & admin teams), when competent, youll be responsible for your own projects, ensuring they are set-up to a high standard, following process and meeting important targets.
Youll need to have great concentration & attention skills, as youll be reading project documents & extricating information to gain a good understanding of each project. This understanding is key to ensure trial activities are deliverable locally, projects are conducted safely & according to the relevant legislation. Youll also need to adhere to version control.
A vital part of setting up a project locally, is ensuring supporting departments within the Trust are aware of the project & seeking safety approvals. This often requires summarising complex information in a concise manner. Youll also work with other research staff both locally and nationally, clinicians & drug companies to ensure Trust readiness. Co-ordinating busy staff & working in parallel with other processes is a balancing act. As such, great communication is key!
This role is varied & interesting but a different pace from other NHS admin work due to the autonomous nature of set-up. Please refer to the Job Description for full details.
If you think you could work as a CTA, we'd like to hear from you! We would strongly encourage you to organise a visit to the dept to meet the team & learn more about what we do.
Communication and Key Working Relationships
The successful candidate will liaise closely with other departmental staff, trial administrators and support officers, Trust Clinicians and Research Nurses, Drug Companies, Academic Organisations and Trust Research Office staff. Communication will mainly involve use of email although there will also be a requirement to attend both Trust and external meetings.
Although youll drive your projects forward autonomously, you will be joining a friendly, supportive team! This team support your learning & will act as a safety net to ensure your research projects are ready to open. Additionally, we see quality improvement and process streamlining as priority, and each team member can have a say in this!
Planning and Organisation
The successful candidate will;
- Manage several projects at various stages of development concurrently
- Prioritise & adapt their workload as necessary
- Manage & adhere to version control of documentation
- Have excellent IT & admin skills
The ability to prioritise and flex workload is important, as well as being able to take your own initiative to drive projects forward. Whilst the process of setting up a project remains the same, each project has its own hurdles to work-around. As such, we are looking for someone who is not afraid to use their initiative (within boundaries of Job description) to investigate possible solutions to problems that occur.
The majority of the CTA working day is PC based, so youll need excellent IT skills. The CTAs use a system called EDGE to record the progress of each project being set-up. The CTA team have produced a library of workflows within EDGE, which act as a to-do list & a guide to complete many of our processes. MS office is used extensively to prepare documents for opening projects, so youll need to be very confident using word, excel etc.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Good standard of education: English, Mathematics and a Science GCSE grade A-C(or equivalent)
- NVQ level 3 in business and administration (similar demonstrable experience and willingness to work towards qualification would be considered)
Knowledge
Essential
Desirable
- Good Clinical Practice in relation to trial administration and maintenance of clinical research site files
- UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research
- Medical terminology
- Knowledge of NHS, especially patient diagnostic pathways
Skills
Essential
- Use of initiative
- Team player
- Able to concentrate for extended periods
Experience
Essential
Desirable
- Experience of clinical research or ethical submission process
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Good standard of education: English, Mathematics and a Science GCSE grade A-C(or equivalent)
- NVQ level 3 in business and administration (similar demonstrable experience and willingness to work towards qualification would be considered)
Knowledge
Essential
Desirable
- Good Clinical Practice in relation to trial administration and maintenance of clinical research site files
- UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research
- Medical terminology
- Knowledge of NHS, especially patient diagnostic pathways
Skills
Essential
- Use of initiative
- Team player
- Able to concentrate for extended periods
Experience
Essential
Desirable
- Experience of clinical research or ethical submission process
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
