Job summary
From October 2024, the current NIHR Clinical Research Network will be changing to become the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN). The RDN will continue 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, the health and care system and the economy, with a name that better reflects the scope and purpose of the network to support:
- Clinical trials and other well-designed health and social care research studies (including studies that are delivered outside of an NHS setting).
- Public health studies that require the recruitment of individuals within an NHS setting (that is, acute, ambulance, mental health, community, or primary care) or an episode of care which involves contact with the NHS
The NIHR RRDNs will 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 will include 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 will ensure that the Portfolio is maintained as a cohort of high-quality, fully funded, viable and deliverable studies.
Main duties of the job
JOB PURPOSE
The RRDN Director is the senior officer responsible for the overall leadership, delivery, and management of the RRDN.
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, the health and care system and the economy. The RRDN Director will be 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).
Supported by the RRDN senior team, the RRDN Director will also be accountable for devising and delivering a 3-year RRDN Strategic Implementation Plan in line with the RDN national strategic aims. The RRDN Strategic Implementation Plan will be developed in conjunction with regional partners, including NHSE regional offices, ICSs, AHSNs, patients and the public, and should:
- Include measures to tackle health inequalities.
- Deliver the objectives of the NIHR Best Research for Best Health and Saving and Improving Lives: The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery March 2021, Lord O'Shaughnessy's review and any subsequent national reviews and policy directive.
About us
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) is one of the largest acute Trusts in the country, bringing together a combined workforce of over 13,000 staff and over 100 different clinical services across 10 different sites, serving a core population of more than 500,000 people across South West England. UHBW has been rated by the CQC as 'Good' overall and our staff are proud to deliver excellent care to the people of Bristol, Weston and beyond. As a forward-thinking multi-award winning Trust and a digital exemplar committed to improving patient care, our world-leading research and innovations are having a positive local and global impact. Our hospitals are spread across Bristol and Weston, join us and you can enjoy the very best of both worlds; city living within a stone's throw of the countryside or beside the seaside, both with easy access to all that the South West has to offer. UHBW is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we're meeting our pledge.
Job description
Job responsibilities
For a more detailed job description, main responsibilities, and Person Specification, please refer to the job description document attached to this vacancy.
Job description
Job responsibilities
For a more detailed job description, main responsibilities, and Person Specification, please refer to the job description document attached to this vacancy.
Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Master's level qualification or equivalent
- Executive level management qualification
Aptitudes
Essential
- Highly motivated with the ability to lead and inspire others
- Appreciation of the impact of organisational culture on service delivery
- Lives by values which include openness, collaboration, responsiveness, inclusion, personal integrity and creating positive cultures where these values thrive
- Commitment to supporting the development of staff and understanding of workforce planning
- Flexible approach to working
- Attention to detail
- Outcomes focussed
- Acts as a champion for patients and their interests, ensuring the patients' voice has an impact on RDN activities
- Commitment to and focused on quality, promotes high standards in all they do
- Able to make a connection between their work and the benefit to patients and the public
- Works well with others, is positive and helpful, listens, involves, respects and learns from the contribution of others
- Consistently looks to improve what they do and seeks out innovation
- Self-awareness regarding emotional intelligence, biases and sensitivities
- Demonstrates honesty and integrity and promotes organisational values
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- Highly developed leadership, strategic thinking and planning skills with ability to demonstrate these in highly political environments
- Proven leadership skills in the management of change
- Demonstrable ability to use autonomy to undertake actions as a result of own interpretation of policy and guidance, providing a source of expert advice to the organisation
- Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues
- Proven interpersonal skills to work with clinical and management colleagues at all levels across a range of organisations and the ability to develop strong working relationships with senior stakeholders
- Ability to deal with challenging situations in a formal setting
- Strong external communications skills in a politically sensitive environment with knowledge of and experience in handling media relations
- Advanced negotiation skills to reconcile stakeholder organisation expectations of financial allocations and within challenging fiscal environments
- Ability to communicate highly complex, sensitive, or contentious information orally and in writing, both internally and externally, to a range of audiences
- Extensive experience of delivering presentations to large groups of stakeholders in often pressured and politically sensitive environments to a high standard (Board level quality)
- Ability to analyse and interpret highly complex information to make judgements regarding a range of highly complex management issues
- Strong problem-solving skills
- Ability to grasp critical issues and distil them into clear arguments/cases and be able to articulate these verbally or in written form
- Ability to plan, manage, adjust, and deliver complex projects involving multiple agencies and individuals and a broad range of activities to tight deadlines
- Ability to work independently
- Willingness to challenge existing practice
- Good IT skills, particularly in use of Web applications and MS Office applications
- Ability to travel to different locations across the region and nationally to attend meetings and conferences, representing the RDN
- Ability to use Google Suite products
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Comprehensive understanding of research, the NHS and the wider health and care system including associated responsibilities to the public and patients
- 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
- Proven senior level experience of leading and delivering complex change and strategy development programmes in a politically sensitive and complex environment
- Significant experience of managing a large budget with solid knowledge of financial process requirements
- Experience of leading business planning cycles from concept to delivery
- Direct experience of business planning and robust financial management at appropriate scale
- Knowledge of national systems, structures, and processes for supporting clinical research in NHS and non-NHS settings
- Experience of working collaboratively and in partnership with other organisations, with demonstrable experience of delivery across organisational boundaries
- Evidence of managing effective collaborations and partnerships
- Good understanding of performance management techniques
- Knowledge of utilising Business Intelligence solutions to work within a performance management framework
- Political astuteness and understanding of the health & social care context
- Comprehensive knowledge of programme sponsorship and management
- Experience of leading continuous improvement
Desirable
- Understanding of governance and legislative framework for clinical research in the NHS
- Executive level experience
Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Master's level qualification or equivalent
- Executive level management qualification
Aptitudes
Essential
- Highly motivated with the ability to lead and inspire others
- Appreciation of the impact of organisational culture on service delivery
- Lives by values which include openness, collaboration, responsiveness, inclusion, personal integrity and creating positive cultures where these values thrive
- Commitment to supporting the development of staff and understanding of workforce planning
- Flexible approach to working
- Attention to detail
- Outcomes focussed
- Acts as a champion for patients and their interests, ensuring the patients' voice has an impact on RDN activities
- Commitment to and focused on quality, promotes high standards in all they do
- Able to make a connection between their work and the benefit to patients and the public
- Works well with others, is positive and helpful, listens, involves, respects and learns from the contribution of others
- Consistently looks to improve what they do and seeks out innovation
- Self-awareness regarding emotional intelligence, biases and sensitivities
- Demonstrates honesty and integrity and promotes organisational values
Skills and Abilities
Essential
- Highly developed leadership, strategic thinking and planning skills with ability to demonstrate these in highly political environments
- Proven leadership skills in the management of change
- Demonstrable ability to use autonomy to undertake actions as a result of own interpretation of policy and guidance, providing a source of expert advice to the organisation
- Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues
- Proven interpersonal skills to work with clinical and management colleagues at all levels across a range of organisations and the ability to develop strong working relationships with senior stakeholders
- Ability to deal with challenging situations in a formal setting
- Strong external communications skills in a politically sensitive environment with knowledge of and experience in handling media relations
- Advanced negotiation skills to reconcile stakeholder organisation expectations of financial allocations and within challenging fiscal environments
- Ability to communicate highly complex, sensitive, or contentious information orally and in writing, both internally and externally, to a range of audiences
- Extensive experience of delivering presentations to large groups of stakeholders in often pressured and politically sensitive environments to a high standard (Board level quality)
- Ability to analyse and interpret highly complex information to make judgements regarding a range of highly complex management issues
- Strong problem-solving skills
- Ability to grasp critical issues and distil them into clear arguments/cases and be able to articulate these verbally or in written form
- Ability to plan, manage, adjust, and deliver complex projects involving multiple agencies and individuals and a broad range of activities to tight deadlines
- Ability to work independently
- Willingness to challenge existing practice
- Good IT skills, particularly in use of Web applications and MS Office applications
- Ability to travel to different locations across the region and nationally to attend meetings and conferences, representing the RDN
- Ability to use Google Suite products
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Comprehensive understanding of research, the NHS and the wider health and care system including associated responsibilities to the public and patients
- 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
- Proven senior level experience of leading and delivering complex change and strategy development programmes in a politically sensitive and complex environment
- Significant experience of managing a large budget with solid knowledge of financial process requirements
- Experience of leading business planning cycles from concept to delivery
- Direct experience of business planning and robust financial management at appropriate scale
- Knowledge of national systems, structures, and processes for supporting clinical research in NHS and non-NHS settings
- Experience of working collaboratively and in partnership with other organisations, with demonstrable experience of delivery across organisational boundaries
- Evidence of managing effective collaborations and partnerships
- Good understanding of performance management techniques
- Knowledge of utilising Business Intelligence solutions to work within a performance management framework
- Political astuteness and understanding of the health & social care context
- Comprehensive knowledge of programme sponsorship and management
- Experience of leading continuous improvement
Desirable
- Understanding of governance and legislative framework for clinical research in the NHS
- Executive level experience
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Additional information
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Employer details
Employer name
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW)
Address
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston
Marlborough Street
Bristol
BS1 3NU
Employer's website
https://www.uhbw.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
