Head of Clinical Research Performance

Main area Administration Grade NHS AfC: Band 8c Contract 12 months (Fixed Term until 19 July 2027) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 282-CR1668

Employer The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Royal Marsden Sutton Town Sutton Salary £85,641 - £97,746 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 21/07/2026 23:59

Job overview

This is a fixed term post until 19 July 2027 to provide cover for an unpaid employment break for the Deputy Director, Research Operations (Core Services) from 01 Feb 2027 to 02 Jul 2027, and to deliver dedicated senior strategic support for a short‑term project to improve set‑up timelines for clinical research from Sep 2026 to Jan 2027.

The performance programme will be the sole focus of the post until 29 January 2027. From 29 January 2027 to 19 July 2027, the role will balance the performance programme and undertake some responsibilities of the Deputy Director while on leave.

Performance programme objectives

• Attain 100 % compliance with the 60‑day set‑up metric.
• Attain 100 % compliance with the 30‑day first‑recruit metric where applicable.
• Attain 100 % compliance with the collective 90‑day set‑up metric where applicable.
• Increase attainment of first UK, European and global patient recruitment.
• Ensure that when The Royal Marsden is Lead NHS Site, it is always the first site to open and recruit.

Key responsibilities

As the senior responsible person at The Royal Marsden, the post holder will develop, implement, oversee and be accountable for a radical short‑term programme that:

• Ensures significant material reductions to the time taken to set‑up and recruit the first patient, sustaining improvements in the long term.
• Engages cross‑organisationally, negotiates and influences stakeholders.
• Applies exceptional project management skills to deliver the performance programme.
• Balances the performance programme with the Deputy Director’s duties during the leave period.
• Oversees the Joint Clinical R&D Core Services function and line‑manages senior staff (n = 8) across quality assurance, tissue services, software as medical device quality, laboratory quality, research database and statistics, business intelligence, governance and operations, and secretariat.

Detailed responsibilities

• Implement the programme in liaison with cross‑organisational colleagues across Joint Clinical R&D Core Services, support services, and research delivery units.
• Oversee programme delivery, acting as a senior point of escalation to troubleshoot and mitigate issues and risks.
• Accountable for programme delivery and outcomes, including reporting to Board level and ensuring internal and external data are reviewed, cleansed, compared with other organisations and updated as necessary.
• Lead a review of each study to identify and implement learning lessons and outcomes for future improvement.

Person specification

Education and qualifications

• Higher degree qualification (e.g. MSc) in a relevant subject.
• Recognised Good Clinical Practice certification.
• Commitment to continued professional development.
• People management and leadership qualification.

Experience

• Extensive experience working in clinical research, ideally in a governance or operations role, specifically in the set‑up of externally sponsored research studies.
• Extensive experience and excellent skills in managing and developing staff and successfully establishing and maintaining high‑performing, effective teams.
• Experience working with staff from a range of backgrounds and different levels of seniority.
• Extensive experience managing change.
• Experience developing a strong culture of customer service.
• Experience working across organisations.
• Experience delivering training sessions.

Skills and knowledge

• Exceptional understanding of the NHS clinical research performance management framework and metrics.
• Able to work unsupervised, managing and prioritising workload, meeting deadlines and exercising initiative.
• Strong leadership and excellent interpersonal skills.