Job summary
We seek an ambitious, experienced, and motivated Chief Clinical Perfusion Scientist to lead the Perfusion Service, providing expert clinical, operational, and professional leadership to deliver a high-quality, patient-centred service. This is an exciting opportunity to shape the future development of the service during a period of growth, including the expansion of the cardiac surgery programme.

Working with the Clinical Lead, you will lead and manage the service, ensuring effective workforce, resource, and operational planning to meet clinical, professional, and performance objectives. You will contribute to directorate planning, represent Clinical Perfusion at key meetings, and support strategic priorities.

Combining expert clinical practice with leadership, you will provide specialist expertise in cardiopulmonary bypass and associated technologies, supporting cardiac surgery and other complex interventions. You will maintain a clinical presence, participate in on-call and late duty rotas, and provide specialist advice to multidisciplinary teams.

You will lead quality improvement, workforce development, research, innovation, and clinical governance activities to promote excellence in patient care and service delivery. The successful candidate will hold full UK registration with the College of Clinical Perfusion Scientists. We are committed to supporting staff development, wellbeing, and career progression.

Main duties of the job

• Provide strategic, clinical and operational leadership for the Clinical Perfusion Service across the Trust and referring region.
• Deliver expert clinical perfusion care, including complex cardiopulmonary bypass procedures and advanced mechanical circulatory support therapies.
• Act as the senior clinical perfusion specialist, providing expert advice and support to multidisciplinary teams.
• Lead the development and review of clinical policies, protocols and evidence-based practice.
• Ensure the safe operation, maintenance and availability of perfusion equipment and resources.
• Participate in the 24-hour on-call rota and maintain a significant clinical role within routine and emergency services.
• Lead clinical governance, audit, quality improvement, risk management and patient safety initiatives.
• Contribute to service planning and represent Clinical Perfusion at Directorate, Trust and external meetings.
• Line manage, appraise and develop staff, leading workforce planning, recruitment, training and succession planning.
• Manage departmental budgets, procurement and resource utilisation in line with Trust policies.
• Lead research, innovation and service development projects to improve patient outcomes.
• Develop effective stakeholder relationships and ensure compliance with professional, regulatory and governance standards.
• Investigate incidents and complaints, implementing improvements to enhance service quality and performance.

About us
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. Find out more here www.ouh.nhs.uk

The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call thisDelivering Compassionate Excellenceand its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via theOUH YouTube channel.

Details
Date posted: 25 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8c
Salary: £79,504 to £91,609 a year
per annum/pro-rata
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 321-MRC-8225365-B8c
Job locations: Cardiothoracic Theatre, Operating Theatre Department, John Radcliffe Hospital
Headley Way
Oxford
OX3 9DU
United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
For a Detailed job description and main responsibilities please refer to the Job Description document attached.

Person Specification
Application form
Essential

• Minimum 5 years working within the NHS at a senior managerial or clinical level
• Minimum 10 years Clinical Perfusion experience
• Previous experience of staff development and performance management
• Expert knowledge of highly specialised clinical perfusion and cardiac surgical techniques, e.g., paediatric cardiopulmonary bypass, VAVD, VAD, ECMO, advanced cardiac venting technology and myocardial and cerebral preservation
• Post Graduate Diploma - Clinical Perfusion Science
• Professional registration - Licentiate member or Fellow of the College of Clinical Perfusion Scientists of Great Britain and Ireland (LCCP or FCCP)
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with ability to demonstrate fluency, clarity and effectiveness at all levels.
• Highly developed influencing skills, to be used, in the main, with consultant colleagues and with senior health care professionals.
• Good analytical and judgemental skills applied to interpretation of clinical data and results.
• Be flexible in leading change to altered and evolving service requirements.
• oEnsure Trust's clinical governance requirements for the clinical perfusion service are satisfied.

Desirable

• oKnowledge of financial/business analysis techniques.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship
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).

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.