Details
Date posted: 07 July 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8c
Salary: £85,641 to £97,746 a year per annum
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 12 months
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 282-CR1668
Job location: Royal Marsden Sutton, Downs Road, Sutton, SM2 5PT, United Kingdom

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

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 additionally undertake some of the responsibilities of the Deputy Director, Research Operations (Core Services) whilst they are on a leave of absence (returning July 2027).

Performance programme:
UK Government requires improvement in the speed of set-up for clinical research to 150 days or less, from regulatory submission to first patient. There are significant financial and reputational penalties at site level where the site level components of this timeline are not attained. The Royal Marsden must attain these expectations and provide a world-leading environment for clinical research, to drive improvements to patient care.

This post will act as the senior responsible person at The Royal Marsden to ensure compliance with the 60 and 30 day components at site level, ensuring significant material reductions to the time taken to set-up and recruit first patient that are sustainable in the long term.Specifically, the post holder will develop, implement, oversee, and be accountable for, a radical short term programme that must:

• Attain 100% compliance with 60 day set-up metric.
• Attain 100% compliance with 30 day first recruit metric where applicable.
• Attain 100% compliance with the collective 90 day set-up metric where applicable.
• Increase attainment of 1st UK, European and global patient recruitment.
• Ensure that where The Royal Marsden is Lead NHS Site, always be the first site to open and recruit.

Success will require significant cross-organisational engagement, negotiation and influence, a dynamic, innovative and tenacious approach, and exceptional project management skills.

Cover post:
From 29 January 2027 to 19 July 2027, the role will balance the performance programme and additionally undertake some of the responsibilities of the Deputy Director, Research Operations (Core Services) whilst they are on a leave of absence (returning July 2027).

In this regard, the post holder will also be responsible for oversight of the Joint Clinical R&D Core Services function and the line management of senior staff (n=8) with direct responsibility for quality assurance, Generic Tissue Bank / tissue services, Software as Medical Device (SaMD) quality, laboratory quality, research database and statistics, business intelligence, governance and operations, and secretariat, and indirect responsibility for research legal services and research finance.

About us
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is a world-leading cancer centre. Our role is to offer our patients the best cancer care available anywhere in the world, and to continue to make a global contribution to finding better ways of diagnosing and treating cancer. We employ over 4,500 staff in a diverse range of careers including nursing, medical, science, radiography, pharmacy, occupational therapy, finance and administrative services. We have two hospitals - one in Chelsea, London, and one in Sutton, Surrey - as well as a Medical Daycare Unit in Kingston Hospital.

At The Royal Marsden, we deal with cancer every day, so we understand how valuable life is. When people entrust their lives to us, they have the right to demand the very best. That's why the pursuit of excellence lies at the heart of everything we do.

At the heart of the hospital is our dedicated team. We offer a stimulating and dynamic working environment, a wide range of staff benefits, learning and development opportunities and clear career pathways. There are opportunities to work flexibly across a range of areas and specialities and we welcome flexible working requests from point of hire to support employees work life balance. We are looking for employees who aspire to excellence, share our values and can play a crucial role in our on-going achievements.

Job responsibilities
For further information please refer to the job description and person specification

To implement the programme in liaison with cross-organisational colleagues with differing priorities and resourcing across Joint Clinical R&D Core Services, support services, and research delivery units. To oversee the programme delivery, acting as a senior and highly effective point of escalation to troubleshoot and overcome issues and risks. To be accountable for the programme delivery and outcomes, including reporting to Board level and ensuring that all internal and external data is reviewed, cleansed, compared with other organisations and updated as necessary. To lead a review of each study to identify and implement learning lessons and outcomes for future improvement.

Person Specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential

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

Desirable

• Project management qualification (e.g. PRINCE 2).
• People management and leadership qualification.

Experience
Essential

• Extensive experience of 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 of working with staff from a range of backgrounds and different levels of seniority.
• Extensive experience of managing change.

Desirable

• Experience of developing a strong culture of customer service.
• Experience of working across organisations.
• Experience of delivering training sessions.

Skills / knowledge
Essential

• 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 skills and excellent interpersonal skills.

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.