Clinical Research Senior Administrator

Royal Marsden; Sutton; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Clinical Research Senior Administrator to support governance and operations for external grant funding applications, in collaboration with the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). The role is based at the Oak Cancer Centre in Sutton with a strong onsite presence and up to 40% home working.

The successful candidate will coordinate funding meetings, assist researchers in preparing applications, and perform QA on costing templates, while liaising

Qualifications

• Educated to A-level standard (or equivalent).
• Higher degree qualification (e.g. BSc) in a relevant subject.
• Significant experience of working in an administrative environment.
• Experience of working in clinical research administration.
• Experience of working with staff from a range of backgrounds and different levels of seniority.
• Experience in data entry and validation.
• Experience of working in an NHS or HEI environment.
• Experience of the EDGE clinical research database.
• Experience of using digital tools, including AI-enabled tools to improve administrative processes, reporting or workflow efficiency.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support for all research funding meetings, including managing distribution lists, preparing agendas and papers, inviting participants, taking notes and ensuring follow-up of agreed actions.
• Provide proactive administrative coordination and support to staff preparing research funding applications, working with researchers and relevant professional services teams.
• Coordinate the internal review and approval process for research funding applications, including coordination of costings and application/contractual sign-off.
• Undertake first-line quality checks of completed R&D-TEM-85 costing template, checking for completeness, internal consistency and any apparent discrepancies, and identifying and escalating queries as appropriate before they progress for review and approval.

Skills

MS Office

Excel

Word

PowerPoint

Teams

Access

Communication

Attention to detail

Prioritisation

Funding landscape

Education

A-level standard

BSc or higher

Tools

EDGE database

AI-enabled tools

Job description

We are seeking a new Clinical Research Senior Administrator, who will be based in the award-winning Oak Cancer Centre in Sutton, Surrey, with an expectation of at least 60% onsite working and up to 40% home working.

The Clinical Research Senior Administrator is a member of The Royal Marsden’s Clinical Research Directorate, sitting within the Joint Clinical Research & Development Core Services. The purpose of the role is to support the governance and operations function and researchers, at both The Royal Marsden and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), with the efficient administrative oversight and processing of applications for external grant funding, and also efficient administrative oversight and processing clinical research business activities.

The ideal candidate will be proactive, highly organised with excellent attention to detail, and proficient in communicating with a wide range of stakeholders across The Royal Marsden and the ICR.

Main duties of the job

• Provide administrative support for all research funding meetings, including managing distribution lists, preparing agendas and papers, inviting participants, taking notes and ensuring follow-up of agreed actions.
• Provide proactive administrative coordination and support to staff preparing research funding applications, working with researchers and relevant professional services teams.
• Coordinate the internal review and approval process for research funding applications, including coordination of costings and application/contractual sign-off.
• Undertake first-line quality checks of completed R&D-TEM-85 costing template, checking for completeness, internal consistency and any apparent discrepancies, and identifying and escalating queries as appropriate before they progress for review and approval.

Working for our organisation

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.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For further information on this role, please see the attached detailed Job Description and Person Specification:

• Monitor generic emails accounts and return or distribute correspondence to relevant stakeholders. This will include other generic inboxes managed by the governance and operations function.
• Provide administrative guidance to research project applicants preparing submissions to CCR and DTARS, and signpost to subject matter experts as needed.
• Arrange internal review and approvals of research applications to ensure that all applications are reviewed to the required standard and in accordance with the ethical and regulatory expectations, including the coordination of costings and contracts for applications.
• Maintain guidance documents, SOPs and templates, and circulate updates as required to all stakeholders.
• To be responsible for coordinating and managing the approvals process for modifications (both site and RM/ICR sponsor).

Education/Qualifications

• Educated to A-level standard (or equivalent)
• Commitment to continued professional development
• Higher degree qualification (e.g. BSc) in a relevant subject

Experience

• Significant experience of working in an administrative. environment.
• Experience of working in clinical research administration.
• Experience of working with staff from a range of backgrounds and different levels of seniority.
• Experience in data entry and validation.
• Experience of working in an NHS or HEI environment.
• Experience of the EDGE clinical research database.
• Experience of using digital tools, including AI-enabled tools where appropriate, to improve administrative processes, reporting or workflow efficiency.

Skills / knowledge

• Ability to work constructively as an individual; as part of a close-knit team; and as part of a wider research community
• Excellent IT literacy: evidence of competence with MS Office, particularly Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams and Access
• Knowledge of the regulatory framework for conducting clinical research, and requirements for site and sponsor level approvals
• Ability to work on own initiative and prioritise workload
• Excellent attention to detail
• Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Excellent communication skills, written and verbal
• Knowledge of the UK/EU research funding landscape and major public and charitable funders

The Royal Marsden values diversity and is committed to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority groups. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates and candidates with disabilities.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are working to create a workplace that enables all staff to reach their full potential. We are committed to this because we know that greater diversity and inclusion will lead to an even greater positive impact for the people we serve.

Due to the high volumes of applications we receive, we reserve the right to close any adverts before the published closing date once we have received a sufficient number of applications. We advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment. Please ensure your information is accurate to avoid errors with processing your application

All applicants will be contacted by email to the address supplied on your application. Applicants are advised to check their email accounts regularly and to ensure that email filters are set to allow our emails.

Flu Vaccination – What We Expect of our Staff

At The Royal Marsden we have an immune compromised patient population who we must protect as much as we can against the flu virus. Each year, seasonal flu affects thousands of people in the UK. Occurring mainly in winter, it is an infectious respiratory disease capable of producing symptoms ranging from those similar to a common cold, through to very severe or even fatal disease.

The wellbeing of our staff and patients is of the upmost importance to us, and it is the expectation of The Royal Marsden that all patient-facing staff have an annual flu vaccination, provided free of charge by the Trust.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Name Marshall Carter Job title Senior Research Governance Officer: Human Tissue Email address [e-mail]