Clinical Trials Coordinators

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust; Manchester; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Manchester seeks a Senior Clinical Trials Coordinator for the Haematology team. This full-time role involves setting up and coordinating clinical trials, ensuring compliance with policies and regulations while providing essential administrative support. Candidates should possess a relevant science or business degree and significant experience in clinical trials coordination. The position offers a chance to enhance skills in a vital healthcare setting with a strong focus on supporting research initiatives.

Qualifications

• Excellent organization and communication skills, capable of working both in a team and independently.
• Significant work experience in clinical trials coordination and data management involving clinical trials or project coordination.
• Good understanding of clinical research, GCP and clinical governance.

Responsibilities

• Act as a key coordinator for the Haematology Research team, ensuring a high-quality administrative service.
• Set up and coordinate early-phase and complex clinical trials.
• Support senior management and ensure compliance with Trust Policy and GCP.

Skills

Excellent organisation and communication skills

Leadership skills

Work experience in clinical trials coordination

Good understanding of clinical research

Education

Scientific or business-based degree

Job description

Overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Research and Innovation Division at The Christie. We are looking to appoint Senior Clinical Trials Coordinators to the Haematology clinical research delivery team within The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. There is one full‑time permanent position with the potential for another position, plus one 12‑month secondment position may be available. The focus of this role is to provide support to sustain and improve an excellent level of service provision from a trial site perspective for our research partners. A tailored training programme will be provided to consolidate the skills required to provide multi‑team management support for the Clinical Trial Research teams in the trust.

Responsibilities

• Act as a key coordinator for the Haematology Research team, proactively ensuring a high‑quality and efficient administrative service.
• Set up and coordinate early‑phase and complex clinical trials, with previous experience of early phase and/or complex trials desirable.
• Allocate and support coordination staff, with potential direct line management and oversight of team metrics.
• Support senior R&I management and clinical research staff, ensuring compliance with Trust Policy, Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and all other relevant requirements.
• Lead service‑development projects within the team and the wider R&I division.
• Support and supervise workload allocation/monitoring across administrative team members, escalating issues to senior managers.
• Assist with Human Resources activities – recruitment, selection and line management of administrative staff as required.
• Deliver induction support and training to new and existing clinical trials staff through one‑to‑one and group learning activities.
• Encourage best‑practice sharing and disseminate information through regular structured meetings with all trials administration staff.
• Assist with data collection for divisional metrics reports of key performance indicators.
• Serve as the key point of contact with the core Research and Development team, study sponsors, clinical research organisations and specific research teams.
• Support feasibility activities for new studies under direction from senior managers and Principal Investigators.
• Manage the set‑up and initiation of allocated clinical trials, escalating any delays as appropriate.
• Negotiate study set‑up costs and income recovery in conjunction with the Research Division's Business Planning and Finance teams.
• Oversee maintenance of investigator site files and essential documentation in accordance with ICH‑GCP and Trust SOPs, ensuring inspection readiness at all times.
• Oversee and process trial amendment submissions in accordance with ICH‑GCP and Trust SOPs and timelines.
• Ensure adverse event incidents and forms are completed, reported and followed up as required.
• Coordinate reporting mechanisms to ensure research staff complete and return proformas containing up‑to‑date information on patients included in the study.
• Oversee and complete case report forms and participate in monitoring visits as per sponsor requirements.
• Liaise with internal staff and external collaborators to resolve queries.
• Provide information for senior managers including case report form completion timeliness, data locks, data backlogs, work allocations and patient recruitment.
• Ensure data is available and up to date for any meetings related to the trial/study, producing minutes as required.
• Attend project‑related meetings, investigator meetings (abroad or teleconferences) to convey relevant information to the study team.
• Attend disease‑specific research team meetings to maintain an overview of team activity.
• Assist with preparation for audit and inspections and implementation of action plans.
• Ensure all documents are archived in accordance with Trust archiving guidelines.
• Undertake general administrative tasks as delegated by managerial representatives from the Research Division.
• Demonstrate agreed values and be accountable for own attitude and behaviour.

Working Practice

• Work closely with the Senior Research Management Team to implement new SOPs and working procedures within designated teams.
• Be proactive in providing feedback on working practices within the research team and suggest new ways of working.
• Use initiative and work independently without close supervision, planning and organising own time and workload with prioritisation and referring to senior managers as necessary.
• Exercise judgement outside relevant protocols and SOPs as required.

Personal and People Development

• Maintain professional development and evaluate specialist knowledge with assistance from assigned line manager to satisfy the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework.
• Participate in and deliver Trust‑wide education programmes, study days, regional and national meetings and research seminars as appropriate.

Qualifications and Experience

• Excellent organisation and communication skills, capable of working both in a team and independently.
• Good leadership skills promoting an environment of quality and learning.
• Significant work experience in clinical trials coordination and data management involving clinical trials or project coordination.
• Good understanding of clinical research, GCP and clinical governance.
• Holding a scientific or business‑based degree or relevant experience in scientific and medical research.
• Capacity for managerial progression in clinical trials coordination.

Additional Information

• Long periods of time spent using keyboard to input information and use of VDU for electronic communication.
• Prolonged concentration required (e.g., checking trial documentation and entering data).
• Occasional exposure to distressed circumstances as trial patients are commonly suffering from terminal illnesses.

Application

The closing date for this post may be extended if there are insufficient applicants or brought forward if there is a high volume of applicants. If you have not heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, your application will have been unsuccessful. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship; not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. All applicants external to the trust will be required to provide HMRC employment history for the most recent three years.

Pre‑employment checks will be conducted in line with NHS Employment Check Standards, including identity verification, right to work check, DBS/criminal record check, professional registration and/or qualification check, occupational health assessment and employment history and reference validation.

Selection and Transfer

If offered the role, you will agree to transfer the information contained in your application to the trust’s preferred applicant management system and the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Successful candidates may have their previous NHS employment data transferred where applicable.

Health and Safety

As employees are not permitted to smoke at work, the trust operates a No Smoking Policy.

Diversity and Inclusion

• We want to ensure that everyone who works at the Christie or uses our services is welcomed, valued and treated with dignity and respect.
• The Christie values diversity and is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all and fair representation across the organisation at all levels.
• We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority people and people with disabilities for this post. Appointment will be only on merit.
• We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds to foster inclusion and tackle inequity and health inequalities in cancer care.
• As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.
• The trust is fully committed to a zero‑tolerance approach to modern slavery and maintains robust systems and controls to prevent any form of forced or compulsory labour within the organisation or its supply chains.

Contact

Interested applicants are encouraged to contact the Haematology Research Team to further discuss the roles and how you can become a key member of this exemplary team.