Principal Radiotherapy Engineer

The Royal Marsden; Sutton; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Sutton is seeking a qualified individual to join their radiotherapy engineering team. You will provide technical support for specialized radiotherapy equipment, ensuring reliability and safety. The ideal candidate has strong electrical engineering knowledge and experience with radiotherapy equipment. This role offers a chance to work in a collaborative environment, contributing to innovative cancer treatment solutions. Excellent benefits and commitment to diversity in hiring are provided.

Benefits

Flu vaccination provided free of charge

Qualifications

• Specialist knowledge in RF generation, HT generation, and high vacuum systems.
• Experience in calibration and quality control procedures.
• Ability to prioritize and manage own work effectively.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical support for specialized radiotherapy treatment and imaging equipment.
• Assist in the day-to-day management of the service.
• Promote collaboration with equipment manufacturers and external stakeholders.

Skills

Advanced knowledge of electrical and electronic engineering

Specialist knowledge of Radiotherapy equipment

Practical experience in radiation equipment

High level of understanding of patient risks

Good understanding of clinical radiotherapy techniques

Education

Relevant NVQ level 4 qualification

Job description

Job overview

We are looking for a qualified and motivated individual to join the radiotherapy electronics engineering team at the Sutton branch due to partial retirement of another team member. The ideal candidate would be fully qualified and experienced with all our equipment, but training will be provided as appropriate. Significantly less experienced candidates could be appointed at a lower band.

The Royal Marsden is a special place to work. The team of three electronics engineers provide preventive and corrective maintenance for 5 Elekta linacs (including one in installation), an Elekta Unity MR‑Linac and two Accuray Radixact units. Limited first‑line response is provided for a Cyberknife S7, a Siemens Confidence CT scanner and an XStrahl superficial unit. The majority of service work is performed during the working week with slightly extended days; weekend working is sometimes available as additional time.

The electronics engineering team is supported by radiotherapy physics group consisting of 35 physicists (including IT specialists) and dosimetrists as well as 2 mechanical engineers. The group forms a substantial part of the joint Royal Marsden / Institute of Cancer Research physics department which collaborates on several research projects, mostly on the MR‑linac which was the first in the UK to treat patients.

Sutton is pleasantly located on the border of Surrey with excellent transport links to central London and easy access to the countryside.

Main duties of the job

• The postholder will be a major member of the Radiotherapy Engineering team providing safe, reliable and resilient technical support for specialised radiotherapy treatment and imaging equipment. The aim of this service is to maximise the availability of radiotherapy equipment for clinical use. This job mostly requires hands‑on technical expertise with elements of service planning and operational governance to deliver high quality, safe patient care and to support controlled introduction of new technology. The post holder will always act in accordance with the Royal Marsden values : Pioneering Change; Working Collaboratively;

Pursuing Excellence; Showing Kindness.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To provide specialist expert advice in all areas of engineering as applied to radiotherapy. To assist the lead engineer with the day‑to‑day management of the service.
• To work as part of multidisciplinary teams to plan and develop the clinical radiotherapy service.
• To be responsible for maintaining and updating as necessary the engineering processes framework of the ISO 9001 system.
• To work alongside the Head of Radiotherapy Treatment delivery and other clinical scientists; bringing complementary skills and knowledge to ensure safe delivery of state‑of‑the‑art radiotherapy.
• To support research and development in the fields of engineering and radiotherapy equipment applications. To provide support to all associated development activities.
• To promote collaboration and maintain excellent relationships with the equipment manufacturers, the ICR mechanical workshop and any other external stakeholders.
• To keep abreast of the rapid development of treatment equipment design and advanced radiotherapy systems.
• Requirement where necessary for frequent work out of hours to minimise interruption to clinical service. This includes bank holidays.

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Relevant NVQ level 4 qualification
• High level of specialist knowledge and experience

Scientific Technical Skills

Essential criteria

• Advanced knowledge of electrical and electronic engineering, electro‑mechanical and computer systems, including networking.
• Specialist knowledge of Radiotherapy equipment including RF generation, HT generation, high vacuum systems, Multi‑leaf collimation, X‑Ray generation, imaging modalities, computer systems and solid source safety
• General knowledge of mechanical and electronic workshop practices
• Extensive practical experience of independent work in radiation equipment, servicing, workshop practices and techniques, covering preventative maintenance, servicing, inspection, repair and safety
• Experience in calibration and quality control procedures
• Specialist manufacturers training or practical experience where training courses do not exist, on linear accelerators, multi‑leaf collimators, electronic portal imaging devices, kilo‑voltage therapy machines and CT scanners

Registration

Desirable criteria

• Eligibility for registration as a Clinical Scientist or on the RCT

Clinical

Essential criteria

• High level of understanding of patient and staff risks arising from equipment failure
• Good understanding of clinical radiotherapy techniques and the demands these place on treatment machines

Managerial

Essential criteria

• Able to exercise own initiative when dealing with issues within own specialist area of competence.
• Able to prioritise and manage own work

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of employment procedures and practices.

IT Skills

Essential criteria

• Able to use Excel, Word etc to set up documents, spreadsheets and extract information
• Able to set up and manage the acquisition, structure and networking of information.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of non‑Windows based operating systems e.g. Unix

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.

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

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.