Research Quality and Governance Advisor

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) UK and Ireland; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 54,000 - 67,000; Full time

Job summary

Médecins Sans Frontières UK and Ireland in London seeks a Research Quality & Governance Advisor to design and lead a risk‑based governance and quality‑assurance framework across a growing portfolio of clinical trials and operational research in humanitarian settings.

The role acts as the senior technical authority for research quality, guiding investigators, field teams and regulators to ensure ethical, robust and compliant data and study delivery.

Qualifications

• Senior clinical research experience with GCP/ICH guidelines.
• Experience shaping or establishing governance frameworks or SOPs.
• Experience with ethics submissions and regulatory documentation.

Responsibilities

• Design and lead a risk-based research governance and QA framework across trials and studies.
• Act as senior technical authority on quality and governance for the portfolio.
• Advise investigators, field teams, ethics committees and regulators within MSF movement.
• Influence colleagues and shape standards in humanitarian research contexts.

Skills

ICH-GCP expertise

Governance frameworks development

Stakeholder influence without formal A

English communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher

Tools

Microsoft Office

Teams

SharePoint

OneDrive

Yammer

Job description

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is looking for a Research Quality & Governance Advisor to join the Manson Unit in London. This is a new permanent full-time specialist role: you’ll design and lead a risk-based research governance and quality‑assurance framework across a growing portfolio of clinical trials and operational research in humanitarian settings, and help build a function that will advise research teams across the MSF movement. We’re looking for an experienced clinical research professional with strong ICH‑GCP expertise, a track record of shaping governance frameworks or SOPs, and the judgement to apply high standards pragmatically in complex, resource‑limited environments. You’ll lead through technical credibility and influence, working with investigators, field teams, ethics committees and regulators worldwide. If you want your expertise to make sure the evidence behind lifesaving medical care is robust, ethical and trusted, we’d love to hear from you.

Hours: 37.5 hours per week, Mon-Fri

Duration: Permanent

Location: London - hybrid, 2 days per week in office (including Wednesdays)

Salary: £54,452.47 per annum - £66,553.01 per annum | Salary is offered in line with our pay framework and typically starts at the entry point of the band. Salary increases are considered annually and are subject to our appraisal and performance review process.

Job Purpose:

The Research Quality & Governance Advisor is responsible for research governance and quality assurance across the Manson Unit's growing portfolio of operational research studies and clinical trials, and is the senior technical authority building the Unit's emerging role as a movement‑wide resource on research quality, impact and dissemination. Rather than monitoring a single study, this role establishes and oversees a risk-based research governance and quality‑assurance framework across a diverse and growing portfolio, setting the standards against which studies are designed, delivered and closed out in compliance with approved protocols, Good Clinical Practice (GCP/ICH) guidelines, applicable regulatory requirements, relevant ethical frameworks, and MSF's own standard operating procedures (SOPs).

The postholder is the senior technical authority and a key point of escalation on research governance and quality for study sponsors, principal investigators, field medical teams, ethics and regulatory bodies, and is accountable to the relevant Medical Directors for the scientific integrity of data and the safety and rights of research participants across the portfolio. The role combines deep technical GCP/monitoring expertise with the judgement, seniority and independence to set direction, mentor, identify and escalation risk, and advise and influence colleagues on research quality and governance standards in other parts of the MSF movement. This is a senior specialist role rather than a line‑management position: it suits an experienced research professional who can operate with autonomy and authority in complex, resource‑limited and rapidly evolving humanitarian contexts, shaping standards and practice through technical credibility and influence.

Please download the full job and person specification below for further details.

Requirements

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or higher. Medical specialism not essential, degree could be medicine, nursing, pharmacy, biomedical sciences, public health or a related life‑sciences discipline.
• Extensive, senior‑level experience in clinical research, clinical trial monitoring, or research quality/governance, including experience acting as the senior technical authority on quality and compliance across a study portfolio.
• Strong working knowledge of ICH‑GCP guidelines and applicable regulatory requirements, ideally including experience applying these in resource‑limited or humanitarian settings.
• Demonstrated experience establishing or substantially shaping a research governance or quality‑assurance framework, policy or standard operating procedure, rather than solely applying one set by others.
• Experience with ethics submissions and regulatory documentation processes.
• Strong written and verbal English communication skills, with demonstrated ability to influence and negotiate with senior stakeholders – sponsors, ethics and regulatory bodies, and colleagues in other MSF sections – without formal authority over them; strong organisational, analytical, problem‑solving and documentation skills; proficiency in Microsoft Office and digital collaboration tools.
• Demonstrated ability to work autonomously and within multicultural, multidisciplinary field teams; adapt to dynamic, austere or insecure environments with limited infrastructure.
• Commitment to research ethics, participant protection and data integrity; willingness to travel at short notice, including to remote and conflict‑affected settings.
• Experience in the practical use of personal IT equipment and Microsoft Office 365 suite. The ability to effectively collaborate and communicate within a hybrid working environment utilising Teams, SharePoint, One Drive and Yammer.