Senior Clinical Research Nurse

The Christie International; Manchester; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester is recruiting two Senior Clinical Research Nurses to lead dedicated teams within Haematology and Lymphoma research. You will oversee trial delivery from setup to close, coordinating with consultants, pharmacists and nurses to ensure safe, high-quality care.

Experience in oncology and clinical research, plus leadership or management experience, are desirable. Flexible working requests will be considered, with the Trust supporting professional

Qualifications

• Leadership and management of a Clinical Research Nurse team.
• Experience in oncology and clinical research essential.
• Strong communication and collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.
• Ability to develop and implement research pathways and SOPs.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team of Clinical Research Nurses.
• Ensure safe, high-quality delivery of trials.
• Coordinate trials from setup to closure and archiving.
• Interact with consultants, pharmacists, trial coordinators, and researchers.
• Drive professional development and education within the team.
• Promote engagement with the NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility and external partners.

Skills

Leadership

Clinical Research

Oncology Nursing

Communication

Team Management

Autonomy

Education

NMC Registered Nurse

GCP/ICH Training

Post-graduate in Oncology/Clinical Research

Job description

We are recruiting two Senior Clinical Research Nurses to join our established research teams: one in Haematology and one in Lymphoma. These roles offer the opportunity to deliver a diverse and expanding portfolio of clinical trials in haematological malignancies and lymphoma, including industry-sponsored and academic studies, from early to later phases.

We seek motivated individuals with an interest in research and leadership. You will lead and manage a team of Clinical Research Nurses and coordinate a portfolio of trials from set-up to closure and archiving, ensuring safe, effective and high-quality delivery.

You will work closely with consultants, clinical fellows, research nurses, pharmacists and trial coordinators in a multidisciplinary environment. You will also join an established group of senior research nurses, benefiting from peer support, shared learning and professional development.

Experience in oncology and clinical research, flexibility and excellent communication skills are essential. Relevant haematology or lymphoma experience and previous leadership or management experience are desirable.

We encourage informal discussions before applying and offer the opportunity to spend time with the relevant team. Flexible working requests will be considered.

Main duties of the job

Key responsibilities of these posts include the leadership and management of a team of Clinical Research Nurses within the respective Haematology or Lymphoma research team, supporting the Clinical Research Matron. You will ensure that research is conducted safely and effectively within the requirements of a highly regulated clinical research environment, while safeguarding the safety and wellbeing of patients participating in clinical trials.

You will interact with a wide range of research professionals across The Christie, including the NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility, as well as commercial partners, other NHS organisations, research bodies and the wider research community. You will be expected to take a proactive approach to your own professional development, while demonstrating initiative and expertise in team development, education and training.

By utilising national frameworks and patient experience measures, you will contribute to ensuring that patients participating in studies within the Haematology or Lymphoma research portfolios receive the best possible experience throughout their involvement in clinical research.

Other responsibilities include raising the profile of Clinical Research Nursing and clinical trials both within the Trust and externally, participating in promotional and engagement activities related to clinical research and contributing to the delivery of Divisional, Trust and national research objectives and strategies.

Working for our organisation

The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, looking after more than 64,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 25% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country.

We are the largest radiotherapy provider in the NHS with one in 20 treatments delivered at The Christie. We have up to 15 linear accelerators operating across our network of sites. We operate the largest chemotherapy unit in the UK on our main site and treatments are also provided at 13 other networked sites, and in patients homes. And as a specialist tertiary surgical centre, we focus on rare cancers, complex procedures, and multidisciplinary approaches to cancer surgery, specialising in colorectal, peritoneal, gynaecological, urological and plastic surgery.

We are also an international leader in research, with world first breakthroughs for over 100 years. We have been named by the UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), as one of the best hospitals providing opportunities for patients to participate in clinical research studies, with more than 800 studies open at any time, caring for over 3,000 patients.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical Research Co-ordination

• Work autonomously in all areas of practice relating to clinical research.
• Understand and deliver care in accordance with regulatory approved clinical research protocols.
• Oversee the process for obtaining NHS permissions (R&D approval) for clinical trials within team. As project lead, ensures permissions are in place prior to any patient recruitment.
• Undertake feasibility and risk assessments of clinical trial protocols in conjunction with Team Leader, Principal Investigator and Senior Clinical Trials Co-Ordinator
• Ensure all clinical trial activities are recorded in appropriate systems in a timely manner.
• Awareness of trial specific, regional, and national targets.
• Initiate new recruitment strategies for recruiting patients to clinical trials including engagement with the research network.
• In conjunction with Team Leader lead on the delegation of all trial related activities to research team members (clinical and administrative) and ensure compliance with SOPs and ICH/GCP.
• Work with team leader and sponsor companies in the preparation and negotiation of financial contracts for individual trials.
• Arrange and facilitate clinical trial related meetings.
• In conjunction with Team Leader, oversee appropriate financial remunerations for clinical trial activity

Clinical Service and Professional Responsibilities

• Assimilation of highly complex information relating to clinical trials and communication to patients at a level appropriate to their understanding. Ensure highly sensitive information is communicated to patients, relatives, and careers regarding prognosis
• Responsible for the development, implementation, and review of specialist care pathways in conjunction with appropriate personnel.
• Demonstration of expert knowledge in specialist area to maintain clinical excellence.
• Set up processes/patient pathways in conjunction with appropriate personnel from specialist research areas to promote a cost-effective timely service for individual protocols (shared care pathways, specialist clinics, etc.).
• Support Team Leader in delivering divisional and trust strategic objectives including performance indicators and metrics.
• Escalation of governance issues impacting on delivery of job purpose.
• To act as a primary contact point for the clinical trial patients and act as adviser to other health care professionals.
• Responsibility for maintenance and development of professional knowledge and practice by attending mandatory and specialist training (e.g., GCP) in accordance with local policy
• Ensuring care delivery standards in accordance with trial protocol, local policy, NMC Code of Practice Conduct and current best practice
• Development and maintenance of a high-quality service by:
  o Overseeing the safe administration of all licensed and unlicensed medicinal products within the context of a clinical trial.
  o Overseeing assessment and evaluation of treatment toxicities and initiation of appropriate intervention.
  o Contribute to development of specialist Standard Operating Procedures and guidelines
• Provide education and support for non-research staff in the delivery of protocol driven treatment for all patients.
• Participate in monitoring and audit activities within research team
• To carry out non-medical prescribing within scope of professional practice and in accordance with local policies and procedures and national legislation (optional and depending on clinical service needs).

Personal Education, Training and Development

• Maintain professional development whilst evaluating own specialist knowledge and practice through a process of appraisal and personal development planning.
• Promote the role of the clinical research nurse as an integral part of the healthcare system.
• Increase and maintain awareness of current advances in cancer treatments, research and nursing practice thereby maintaining the highest standard of care for patients with cancer and implementing evidence-based care by continuing professional development.
• Participation in trust-wide education programs and study days.
• Obtain clinical supervision as appropriate.
• To keep up to date with departmental, Trust, UK and EU developments for the management of clinical research ensuring timely, effective implementation of changes.
• Attendance at team and divisional meetings.

Staff Management and Development

• In conjunction with the team leader, provide the induction, continued supervision and management of the research teams.
• In conjunction with the team leader, be responsible for ensuring all members of the research nurse team undergo regular appraisal and support appropriate training and development opportunities in line with role requirements.
• Lead on the development of specialist study days within own research team
• Provide specialist education and training in relation to clinical trials to all key stakeholders.
• Disseminate information by attendance and /or presentations at local, national and international conferences/meetings
• Be responsible for the development of members of the research team.

EU DIRECTIVE ICH/GCP

All personnel involved in clinical research have a responsibility to ensure that clinical trials are conducted in accordance with the EU Directive and ICH/GCP.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Registered General Nurse -Currently registered with the Nursing & Midwifery Council.
• First Degree or relevant experience GCP/ICH recognised recent training
• Post-graduate qualification in oncology and/or clinical research

Experience

• Relevant oncology nursing experience.
• Previous Clinical research experience or other relevant experience related to specialism.
• Experience in coordinating clinical trials from initiation to closure including archiving.
• Proven evidence of service improvement.
• Experience of working autonomously and part of a multi-disciplinary team.
• Ability to organise and prioritise own workload.
• Experience of managing Clinical Research Teams.
• Experience of clinical audits both internal and external.
• Experience of writing standards operating procedures for clinical research and individual protocols.

Skills

• Highly effective communication skills.
• Effective team working across professional and organisational boundaries.
• Good written and analytical skills.
• Involvement in informed consent process within scope of professional practice.
• Co-ordinates care pathway for patients and carers participating in clinical research.
• Manages, assesses and supports the physical and psychological needs of the patient and carer.
• Able to manage work autonomously.
• Training and leadership skills Demonstrable IT Skills able to use Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook
• Intra-venous access and cannulation skills administration of clinical trial therapies.

Knowledge

• Has a working and intellectual knowledge of the purpose of clinical research.
• Has specialist knowledge of Research Ethics Committees and has been actively involved in the process of gaining relevant clinical trial approval and is able to guide members of the research team through the approval process
• Knowledge of professional and NHS issues and policy relating to specialist area
• Maintain Professional development and have an awareness of current nursing issues
• Knowledge of Research Ethics Committees.
• Knowledge of the purpose of clinical research.

Values

• Ability to demonstrate the organisational values and behaviours

Other

• Maintain professional development and have an awareness of current nursing issues.
• Demonstrates flexibility in working hours.

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. Application Information - If you have not heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, I regret that on this occasion your application will have been unsuccessful.

Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

Pre-Employment Checks - To confirm your suitability for the role, we will carry out pre-employment checks in line with NHS Employment Check Standards. These include:

• Identity verification
• Right to work check
• Disclosure and barring service (DBS)/Criminal record check (dependent on role, payment of this will be the applicants responsibility)
• Professional registration and/or qualification check
• Occupational health assessment
• Employment history and reference validation

All applicants external to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust will be required to provide their HMRC employment history to cover the most recent three years employment. This information will used to validate employment history andreferences.

If you require sponsorship, we will assess your eligibility based on current government guidance. If the role is not eligible and you cannot demonstrate your right to work, your conditional offer may be withdrawn.

If You're Offered the Role - you will be agreeing to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.

The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and will form part of the recruitment process. In the event that you are successful following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.

No Smoking Policy - You should be aware the Trust operates a No Smoking Policy and therefore employees are not permitted to smoke at work.

Additional Information - 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. In support of these commitments, 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 are committed to creating a balanced and diverse workforce. As such we welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Together we will foster inclusion and tackle inequity and health inequalities in cancer care.

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity in all our activities. We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery in any of its forms, including slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour, and human trafficking. We are fully committed to acting ethically and with transparency in all our business dealings and relationships, and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our organisation or supply chains.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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.