Senior Radiopharmacy Technician

Royal Marsden; Sutton; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust invites an experienced Radiopharmacy Technician to join our Sutton-based team. You will prepare diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals aseptically, perform QC tests, and contribute to patient care across NHS and external departments.

You will also line manage Band 4–5 technicians and support cleanroom operations. You’ll participate in clinical trials, radiopharmaceutical development, and our quality management system (SOPs, CAPA, inspections).

Qualifications

• Qualified in PTQA/HNC/BTech or related degree
• GPhC/HCPC registration as Technician or HCPC
• Membership of a professional body (RCOP, RSC, IPEM)
• Postgraduate Radiopharmacy certificate or MSc
• Experience in radiopharmacy aseptic production and QA SOPs

Responsibilities

• Provide a comprehensive clinical Radiopharmacy service to Trust and external purchasers
• Develop key specialist Radiopharmacy services with senior team
• Maintain high accuracy and safety standards
• Perform routine aseptic production of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals
• Conduct in vitro tests and enter results for verification
• Manage stock and dispose of radioactive waste per SOPs
• Comply with Good Manufacturing Practice and regulatory requirements

Skills

Aseptic preparation

Staff training

Education

PTQA/HNC/BTech or related degree

GPhC/HCPC registration

Professional body membership

Postgraduate Radiopharmacy qualification

Radiopharmacy degree qualification

Tools

Radiopharmacy equipment operation

Job description

At The Royal Marsden, radiopharmacy sits right at the start of the cancer pathway. The doses you prepare before dawn become the scan that stages someone's disease, the therapy that treats it, and the evidence that proves a new treatment works. It's precise, high-stakes work — and you'll see exactly where it lands.

We're looking for an experienced technician ready to step up to join our team of 28 people including pharmacists, scientists, technicians and ATO’s. You'll be at the bench and in the cleanroom, aseptically preparing diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals, running QC and environmental monitoring, and helping deliver a service that supports our own patients and seven external nuclear medicine departments. You'll also line manage our Band 4 and 5 technicians, take charge of day-to-day cleanroom operations, and deputise for the one of our section leads.
Beyond the routine, there's real scope to grow with novel radiopharmaceutical development, clinical trials work, and a genuine hand in our Quality Management System — SOPs, validation, CAPA and self-inspection.

If you want your technical skill to count for something, we'd like to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

- To provide a comprehensive clinical Radiopharmacy service to the Trust and external purchaser.

- To develop key specialist services with the support of the senior team in Radiopharmacy.

- To demonstrate an extremely high standard of accuracy and safety.

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:

• The post-holder will undertake the routine aseptic production of both diagnostic and therapeutic radioactive medicinal products for clinical use, operating within the terms of Standard Operating Procedures.
• The post-holder will perform a range of in vitro laboratory tests using unsealed source of radioactivity, operating within the terms of Standard Operating Procedures.
• The post-holder will calculate results from such tests, and enter the confirmed results on to the system for verification by the radiopharmaceutical scientists.
• The post-holder will maintain suitable levels of both stock and non-stock items in the Radiopharmacy, as defined in Standard Operating Procedures.
• To dispose of radioactive waste in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures.
• The post-holder will be required to comply with relevant statutory requirements relating to the manufacture of radioactive medicinal products, including those related to Good Manufacturing Practice, as defined in The Rules and Guidance for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Distributors (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency).

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

• PTQA/HNC/BTech in relevant discipline OR
• Professional knowledge acquired through first degree of related discipline
• Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) as Technician or Healthcare Professional Council (HCPC)
• Membership of an appropriate professional body (Royal College of Pharmacy, Royal Society of Chemistry, Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine)
• European Association of Nuclear Medicine Postgraduate Certificate in Radiopharmacy
• Post-graduate qualification (certificate/diploma/MSc) in Radiopharmacy or equivalent knowledge & expertise in the field

Experience

• Significant operational experience working within a conventional Radiopharmacy/Aseptic facility, to include recent experience at Band 5 or equivalent,
• Experience of aseptic preparation of radiopharmaceuticals or chemotherapy in a licensed facility
• Experience of monitoring of environment / equipment / products relevant to radiopharmacy
• Experience in the manufacturing and quality testing of radiopharmaceuticals for clinical use
• Experience of involvement in clinical trial related activities
• Experience in supporting new service development
• Experience of writing reports and Standard Operating Procedure for new processes or new equipment.
• Experience of maintaining a Quality Management System, including investigation of errors and deviations

Skills Abilities/knowledge

• Able to provide and support the training and development of radiopharmacy staff

Other Requirements

• Able to work early (5:00-13:30) and late shift (08:30-17:00) for prolonged period of time if requested to do so and to be flexible to meet the needs of the role.

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

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.