Senior Research Governance and Contracts Manager (maternity cover) LMS - 2688

Medical Research Council; London; On-site; GBP 44,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading medical research organization in London seeks a Senior Research Governance and Contracts Manager for maternity cover. The successful candidate will ensure compliance with ethical standards, develop research contracts, and manage governance policies. Essential qualifications include a Bachelor's degree and extensive experience in contract management. Competitive salary package and benefits offered.

Benefits

Defined benefit pension scheme

30 days of holiday plus bank holidays

Family-friendly policies

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in drafting, negotiating, and managing relevant contracts.
• Experience of research governance in an academic setting.
• Knowledge of statutory and regulatory compliance in health research.

Responsibilities

• Ensure compliance with research governance and ethical standards.
• Develop and implement research contracts and agreements.
• Manage research governance web pages and guidance updates.

Skills

Contract negotiation

Research governance

Policy development

Communication skills

Data management

Education

Bachelor's degree in relevant area

Postgraduate degree in biological/biomedical sciences

Job description

View Vacancy -- Senior Research Governance and Contracts Manager (maternity cover) LMS - 2688

Open Date

11/08/2025, 11:20

Close Date

31/08/2025, 23:55

Research Institute

MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences

Research Institute / Unit Information

is a biomedical research institute where scientists and clinicians collaborate to advance the understanding of biology and its application to medicine. LMS is one of three directly funded MRC research institutes and enjoy close links with our partners at Imperial College London and at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

UK Research and Innovation is a new entity that brings together nine partners to create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, more information can be found at

Band

MRC - 3

Location

London

Salary

£44,711 - £51,737 plus London allowance (£5,385) per annum

Contract Type

Fixed Term

Job Type

Administration & Management

Full Time / Part Time

Full Time

Contract Length

12 months (maternity cover)

Job Description

Overall purpose:

Research Governance: Researchers in the MRC LMS are responsible for the ethical conduct of their research, for the safety of all those involved, and for the probity of financial management, including an obligation to provide optimum value for the funds invested. The Senior Research Governance and Contracts Manager works with the Head of Operations, Head of Health and Safety and Laboratory Services and Research Manager, in ensuring that:

• Research undertaken by or through the LMS demonstrates best practice in relation to both internal and external research ethics, integrity and governance requirements
• the LMS is equipped to meet its research ethics, integrity and governance requirements through the development of sound research ethics and integrity policies, guidelines and procedures
• the LMS promotes a positive and ethical research culture

Research Contracts: Most of the research groups attract external funding from a variety of sources, and/or engage in collaborative research, exchange materials or data, or undertake studies requiring ethical approval. All such activities bring a need for formal contracts and agreements, which serve both to facilitate the research, and to protect the interests of the MRC/ Imperial College London and the research staff.

The key responsibilities are to support:

Research Governance:

Research regulatory requirements and compliance, including preparation for audits by regulatory authorities eg HTA

• Developing, implementing and maintaining policies and procedures to meet legal and best practice standards, including corrective actions from regulatory authority audits and research data governance
• Member of the LMS Research Governance Committee and assisting in coordinating the LMS Research Governance Committee
• The collection of annual Research Governance returns from Group Heads (with the Head of Health and Safety and Laboratory Services) and identification of any future governance requirements eg HTA
• Continuous quality improvement across all aspects of research governance, including staying up to date with best practice across the sector
• Implement UKRI Trusted Research and Innovation principles where they apply to the role (with the LMS Research Manager)
• Management of research governance web and intranet pages ensuring content and guidance is up to date
• Provide assistance on a variety of other ethics and safety matters, such as those relating to research with animals, institutional biosafety, export controls and others as required
• To refine, and where appropriate, develop, new operational procedures for the Research Governance Committee to facilitate more effective and efficient operations
• With the Head of Health and Safety and Laboratory Services, attend PGR Induction days to ensure that ethics procedures are communicated and understood by PGR students
• Work with the UKRI Data Protection Officer and colleagues in Legal Services and Information Security and Digital Systems to ensure that researchers have clear guidance on data management plans and their obligations to participants and funding agencies in this regard (with the LMS Research Manager)
• Support researchers in developing research ethics applications and work with relevant colleagues to consider how data management planning will be incorporated into Ethics procedures and governance
• Research and source appropriate good practice on academic ethics and research governance from other universities and in relation to NHS Ethics (NRES and IRAS), NHS Trust R&D approval
• Management of research governance and contracts web and intranet pages ensuring content and guidance is up to date

Research Contracts:

• Development and implementation of research contracts and agreements, technology transfer, industrial collaborations, strategic partnerships and external funding applications
• Collaborative working with industry
• Identification of due diligence and contractual issues associated with the transfer into or out of LMS of individual research leaders/groups
• Lead for the compliance with annual DASIC (Director's Annual Statement of Internal Control, collecting information in order to draft the submission, and ensuring mitigations for areas of non-compliance are implemented
• Negotiations of research contracts and agreements for the LMS involving balancing competing interests such as: protecting academic freedom to operate (use of results and intellectual property, publication); maximising the opportunities for translation and knowledge transfer, and where possible exploitation, while protecting MRC and/or Imperial IP; funder's/sponsor's terms and conditions; ensuring confidentiality; managing risk through negotiation of warranties, liabilities and indemnities; ensuring compliance with MRC policies, procedures and best practice; recording research governance arrangements, requiring a good knowledge of applicable legislation and guidance and explaining how these apply to the research being proposed
• Manage historical LMS contracts with MRC as a legacy body
• Undertaking contract due diligence, drafting and negotiations for Material Transfer agreements, Confidentiality agreements, Collaboration agreements, Commercial agreements and strategic partnerships
• Promotion of all aspects of the contracts service; seeking to raise awareness of possibilities for external funding, collaborations, exploitation and requirements to ensure adequate protection of MRC's interests
• Build a strong understanding of the research portfolio in the LMS, to take a proactive role in assisting with the identification and promotion of opportunities for technology transfer, including the requirement for due diligence in the evaluation and protection of intellectual property. This requires a good knowledge of the various forms of intellectual property rights common to a research environment. It will involve close working with the LMS Entrepreneur in Residence, LifeArc and Imperial Innovations

Person Specification

Education / Qualifications / Training required (will be assessed from the application form and at the interview):

Essential:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in a relevant area

Desirable:

• Postgraduate degree or equivalent research experience in biological/ biomedical sciences

Previous work experience required (will be assessed the from the application and at the interview):

Essential:

• Extensive experience of drafting, negotiating and management of relevant contracts and agreements (several years' experience)
• Relevant experience of research governance ideally in an academic setting
• Relevant experience of statutory and regulatory compliance in health research, ideally in an academic and publicly funded setting
• Experience of working in a research Laboratory environment within a university or research setting
• Experience of developing policies and guidance
• Experience of preparing applications for NHS Research Ethics Committee approval (mandatory for scientific projects with animals or humans)
• Extensive knowledge/experience of/exposure to intellectual property management

Desirable:

• Extensive contract drafting and management in a scientific research environment
• Knowledge of University research administration procedures
• Experience of monitoring/ auditing research to identify opportunities to improve compliance

Knowledge and experience (will be assessed from the application and at the interview):

Essential:

• Excellent knowledge and understanding of research governance and research ethics in a UK research context
• Experience of preparing proposals and papers for governance panels and/ or regulatory body assessments
• Experience of contributing to and implementing quality assurance procedures
• Highly developed communication skills - both written and verbal - to convey complex contractual and compliance requirements in a manner that is understood and facilitated decision making

Desirable:

• Knowledge of University research administration procedures
• Experience of preparing applications for NHS REC approval
• Experience of monitoring/ auditing research
• Knowledge/experience of/exposure to intellectual property management

Personal skills / behaviours / qualities (will be assessed at the interview):

Essential:

• Ability to work independently to develop processes and implementation plans
• Highly developed interpersonal skills, elicit confidence and able to command respect as a trusted advisor on research governance across the LMS
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively as part of a team and to lead a team/projects as required to achieve outcomes for the LMS
• Flexible and adaptable approach, capable of planning, prioritising and delivering on a multitude of tasks in a fast-paced environment
• Appreciative of the culture of the LMS and the MRC

Further Information

Applicants should submit a CV, names, and contacts of two references along with a cover letter stating why you are applying for this role (providing evidence against the requirements of the job as per the job description and person specification). Applications without a cover letter will not be accepted. Please quote reference number LMS 2688.

Please note that applications may be reviewed by both LMS and Imperial staff.

The MRC is a unique working environment where scientific researchers and professional support staff can actively partake in world class innovation and collaboration opportunities and their skills and knowledge through accessing a wide catalogue of training & development, including professional registration with the Science Council.

In addition, MRC (part of UKRI) provides its community of employees access to a whole host of useful benefits, including a defined benefit pension scheme and excellent holiday entitlement (30 days plus 2.5 privilege days & 8 bank holidays), family friendly policies (6 months full pay maternity & adoption leave), a range of shopping/travel discounts, access to our Employee Assistant Programme Scheme, Health and Wellbeing Support and a salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme. Please follow this link to find out more -

Our success is dependent upon our ability to embrace diversity and draw on the skills, understanding and experience of all our people. We warmly invite people from diverse backgrounds and heritage, including people who identify as having a disability, to apply for a role that excites them. As "Disability Confident" employers, we guarantee to interview all applicants who have disclosed they have a disability and who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

UKRI supports research in areas that include animal health, agriculture and food security, and bioscience for health which includes research on animals, genetic modification and stem cell research. Whilst you may not have direct involvement in this type of research, you should consider whether this conflicts with your personal values or beliefs.

We will conduct a full and comprehensive pre-employment check as an essential part of the recruitment process on all individuals that are offered a position with UKRI. This will include a security check and an extreme organisations affiliation check. The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role. UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.