Study Support Service Senior Manager

Barts Health NHS Trust has a vision to be a high performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond.

Barts Health is the Host Trust of the North London Regional Research Delivery Network (RRDN). The RDN's mission is to enable the health and care system to attract, optimise and deliver research across England, contributing to the NIHR's overarching goal of improving the health and wealth of the nation through research.

The Study Support Service team is integral to NIHR North London RRDN - a newly formed organisation building on the achievements of the NIHR Clinical Research Network. This role offers a dynamic and collaborative environment where you will contribute to shaping the future of health and care research in North London.

Interview date: Friday 9th May 2025

Main duties of the job

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and motivated leader to join the North London Regional Research Delivery Network (RRDN) as a Study Support Service (SSS) Senior Manager. This role is pivotal in ensuring the effective delivery of research studies across the region while contributing to the national NIHR RDN strategy.

As the Study Support Service Senior Manager, you will oversee the local operational delivery of the Study Support Service, ensuring high-quality, consistent services that align with national standards. This is a leadership role providing operational management of the SSS team and direct line management of 6 SSS Managers. You will support staff development, oversee performance reviews, and ensure the team has the skills and capabilities to meet both current and future demands.

The SSS Senior Manager will act as a senior leader both regionally, as well as working with a community of senior leaders across the national network to promote consistency across the Study Support Service. Essential to the role is close collaboration with key stakeholders and Delivery Organisations to provide strategic and operational support; as well as working collaboratively with Regional Specialty and Settings Leads to drive strategic objectives forward.

About us

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain's leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are underrepresented within Barts Health at this band.

Job responsibilities

You will be accountable for ensuring and overseeing the smooth running of the SSS, including pre-approval services (such as Planning and Placement Services and national cost and attribution tools) and post-approval services (including portfolio oversight and on-request support).

If you have a passion for research delivery, strategic leadership, and team development, we would love to hear from you. Join us in shaping the future of research across North London and beyond.

Your primary base will be Canary Wharf. There is some flexibility for home working, however two days in the office per week is a minimum requirement. There may be some requirement to travel to Delivery Organisations across North London.

We are dedicated to being an outstanding place to work and will work with you to get the best experience. We know flexible working is not a one size fits all and will mean something different to everyone. We are inclusive, so if you are interested in flexible working, please speak to the recruiting manager.

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.

Person Specification

Knowledge & Experience

• Experience of direct line management and managing teams to deliver clear objectives and performance targets, including through organisational change
• Experience of health and care research management, including the support of studies pre-approval and post-approval
• Experience of working collaboratively and in partnership with other organisations, with demonstrable experience of delivery across organisational boundaries
• Comprehensive understanding of research, the NHS and the wider health and care system including associated responsibilities to the public and patients
• Highly developed understanding of governance and legislative framework for clinical research in the NHS

Education and Qualifications

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.