Project Manager - Cancer Clinical Trials Unit

Position Details

Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences,

Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit (CRCTU)

University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £30,395 to £39,609. With potential progression once in post to £42,036 a year

Full time/Fixed term for 12 Months

Closing Date: 23rd August 2019

Job Purpose

The Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Clinical Trials Unit (CRCTU) is one of the largest UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) registered clinical trials units in the country and specialises in running cancer clinical trials. The Unit has an extensive portfolio of phase I, II and III clinical trials in adults and children covering a wide range of disease sites. The CRCTU employs a multidisciplinary team of over 150 staff including statisticians, systematic reviewers, trial management staff, research nurses, monitors, programmers, administrators and IT staff. The CRCTU receives substantial core funding from Cancer Research UK and additional funding from other charities, government and pharmaceutical companies.

The Haematology Team comprise of the Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) and the IMPACT partnership. These are both ground-breaking initiatives designed to fast-track the clinical evaluation of new therapies in haematological malignancies through the establishment of national clinical trial networks. The post-holder will be responsible for the efficient and effective running of Haematology Clinical Trials programme with a specific focus on the financial management of the programme. This challenging post is essential to the success of the programme. Largely working on your own initiative, you will be responsible for the overall co-ordination of specific projects within the programme, financial (in excess of £10 million) and the administration associated with this programme. You will establish and maintain communication with various collaborators, prepare contracts, financial documents, and reports, create websites, and coordinate project meetings. You will have a strong quantitative background and the ability to create, maintain and manipulate complex databases and spreadsheets in order to deliver effective data for the project. This will be complemented by strong and persuasive communication skills, using a variety of platforms, including digital media, to enable you to effectively liaise with multiple partners, users of the research, and the relevant funders.

Main duties

Management of the Project

The post-holder will be responsible for all aspects of the administration of the programme and will carry out the following duties under the direction of the University of Birmingham (UoB) Principal Investigator (PI), and the Haematology Trial Management Team Leaders:

• To provide significant and high level project management support including monitoring overall contract compliance with funder and government regulations.
• To lead the day-to-day project coordination activities, including maintaining significant links with internal and external stakeholders (national and international).
• To actively liaise with senior staff to coordinate all aspects of projects in order to implement project deliverables and milestones.
• To work independently with excellent inter-personal and negotiation skills to deal with high level enquiries from a range of stakeholders on a regular basis. This includes handling complex financial, legal and administrative issues with effective communication skills to resolve any issues.
• Design, develop and maintain a project reporting system including regular updating in terms of project progress, upcoming meetings and events. This includes working with the UoB PI and funders to deliver formal reporting requirement compliant with applicable regulations.
• To organise and manage (inter)national meetings as required with internal and external organisations.
• To document proceedings of meetings and ensure that they are prepared on time, circulated to appropriate individuals and are archived in the project reporting system.
• To understand and monitor complex financial budgets in order to ensure that contractual outputs and outcomes within the set funding provided are met.
• To take financial responsibility for the programme on behalf of the UoB PI including lead on the processing of day-to-day expenditure; ensure the robust maintenance of all financial documents, including timesheets; lead the coordination of any required subcontracting arrangements; and troubleshooting any financial issues in coordination with the UoB PI, CRCTU Business Manager, Central Finance and other stakeholders as appropriate.
• To maintain a watching brief with regards to potential risks in projects and proactively engage with the project partners to resolve any issues or challenges encountered. This requires professional business judgement that successfully addresses a range of politically sensitive stakeholders' diverse requirements. Early communication to the UoB PI and senior staff, providing options and resolutions for ensuring project issues are mitigated successfully.
• Other duties appropriate to the grade may be assigned to the post.
• Support the delivery of clinical research in accordance with Good Clinical Practice (GCP), the Declaration of Helsinki, applicable legislation (including, but not limited to, the Medicines for Human Use Clinical Trials Regulations, Data Protection Act 1998, Human Tissue Act), the UK policy framework for health and social care research, Caldicott principals, and applicable NHS Trust and University policies and procedures, (including, but not limited to the University's Data Protection Policy, Information Security Policy and Code of Practice for Research) in order to protect the research subject and the quality of each study.
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.

Database Management

The post-holder will be responsible for

• Creating, maintaining and manipulating complex spreadsheets and databases.
• Documenting data delivery and corresponding with partners on data format, updates etc.

Dissemination Activities

Working with the UoB PI, the post-holder will be responsible for:

• Assisting in the development of the dissemination strategy by making informed suggestions.
• Developing and maintaining web-sites. This will require both technical IT skills and an understanding of how to translate scientific findings into accessible materials appropriate for dissemination.
• Establish and maintain appropriate mailing lists and implement a communication strategy where required.
• Liaising with research users and facilitating widespread dissemination of the project results.

Person Specification

• High calibre candidate educated to degree level with a good honours degree and experience in health care and/or the education sector or other significant directly relevant experience.
• Excellent organisational skills including the ability to implement effective project management systems.
• Significant administrative experience ideally gained in a University/Higher Education (HE)/NHS setting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to write clearly and concisely (particularly in report writing).
• Strong ability to create, maintain and manipulate complex spreadsheets and databases and to understand and interpret the information contained in them.
• Excellent ability to work proactively, with little supervision, under pressure and to deadlines.
• Excellent analytical skills (financial, situational and organisational) accompanied by strong risk assessment and mitigation abilities e.g. able to independently identify potential issues as well as propose and implement solutions.
• Excellent IT skills, particularly in spreadsheets and database management, web site design, and the ability to develop and implement output and outcome monitoring and reporting systems.
• Good financial management skills including the ability to understand complex budgets and work with a range of currencies.
• Good interpersonal skills and the ability to gain cooperation from a diverse range of people and organisations with disparate goals.
• Ability to meet the travel needs of the post both within the UK and internationally on occasion. Overnight stays may be required.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

Informal enquires can be made to Sonia Fox (email: S.Fox.2@bham.ac.uk ).