Senior Research Assistant Practitioner

This role is ideal for an experienced Assistant Practitioner looking to take on greater responsibility within a fast-paced research environment.The successful candidate will play a key role in supporting the coordination and delivery of research activities, ensuring high standards of quality, organisation, and compliance are consistently maintained. You will be expected to work with a high degree of autonomy, contributing to the day-to-day operational management of the service while supporting and guiding junior team members.

Key responsibilities will include overseeing workflows, ensuring accurate documentation and data management, maintaining regulatory and governance standards, and acting as a point of escalation for operational queries. You will also contribute to process improvement initiatives and support the implementation of new studies and protocols.Strong organisational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to prioritise competing demands are essential. Excellent communication skills are required, as you will liaise with multidisciplinary teams across the organisation.

Clinical tasks undertaken by the Senior AP will be ratified by the Nursing Radiography and Rehabilitation Advisory Committee (NRRAC). The Research Nurse Team Leader will be responsible for ensuring post holder competency is achieved and maintained for the clinical tasks to be undertaken, specific to each clinical area of concern.

Main duties of the job

The Senior Assistant Practitioner (SAP) is an essential valued member of the team appointed to support Registered Nurses (RN) in the delivery of patient care.

The post holder will be autonomous in their workload and responsible for recruiting to and coordinating an agreed portfolio of research projects. Responsibilities will include day to day management of assistant practitioners under direct and indirect supervision of experienced research nursing staff and assisting in the completion of forms for thetrust/ethics approval; identifying patients through MDTs (multi disciplinary teams)/screening notes; explaining studies to patients prior to informed consent; collecting 'on treatment' and 'follow-up' data; designing databases for local studies; data entry for local studies and liaising with external trial centres for multi-centre studies.

For some studies the post holder will be required to interview patients with newly diagnosed, recurrent or advanced cancer in some depth about sensitive personal psychosocial issues. The post holder will work closely with MDT team including medical staff, research nurses and coordinators, site-specific teams and oncology groups, clinical nurse specialists, clinic staff and radiographers for the clinical research studies. This is an excellent opportunity for an individual looking to further develop their leadership skills and make a meaningful contribution to translational research within a supportive and dynamic team.

Person specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential

• A Levels/ BTEC in relevant subjects
• Degree (or) in Science or Health & Social Care (A) or Foundation Degree in Science or Health & Social Care
• National Care Certificate

Experience

Essential

• Proven healthcare or patient facing experience working in the NHS
• Experience of research and development, science or health and social care
• Experience in data management, data collection and data entry in clinical trials or health research
• Intermediate IT skills (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Working within a team
• Ability to manage/prioritise workload autonomously

Desirable

• Dealing with oncology patients
• Use of Microsoft Access
• Managing large databases
• Taking informed consent
• Managing staff within a team

Skills, Abilities & Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of common medical terms and conditions
• Knowledge of hospital departments and research staff roles
• Knowledge and understanding of research methods
• Understanding of both clinical and research governance
• Demonstrate importance of health and safety at work
• Accuracy and meticulous attention to detail
• Flexible and adaptable approach to meet needs of the service

Desirable

• Knowledge of cancer terminology (A/I)
• Understanding of psychosocial needs of oncology patients (A/I)
• Patient assessment skills
• Experience interviewing patients or assisting with focus groups

Other

Essential

• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Empathy and sensitivity with patients
• Ability to remain calm and demonstrate tact/diplomacy whilst under pressure
• Ability to take direction from others
• Initiative to identify own learning needs

About the employer

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.