Job summary
The Oxford Joint Research Office (JRO) was established in 2011 to support clinical and health-related research undertaken by Oxford University (OU) and Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust. In 2022, the JRO was expanded to include Oxford Brookes University (OBU) and Oxford Health (OH) NHS Foundation Trust to better support the full extent of research activity across the Oxford ecosystem. As JRO activity has grown, work practices have evolved, in part in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the Life Sciences Sector Plan, published in July 2025, the Government committed to "Slashing trial set up times to under 150 days". Clinical research performance will be measured against this target and linked to future funding opportunities.
The Oxford ecosystem supports an extensive portfolio of clinical and health related research, often involving two or more of the partners involved in the JRO.
Funding has been secured for a transformation project to review and develop JRO activity, building on existing strengths and identifying opportunities to improve performance in line with national targets and local requirements.
The JRO Transformation Lead will be responsible for designing and implementing a comprehensive programme of change, working closely with the four partners involved in the JRO, and wider life sciences and health ecosystems across Oxford and beyond.
Main duties of the job
The JRO Transformation Lead will deliver a 6-month project designed to accelerate improvements in research set-up, working closely with JRO and other partners to identify, design and implement solutions. A secondment will be considered.
The post holder will be expected to show initiative, autonomy, leadership and strategic influencing skills to deliver changes in service and policy across the four partners of the JRO - two significant NHS Trusts and two world-ranking Universities.
The post holder will lead an ambitious programme of work to develop, transform and align policy and working practices across the JRO. This will lead to an improved service for researchers, clinical staff, and patients, and demonstrable reductions in study set up times to ensure compliance with government targets.
The post holder will work closely with research teams and senior staff from across the Partner Organisations to contribute to the change and will be expected to present proposals and reports to the Board of the OAHP, working closely in support of its Chief Operating Officer.
OAHP holds a unique position within the health and life sciences ecosystems within Oxford, coordinating activity across the partners. The post holder will need to influence and oversee activity delivered by other teams across the landscape, working closely to ensure progress alongside competing priorities.
About us
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury. For more information on OUH please view OUH At a Glance by OUHospitals - Issuu
Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community.
We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence.
These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The post holder will work with the Chief Operating Officer for OAHP to develop and deliver a programme of work intended to improve clinical research performance against national targets.
The post holder will need to quickly establish relationships with a broad range of stakeholders across the 4 partners to understand the extent and range of activity contributing to the JRO, and how to navigate complex processes.
The post holder will provide central and coordinated ownership with clear reporting, assurance processes and standardised project documentation. The post holder will be responsible for the full programme life cycle including the effective scoping, planning and delivery of projects to timescale, budget and quality expectations.
The successful delivery of this agenda requires a creative, dedicated and passionate lead with the ability to provide clear programme management, leadership and expertise.
The post holder will focus on the following, drawing on relevant specialist knowledge, skills and experience:
Ensuring oversight of the research portfolio and pipeline, measuring progress against timelines.
o Establishing a simplified set-up pathway that is easy to navigate and developing resources to support communication and engagement.
o Working with and leading teams to adapt existing study management software to provide oversight of the JRO portfolio and pipeline, enabling real-time mapping of activity against timelines; and deciding arrangements for regular reporting against agreed KPIs developing a JRO dashboard for real time oversight, drawing necessary data and information from a range of source.
o Developing a triage system and plan for coordinating activity across the pathway.
o Providing training and upskilling people on the triage system delivering training as required.
o Responsible for the allocation of resource and on occasion where necessary the supervision of qualified staff.
Introducing risk-proportionate processes.
o Articulating risk-appetite across organisations, reflecting organisations different roles within trial set up (sponsor, host, service-provider).
o Develop and monitor financial and non-financial benefits for designated projects.
o Considering context for local reviews and approvals, including any existing national approvals for multisite studies.
o Considering dimensions of risk, including type of study, scale and complexity, and engaging with the ecosystem to validate criteria.
o Establishing and maintaining a project specific risk register.
o Examining the economic / financial implications of policy-changes across the pathway, for different partners and teams involved, including the opportunity-cost of delays.
Prioritisation of the research portfolio.
o Considering different elements of prioritisation, including alignment with local and national priorities, resourcing requirements and external pressures, to influence the flow of pipeline activity.
o Establishing a clear pipeline for activity, informed by capacity and risk-proportionate criteria.
o Devising oversight mechanisms and quality-assurance processes.
Principles of partnership, and development of documentation to streamline collaboration.
o This will dictate how partners engage in integrated activity, and develop mechanisms to support such engagement, including over-arching agreements (e.g. Service Level Agreements) to enable generalisation, where appropriate, rather than study-by-study consideration, and clear governance mechanisms to set out responsibility, accountability, and decision-making.
Delivery of agreed outputs, including:
o A Memorandum of Understanding which sets out the terms of engagement, expectations for each partners involvement, and a clear commitment to the successful operation of the JRO.
o Joint templates, clear timelines and milestones for each step across the pathway.
o Key performance indicators for the JRO as a whole and partner-specific KPIs as appropriate.
Overseeing development of a culture strategy to support transformation:
o Co-developing a unified vision and mission with JRO partners
o Articulating programme values
o Setting out principles of partnerships and supportive behaviours to evoke change
The job description and person specification are an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required for the role. The post holder will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by their line manager to fulfil the objectives of OAHP.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The post holder will work with the Chief Operating Officer for OAHP to develop and deliver a programme of work intended to improve clinical research performance against national targets.
The post holder will need to quickly establish relationships with a broad range of stakeholders across the 4 partners to understand the extent and range of activity contributing to the JRO, and how to navigate complex processes.
The post holder will provide central and coordinated ownership with clear reporting, assurance processes and standardised project documentation. The post holder will be responsible for the full programme life cycle including the effective scoping, planning and delivery of projects to timescale, budget and quality expectations.
The successful delivery of this agenda requires a creative, dedicated and passionate lead with the ability to provide clear programme management, leadership and expertise.
The post holder will focus on the following, drawing on relevant specialist knowledge, skills and experience:
Ensuring oversight of the research portfolio and pipeline, measuring progress against timelines.
o Establishing a simplified set-up pathway that is easy to navigate and developing resources to support communication and engagement.
o Working with and leading teams to adapt existing study management software to provide oversight of the JRO portfolio and pipeline, enabling real-time mapping of activity against timelines; and deciding arrangements for regular reporting against agreed KPIs developing a JRO dashboard for real time oversight, drawing necessary data and information from a range of source.
o Developing a triage system and plan for coordinating activity across the pathway.
o Providing training and upskilling people on the triage system delivering training as required.
o Responsible for the allocation of resource and on occasion where necessary the supervision of qualified staff.
Introducing risk-proportionate processes.
o Articulating risk-appetite across organisations, reflecting organisations different roles within trial set up (sponsor, host, service-provider).
o Develop and monitor financial and non-financial benefits for designated projects.
o Considering context for local reviews and approvals, including any existing national approvals for multisite studies.
o Considering dimensions of risk, including type of study, scale and complexity, and engaging with the ecosystem to validate criteria.
o Establishing and maintaining a project specific risk register.
o Examining the economic / financial implications of policy-changes across the pathway, for different partners and teams involved, including the opportunity-cost of delays.
Prioritisation of the research portfolio.
o Considering different elements of prioritisation, including alignment with local and national priorities, resourcing requirements and external pressures, to influence the flow of pipeline activity.
o Establishing a clear pipeline for activity, informed by capacity and risk-proportionate criteria.
o Devising oversight mechanisms and quality-assurance processes.
Principles of partnership, and development of documentation to streamline collaboration.
o This will dictate how partners engage in integrated activity, and develop mechanisms to support such engagement, including over-arching agreements (e.g. Service Level Agreements) to enable generalisation, where appropriate, rather than study-by-study consideration, and clear governance mechanisms to set out responsibility, accountability, and decision-making.
Delivery of agreed outputs, including:
o A Memorandum of Understanding which sets out the terms of engagement, expectations for each partners involvement, and a clear commitment to the successful operation of the JRO.
o Joint templates, clear timelines and milestones for each step across the pathway.
o Key performance indicators for the JRO as a whole and partner-specific KPIs as appropriate.
Overseeing development of a culture strategy to support transformation:
o Co-developing a unified vision and mission with JRO partners
o Articulating programme values
o Setting out principles of partnerships and supportive behaviours to evoke change
The job description and person specification are an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required for the role. The post holder will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by their line manager to fulfil the objectives of OAHP.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- degree level qualification or equivalent experience
- Research experience in health / life sciences
Experience
Essential
- working at a senior level in a specialist area in the NHS, regulatory, or research related settings
- influencing senior stakeholders, including board members
- leading and delivering a programme of transformation involving multiple partners
- formulating long-term strategic plans with organisational impact
- Specialist knowledge of the regulations associated with clinical and health related research
Desirable
- An understanding of, and experience in the implementation of risk-proportionate policies
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- degree level qualification or equivalent experience
- Research experience in health / life sciences
Experience
Essential
- working at a senior level in a specialist area in the NHS, regulatory, or research related settings
- influencing senior stakeholders, including board members
- leading and delivering a programme of transformation involving multiple partners
- formulating long-term strategic plans with organisational impact
- Specialist knowledge of the regulations associated with clinical and health related research
Desirable
- An understanding of, and experience in the implementation of risk-proportionate policies
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Additional information
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Employer details
Employer name
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Address
John Radcliffe Hospital
OAHP c/o OUH Finance department, Unipart House, 1st Floor, Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2PG
Oxford
OX3 9DU
Employer's website
https://www.ouh.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
