Senior Research Nurse

Are you a skilled communicator with a passion for patient-centred care and innovation in healthcare? Do you thrive in a leadership role and have a keen interest in advancing clinical research? We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Research Nurse (Band 7) to lead our dedicated Research Delivery Team at Wexham Park Hospital. This pivotal role requires a highly motivated and experienced research nurse with proven staff management experience and a strong background in clinical research. You will oversee the delivery of high-quality research across multiple specialities and all Frimley Health sites.

We Are Seeking a Dynamic Individual Who Is:

• Patient-focused and committed to delivering innovative treatments and pathways
• An excellent communicator with strong leadership and interpersonal skills
• Highly organised, with outstanding time management and IT proficiency
• Accurate and detail-oriented, capable of balancing both clinical and administrative responsibilities

Our team delivers both commercial and non-commercial studies, novel therapies, treatment pathways, and retrospective data collection. You’ll be at the forefront of advancing research that directly benefits our patient population. Join a collaborative and supportive team where teamwork is the foundation of our success, and contribute to shaping the future of healthcare.

Please note sponsorship is not provided for this role.

Main duties of the job:

As a Senior Research Nurse, You Will:

• Lead and support a multidisciplinary research team, including managing staff performance, appraisals, workload, and compliance with Trust policies
• Oversee the recruitment and care of patients involved in both commercial and non-commercial research studies
• Ensure high standards of documentation and regulatory compliance from study setup through to close-down
• Act as a key liaison with internal stakeholders—such as Consultants, clinical teams, and research colleagues—as well as external partners including study sponsors, Clinical Research Organisations (CROs), and other healthcare providers
• Maintain accurate data entry and oversee effective data management to support study delivery
• Support the ongoing development, supervision, and training of junior staff
• Assist the Research Operations Manager with the day-to-day operational management of the research service

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is committed to being an inclusive and disability confident employer and has been awarded the Gold for the Armed Forces Employment Recognition Scheme. We provide first class development opportunities for all staff and have a wide range of professional, management and leadership, and clinical skills training available. Here at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, we know how important it is to have a healthy work life balance; this benefits not only individuals but the patients we care for too. We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service and its users.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities:

Responsible to the Head of Research and Research Operations Manager.

Key Tasks & Responsibilities:

• To identify strategies for the screening and recruitment of participants into clinical studies.
• To ensure that all research staff in the study team are working within the parameters set out by the study protocols and according to the standards of UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research and principles of ICH-GCP.
• To oversee the informed consent process of studies ensuring patient’s rights are protected throughout the course of the study.
• To register/randomise participants into studies and ensure that all participant study data is collected in a timely, accurate, and consistent way, ensuring that members of the clinical study team are following local policies and procedures.
• To identify barriers to recruitment to studies and ensure that the management team is made aware of them. Work with staff to develop and implement strategies as required to overcome the barriers.
• Oversee the local feasibility of studies, plan their set up including review of cost implications prior to delivery of studies and within the required timeframe.
• Ensure the R&I delivery team members perform the closure and archiving of studies in a timely manner as per study sponsor requirements and departmental policies and procedures.
• Ensure amendments to studies are enacted in a timely manner.
• To provide support for clinical studies colleagues in their absence, as required.
• To work with clinical study team and other health care professionals in identification of suitable studies, taking account of available resource to expand/maintain the research and innovation portfolio.
• To identify potential investigators to expand the local research and innovation portfolio.
• To ensure any deviation/violation of study protocol and/or ICH-GCP is reported to the sponsor and the senior management team using relevant platforms of reporting, in a timely manner.
• To assist in the production of a regular R&I newsletter across for local distribution.
• Liaise with sponsor organisations, systems partners and industry to develop the research and innovation portfolio.

• To work with the R&I Operations manager in the provision of a comprehensive research service across FHFT and system partners.
• To allocate resources to ensure the safe delivery of the clinical studies service on a daily basis.
• Provide strong leadership to the R&I delivery team.
• To contribute to the development of departmental policies and procedures and ensure that policies and procedures are adhered to across the research team.
• To keep up to date on staff and departmental issues liaising with the Operations Manager and disseminating relevant information to the team.
• Oversee the safe introduction of studies into clinical practice ensuring all relevant personnel are adequately trained and competent with the procedures required by the studies protocol.
• Oversee the R&I delivery team to ensure liaison with the members of the multidisciplinary team and support departments to establish procedures for the safe and smooth running of clinical studies.
• Monitoring and ensuring that the study recruitment accruals are correctly credited on EDGE and NIHR research data platform.
• To conduct the appraisal review process of the staff under direct line management and ensure all in within R&I delivery team are appraised in a timely manner.
• Ensure efficient recruitment and induction of new staff following departmental guidance.
• Ensure staff line management follows Trust policies and liaises with HR, where required.
• Ensure EDGE data is up to date as per departmental requirements.
• Attend meetings relevant to the nature of the job and provide regular reports, as required.

• To manage own studies, and to supervise the R&I delivery team, as required, in the management of their studies as per UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research and ICH-GCP.
• To attend multi-disciplinary meetings, and appropriate clinics, to screen and recruit new participants and to share your expert knowledge with the members of the MDT, as required.
• To ensure that the study related information and support is given to participants in a timely, accurate, and consistent manner.
• To ensure that study specific investigations are undertaken as required by the studies protocol, to establish eligibility and safety to enter the studies.
• To ensure the safe administration of treatments and drugs as per study protocol.
• To ensure patient samples are collected, processed, stored and transported, and as required by the study protocol and laboratory manual.
• To ensure that patient data is collected and recorded on to EPIC and case report forms of studies in a timely, accurate, and consistent manner.
• Monitor treatment toxicity/side effects and escalate any changes to the clinical team, as required by the protocol.
• To ensure recording and reporting of all adverse events in accordance with the relevant local, departmental, study sponsor and national regulatory requirements.
• To ensure participant follow-up is conducted as per study protocol.

Person specification:

• Essential criteria: Educated to degree level or equivalent in Health Science, Nursing / Midwifery or other relevant subject or NMC level one registration.
• Desirable criteria: Post registration teaching, management or mentorship qualification recordable with the NMC GCP/ICH recognized recent training.

• Essential criteria: Extensive experience of working within a NHS environment in a research role.
• Professional knowledge and experience of clinical research.
• Evidence of continuous personal professional development.
• Excellent computer skills (Word, Excel, email, Internet).

• Essential criteria: Evidence of leadership skills.
• Strong problem solving and negotiation skills.
• Significant post registration experience of clinical trial management.
• You will be able to clearly demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of current UK clinical trial regulations, good clinical practice.
• You will have the experience to deliver specialised programmes of care, and provide highly specialised advice for patients (and healthy volunteers if applicable) who are participating in clinical trials.
• Commitment to achieving the objectives of local Research and Development and within the wider context of the CRN.
• You will be able to plan and organise complex activities and programmes, requiring formulation and adjustment.

• Desirable criteria: You will be able to deal with distressed patients and/or relatives relating to the potential/real outcomes of their health and deal with the emotional consequences of patients coming to terms with long term conditions.
• Occasional highly distressing or emotional circumstances impart news of terminal illness, bereavement.
• Project management experience.
• Clinical Research Related Training.

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) has an outstanding reputation and a proud record of achievement. As a well performing, well led and ambitious Foundation Trust, we have exciting times ahead of us. We have an ongoing commitment to improving the health and care services for the 900,000 people we serve across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and south Buckinghamshire. We are proud of the ambitions laid out in our strategy, Our Future FHFT, including our vision to be a leader in health & wellbeing, delivering excellence for our communities. We continue to invest in our services and facilities, including a £10 million upgrade to the hospital maternity unit as well as £49m major new Emergency Assessment Centre on our Wexham Park site. The opening of a brand new £100m state of the art hospital which replaced the existing hospital facility at Heatherwood and are planning to invest further in diagnostics and inpatient capacity at Frimley Park. We have also made significant investment in our quality improvement and digital programmes to support our vision and we will ensure that we achieve our aim of providing the highest quality healthcare to our patients. Our new EPR – Epic – went live in June and we are already beginning to reap the benefits of this ambitious investment.

Our three core values, and the behaviours that support them, guide everything we do and set out what we expect of our staff in the way they treat patients, visitors, service users and each other: Committed to Excellence, Working Together and Facing the Future.