Research Delivery Manager in Wakefield

The Research Delivery Manager will lead and coordinate research delivery across the Conexus Research team and Wakefield Research Hub, ensuring that collaboratively we make full use of NIHR and commercial research opportunities for Wakefield residents. They will provide operational leadership for three linked workstreams:

• Wider Care Settings research delivery across Conexus practices and partners.
• Commercial Research Delivery Centre (CRDC) collaboration with Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust and the NIHR Bradford & West Yorkshire CRDC.
• Wakefield Research Hub programme management, supporting place-based collaboration across hub partners.

Main duties of the job include leading the coordination and delivery of a diverse portfolio of clinical research, focusing on building and supporting research ready practices, promoting study opportunities, and ensuring efficient study set up and delivery to meet recruitment and participation targets. You will manage study pipelines across NIHR and commercial programmes, oversee feasibility and patient cohort identification, and coordinate resources to maximise delivery capacity. Working closely with partners at Wakefield Research Hub and research infrastructure teams, you will support trial collaboration, ensuring governance, finance tracking and operational processes are in place.

The post also includes programme management of a multi-partner research hub, building capability & connectivity between partners, reporting on outcomes, and delivering key projects to expand research participation and inclusion. Alongside leadership of research staff, you will ensure compliance with regulatory standards, promote continuous improvement, and contribute to strategic funding and service development.

About us: We are proud to be the GP Federation for Wakefield District, connecting every GP practice and primary care team to deliver better health and wellbeing for our local community. We work hand-in-hand with practices, healthcare professionals, and local partners to strengthen primary care. Our goal is simple: to help every practice thrive and every patient receive the care they deserve.

We have a fantastic employee benefits package:

• Conexus operates a pay structure encompassing pay and development, based on the achievement of competencies within a role and encourages personal and professional development.
• Access to the NEST Pension scheme.
• Flexible working hours.
• Hybrid working arrangements.
• Laptop and mobile phone.
• Buying and selling of annual leave.
• Minimum of 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays rising to a maximum of 33 days after 10 years service.
• Company sick pay, company maternity and other family leave pay (subject to service).
• Professional/clinical supervision.

Job responsibilities include:

• Maintain strong engagement with existing research active practices and support additional practices to become research ready, including induction, processes and basic governance.
• Promote the Conexus research offer across the engaged practices and other potential sites, ensuring study information and opportunities are communicated clearly and in a timely way.
• Work with the Performance team to run SystmOne searches to identify eligible patient cohorts at scale, supporting feasibility assessments and recruitment plans for NIHR portfolio and commercial studies.
• Coordinate a pipeline of suitable studies (observational, interventional and commercial) for delivery within primary and community care, ensuring that available research nurse and GP PI capacity is used efficiently and that studies meet recruitment and data quality targets.
• Liaise with NIHR Agile Research Delivery Team / ARDT to draw in additional delivery resource when demand exceeds in-house capacity.
• Monitor Wider Care Settings funding usage linked to this role and associated delivery staff, providing regular activity and financial reports to Conexus and partners.
• Work with GP research leads, MYTT research teams and the CRDC to coordinate feasibility for commercial trials, including digital searches, practice selection and patient cohort mapping across Conexus practices.
• Support regular joint meetings with MYTT to review new commercial opportunities, track feasibility requests and agree which trials to progress to setup.
• Oversee the logistics of primary care input into commercial trials, including practice engagement, clinic scheduling, staff deployment and referral pathways into MYTT's CRIB facility where required.
• Work with MYTT research governance teams to ensure contracts, approvals, information governance and SOPs are in place for collaborative trials, escalating risks or delays where needed.
• Coordinate with Conexus finance colleagues to track commercial trial income and expenditure related to primary care activity, ensuring accurate invoicing and reporting, and supporting planning for future cost recovery/business cases.

Wakefield Research Hub programme management includes:

• Coordinate the Wakefield Research Hub work plan so that activities directly support the Hub's aims to increase NIHR portfolio recruitment, expand commercial delivery, connect NIHR infrastructure and widen participation for underserved communities across Wakefield.
• Establish and maintain practical cross partner processes for feasibility, study selection and workforce portability, and track their impact on setup times and recruitment.
• Produce clear performance reports and dashboards for the Hub Steering Group, covering recruitment across partners, commercial and NIHR portfolio activity, inclusion metrics, and progress against the Hub bids SMART objectives.
• Lead delivery of agreed cross Hub projects such as patient pathway mapping, the community engagement programme and the Wakefield Research Showcase event, ensuring they are delivered on time, within budget and with partner ownership.
• Act as the operational link between Hub partners and NIHR infrastructure, making sure that HDRC insights inform engagement plans and that Hub learning and best practice guidance are shared regionally.
• Support planning for sustainability by collating data on activity, income and impact from Hub projects, and using this to inform future funding bids and business as usual proposals.

Leadership, management and governance responsibilities include:

• Line manage the Conexus Research Nurse and provide day to day leadership to the wider research nurse bank, ensuring safe staffing, supervision and support for delivery across sites.
• Hold responsibility for ensuring studies delivered through Conexus meet required regulatory, information governance and data quality standards, working with organisational leads as needed.
• Champion inclusive research participation, with a focus on practices and neighbourhoods with higher deprivation and diverse populations, and support community facing engagement led by the Wakefield Research Hub.
• Embed continuous improvement, capturing learning from each study and partnership and using this to refine processes, templates and SOPs across primary and secondary care.
• Lead and coordinate all activities related to identifying, preparing and submitting applications for research infrastructure and strategic funding.

Person Specification:

• Significant experience in managing or coordinating research delivery in health or care, with direct exposure to primary and/or secondary care research environments.
• Experience in coordinating commercial research activity.
• Experience of working with GP practices and understanding of how research can be embedded.
• Proven track record of managing multiple projects, from conception to evaluation, achieving measurable outcomes.
• Experience of working collaboratively across organisations or systems to deliver service improvements.
• Experience in stakeholder engagement and building productive partnerships at multiple levels.
• Experience of supervising or line managing staff, ideally within a research or clinical context.

• Qualified in a technical / professional qualification equivalent to Level 7 or significant equivalent experience.
• Evidence of ongoing professional development and commitment to continuous learning.
• Legal or regulatory updates/training relevant to the research through national or regional accredited body or other recognised training bodies.

• A proactive, solution-focused approach to challenges and change.
• Resilient, adaptable, and comfortable working in a fast-paced and evolving environment.
• Strong team player with a collaborative and supportive style.
• Committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of work.
• Professional, approachable, and empathetic in working with diverse groups of people.
• High level of personal integrity, confidentiality, and professionalism.
• Self-motivated and able to manage own workload effectively.
• Evidence of personal leadership and role-modelling of organisational values.

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 to check for any previous criminal convictions.