The Health Research Authority (HRA) is offering a new and exciting opportunity for senior, experienced members of the professional Medical Physics community working in health and care research. These roles will contribute to improving study set-up by streamlining processes and supporting sites to take assurances, to reduce the time taken to set up research to 150 days or less, in line with the ambitious government target. We are seeking expert input and leadership to support this work, and appointments will be made from this pool of experienced professionals. Roles will be fixed-term secondments, for one year with flexible whole-time equivalents, recognising that they will be undertaken alongside existing professional responsibilities.
Successful individuals will work on behalf of the HRA to help develop improvements in set-up and technical assurances provided for research involving radiation. We aim to support the NHS and Health and Social Care organisations (HSC Northern Ireland), reducing the need for local duplication where study level assurances and information can be provided, improving time to study activation in the UK.
Successful individuals will work closely with HRA staff and existing experts who advise us, to support change in the NHS and HSC (Northern Ireland), encourage more colleagues to become registered technical reviewers, and to provide expertise and advice to industry sponsors and our UK partners.
1. Help HRA increase central technical reviewer capacity so there are registered radiation technical reviewers in every NHS/HSC organisation selected to be a chief investigator or participating site.
2. Help NHS/HSC organisations develop consistent approaches to study setup for radiation, building a standard way of operating when setting-up research.
3. Recommend improvements that could deliver quality Sponsor information and radiation technical information for set-up.
4. Deliver an agreed work package to develop and test new initiatives and existing assurances to improve their impact on site set-up, removing unnecessary duplication of activity where possible.
5. Further improve effectiveness and use of lead MPE and CRE reviews linking early information provision to feasibility at site selection, through to set-up and NCVR.
6. Help to develop and implement improvement initiatives that will strengthen industry confidence and study start-up timelines.
7. Contribute to the development of ideal pathway models aligned with the embedding of study-wide assurance approaches and information for site set-up within digital research systems.
8. Contribute to the production of evidence for a long-term operating model by December 2027.
At the HRA, we are committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive working environment where we actively invest in the development and empowerment of our staff, enabling them to perform at their best. We strive to promote a healthy workplace culture where wellbeing, collaboration, and professional growth are valued and encouraged.
Working at the HRA, we support flexible working, recognising that home based or hybrid arrangements provides us with the most productive environment to work well. Where possible, we’ll offer a working pattern that suits you.
The HRA offers home based contracts for all locations. Newcastle, Manchester and Nottingham based staff can be office based and hybrid working arrangements are also possible. We encourage you to speak with us to explore how this could be accommodated.
We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know from experience that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger, more creative workplace that helps us to deliver the best services. We welcome applications which represent the rich diversity of our community: age, disability, gender identity and expression, ethnicity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and other diverse characteristics, and we have policies in place to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process.
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification documents for full details about this role.
When completing your application, ensure you clearly demonstrate how your experience and skills align with the criteria outlined for this position.
We recognise that generative AI tools can be helpful in supporting applicants during the recruitment process, particularly for tasks such as proofreading, structuring, or refining written responses. However, we encourage candidates to use AI responsibly and sparingly. Applications should reflect your authentic voice, personal experiences, and genuine qualifications. Over reliance on AI-generated content can result in generic or inaccurate submissions that fail to meet the criteria or convey your individuality. Misrepresentation of skills, knowledge, or experience, including through AI-generated content, may lead to the rejection of your application, withdrawal of your offer, or your dismissal if you do start with us. If you choose to use AI, please ensure it enhances rather than replaces your own input, and be transparent about its use where appropriate. False and insincere examples go against our values of integrity and transparency.
Important information
We are unable to offer employment under any sponsorship arrangement as we do not hold a sponsorship licence. Applications requiring sponsorship will not be considered.
Applications that do not clearly demonstrate how the essential criteria outlined in the person specification are met will not be shortlisted.
We ask that applicants submit an anonymised CV for this role. Please remove any identifiable information before uploading
We do not accept applications via recruitment agencies or other third parties.
The HRA reserves the right to close this vacancy early should it receive a sufficient number of applications.
Our fixed term roles are also open to applicants who wish to apply on a secondment basis. Applicants who fit this category are advised to speak with their line manager before applying and visit their organisations Secondments Policy.
Organisational structure and directorate overview
The HRA is made up of five directorates: Approvals, Chief Executive, Digital, Policy and Partnerships and Resources.
This role is in the HRA Approvals Service directorate which consists of teams that work together, across the HRA and across the UK research landscape to provide the appropriate approvals for health and care research in England and, in some cases, across the UK, and to coordinate and standardise research regulation policy and practice across the UK.
This directorate issues HRA Approval, provides the research ethics service in England, supports the Confidentiality Advisory Group advising on the use of confidential patient information without consent; and coordinates technical assurances for pharmacy and radiation. We lead work to refine and maintain the systems and processes researchers need to follow to ensure a swift, robust and simple experience. We do this by working collaboratively with external partners and nearly 1000 committee volunteers to improve the research environment.
For an informal discussion about the roles please contact
[email protected]