Research Collaboration Operations Manager

Research Collaboration Operations Manager NHS AfC:
Band 8a

Main area Administration Grade NHS AfC:
Band 8a Contract Fixed term: 12 months (End Date: 31-Mar-28) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job
-CR1272

Employer The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Royal Marsden Hospital Sutton Town Sutton Salary £61,631 - £68,623 Per Annum Salary period Yearly Closing 16/03/2026 23:59

The Royal Marsden Hospital is seeking an experienced Research Collaboration Operations Manager to play a pivotal role in shaping, supporting and expanding our BRC research portfolio. This is a senior programme management role that will provide operational and portfolio oversight across eight BRC themes, while actively enabling collaboration between NHS clinicians, academic researchers, funders and industry partners. The post holder will also lead and support the pre‑award development of strategically important and complex research funding applications, helping ideas move from concept to funded reality.

This role is embedded within the NIHR BRC infrastructure and plays a critical role in shaping the Centre’s future competitiveness.

The post holder will be a confident and proactive senior programme manager with extensive experience of programme management and stakeholder engagement. The ideal candidate will be comfortable operating at pace across a complex research environment, working beyond organisational boundaries, and influencing senior stakeholders. They will be proactive and highly organised, with a strong reasoning and analytical skills, administrative experience and an excellent attention to detail.

This position is full-time, fixed term until 31st March 2028 with possibility of extension This is a hybrid role with a combination of on‑site (3 days/week) and home working (2 days/week).

The NIHR’s 20 BRCs are collaborations between world leading universities and NHS organisations that bring together academics and clinicians to translate lab‑based scientific breakthroughs into potential new treatments, diagnostics and medical technologies. The RM/ICR BRC has eight research themes:

• Early Diagnosis, Detection and Stratified Prevention
• Precision Diagnostics and Cancer Evolution
• Advanced Technologies for Cure
• Early Phase Drug Development
• Precision Therapeutics
• Immunotherapeutics
• Cancer Treatment Effects
• Imaging and Data Science

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.

For further information on this role, please see the attached detailed Job Description and Person Specification.

• Develop and maintain a strategic overview of research capabilities, performance, risks and collaborative potential across the eight BRC themes to inform BRC leadership decision‑making and future BRC competition planning.
• Support the Theme Leads in…