Research Operations Officer - INTERNAL ONLY

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Research Operations Officer to administratively support the delivery of the research and clinical activities carried out within the Unit for Population-Based Dermatology Research at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London.

The Unit for Population-Based Dermatology Research is part of St John’s Institute of Dermatology and is directed by Professor Carsten Flohr, Chair in Dermatology and Population Health Science at King’s College London.

We are conducting internationally leading research into the early life risk factors, prevention and treatment of atopic eczema in children, adolescents and adults, including links with food allergies, the microbiome, and brain inflammation.

The post holder will be responsible for providing administrative support to the UK Atopic eczema Systemic TherApy Register (A-STAR), also led by Prof Carsten Flohr. This will include, but not limited to, creation of site files to send to sites, reviewing and tracking of documents for the clinical trial application process. You’ll contribute to the production and maintenance of study documents, and be template and version compliant.

The post holder will also provide administrative support within the research team and will be expected to acquire and maintain excellent working knowledge of our studies to provide operational support. you will provide general office-based support to the team, including ordering of consumables, diary management, study finances, and social media activities related to our study portfolio.

The post holder will provide efficient operational support to staff acting as first point of contact on research administration and HR enquiries. You will support HR processes at every stage of the employee lifecycle and research administration through the whole life cycle of research grants (from application to closure, pre- and post-award). You will support research and non-research financial transactions, monitoring budgets and processing invoices and expense claims. This role is highly varied and will suit a candidate with excellent organisational skills who can work accurately, with close attention to detail in a busy environment with tight deadlines. They will have excellent communication skills and be able to develop good working relationships with the School’s academics and researchers as well as colleagues across the University

The post holder will be providing line management to the Global Atopic Dermatitis Atlas (GADA) grade 4 Research Operations Assistant.

This role will suit a candidate with excellent IT and organisational skills who can work accurately, with close attention to detail in a busy environment.

The successful applicant will be able to work both independently and as part of our wider team, demonstrate a flexible approach to work and meet deadlines using initiative and judgement to prioritise competing demands. In addition, they will have very good interpersonal, oral and written communication skills.

You will function collaboratively within a group of doctors, nurses and Clinical Research Practitioners to ensure the smooth running of the Unit, achieve team objectives and to maintain and promote the safety and wellbeing of research participants and ensure the integrity of research outcomes. The post holder must be able to develop good working relationships with the clinicians and researchers, as well as King’s Human Resources, the Faculty’s Finance Team and the Trust’s Specialist Ambulatory

Services Directorate and R&D Department.

Please contact either Manisha Baden ([email protected] ), A-STAR Study Manager & Unit Manager, or Professor Carsten Flohr ([email protected] ), Unit Head, for further information on the post.

This post will be offered on a fixed-term contract until November 2025.

This is a full-time post - 100% full time equivalent, 35 hours per week. Candidate may work from home on a hybrid basis.

• Provide smooth and efficient day-to-day administrative and operational support within the Unit for Population-Based Dermatology Research.
• Assist in the creation and maintenance of good office systems for the smooth running of the Unit.
• Provide support for research and non-research finance and procurement activities, escalating complex queries where appropriate.
• Keep track of expense payments for non-commercial studies.
• Support the Unit Manager by providing information to allow invoices to be raised for payment where appropriate, using relevant budget management platforms/ software such as Unit4.
• Plan and monitor financial aspects of the studies, including forecasting major expenses and identifying underspend or overspend.
• Work closely with the School’s core team and other Professional Services staff in the Department, to provide local support for research grant applications, post-award management, local staff recruitment campaigns, processing claims and invoices and provide support to department for HR and finance operations.
• Provide line management to the GADA grade 4 Research Operations Assistant.
• Manage team’s website, including the A-STAR website, and social media channels, coordinate media activities around study launches and result publications.
• Assist in management of the team diary.
• Assist in site file maintenance of the A-STAR study.
• Prepare study consumables for the A-STAR Bioresources study and send them to sites.
• Maintain shared resources, including non-commercial study consumables and stationeries.
• Prepare and support meetings, including organising events and taking minutes, as required.
• Assist the Unit Manager in setting up studies.
• Prepare the relevant documents required when submitting trial protocols and paperwork for regulatory review and approval.
• Assist in completing submissions to regulatory bodies and the Trust’s and University’s respective R&D departments.
• Act as the primary point of contact for support services, arranging maintenance of shared and allocated office equipment and other resources including printers.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with academic, medical and professional services staff across the Trust and University, including by participating in college networks.
• Be the dedicated archivist for the team.

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Essential criteria

Desirable criteria

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.