Principal Radiographer for Radiotherapy Clinical Education | The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Posting date:	03 October 2025
Salary:	Not specified
Additional salary information:	£55,690 - £62,682 per annum pro rata
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	02 November 2025
Location:	Manchester, M20 4BX
Company:	The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	7526847/413-99439-CNS-MS

Summary

We are seeking an experienced Principal Radiographer to lead the Radiotherapy Clinical Education team across The Christie’s Radiotherapy and Proton Beam Therapy sites. This role offers the opportunity to influence the development and delivery of high-quality clinical education within one of Europe’s leading cancer centres.

The successful candidate will provide strategic leadership and operational oversight of education across multiple sites, ensuring alignment with national standards and service priorities. You will work closely with internal teams and external partners to support professional development, design structured training programmes, and promote a culture of learning and continuous improvement.

This is a key role for someone with a strong background in radiotherapy education who is looking to take the next step in their career, contributing to workforce development and service innovation in a supportive and forward-thinking environment.

Lead and manage the Radiotherapy Education Team, overseeing education delivery across all service areas.

Develop and implement strategic education plans aligned with departmental and national goals.

Coordinate and deliver specialist clinical education for learners and staff, including structured induction and competency-based programmes.

Ensure compliance with regulatory and professional standards (HCPC, HEE, NHS frameworks).

Promote interprofessional learning and collaborative practice across radiotherapy disciplines.

Represent the service in regional and national education forums and lead on curriculum development with HEIs.

Champion innovation in education, including simulation, digital learning, and reflective practice.

Manage the Radiotherapy Training Budget and contribute to workforce development initiatives.

The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 15% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country. Our radiotherapy department is one of the largest in the world, and we are internationally recognised for pioneering research and clinical excellence.

You’ll be joining a passionate, forward-thinking team committed to delivering outstanding patient care and education. We foster a supportive and inclusive environment where innovation, collaboration, and professional development are at the heart of everything we do.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES



Strategic Leadership and Team Management

· The post holder will provide visible and proactive leadership to the radiotherapy education team, ensuring the delivery of high-quality education and training across all service areas. This includes the line management of the radiotherapy education team including rostering and allocation of workload.

· The post holder will develop and implement strategic plans for education that align with departmental goals, national standards, and workforce development needs.

· The post holder will work autonomously to lead on the identification of educational priorities and resource allocation to support service transformation and innovation, including the development of learning and training needs analysis.

· Using their previous experience and highly developed specialist knowledge in radiotherapy education, the post holder will act as a role model for professional practice, promoting excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.

· The post holder will review team establishment in line with service needs.

· The post holder will be required to stay up to date with national drivers in relation to educational activity within the NHS.

· The post holder will be responsible for proposing and implementing complex departmental policy locally in relation to the education and training functions of the radiotherapy service across all geographical sites.

· Working with operational leads, the post-holder will lead in educational projects to design, implement and monitor clinical competencies and associated training needs for tiers of the Proton beam therapy and radiotherapy service workforce.

· The post holder will need to deliver highly complex strategic direction of clinical radiotherapy education to large groups using various forms of communication such as meetings, lectures, presentations and conferences.



Clinical Education and Workforce Development

· Oversee the coordination and delivery of highly specialist clinical education for pre-registration learners, including undergraduate and postgraduate students, apprentices, and return-to-practice professionals.

· Design, implement, and evaluate structured induction and competency-based training programmes for new staff, ensuring safe and effective integration into teams.

· Support ongoing professional development for existing staff, across the four pillars of practice.

· Ensure education provision covers all key areas of radiotherapy practice, including clinical support and administration, pre-treatment planning, treatment delivery including on-treatment imaging and verification, and patient-centred care.

· Be responsible for the safe and standardised design and delivery of training of local highly complex radiotherapy equipment for all staff.



Quality Assurance and Compliance

· Contribute to the maintenance and enhancement of the radiotherapy quality management system through educational audits, feedback mechanisms, and service evaluations relevant to educational activity.

· Ensure all educational activities comply with relevant regulatory, professional, and organisational standards, including HCPC, HEE, and national NHS frameworks.

· The post-holder will record personally generated information and ensure a system is in place, compliant with best practice in data management and Trust and University policies, to record, collate, process and store information on the progress of learners.

· They will update patient records and maintain departmental databases as appropriate.

· Generate and implement key performance indicators, analyse education productivity and activity across the service and report this to internal and external stakeholders, meeting deadlines and reporting requirements.

· Communication and dissemination strategy across systems locally and nationally.

· Undertake environmental audits and risk assessments across learning environments which may involve the postholder to frequently be responsible for the safe use of expensive or highly complex radiotherapy equipment to provide highly specialised and accurate radiotherapy to cancer patients. This may involve moving patients and equipment occasionally and come into contact with bodily fluids.

· Lead on the monitoring and reporting of mandatory training compliance across the radiotherapy education team.



Multi-Professional Education and Collaboration

· Deliver high-quality teaching and training to a diverse range of professionals, including therapeutic radiographers, dosimetrists, clinical oncologists, medical physicists, nurses, and administrative/support staff.

· Facilitate interprofessional learning opportunities that promote collaborative practice and integrated patient care.

· Design, implement and review of assessment models and processes and support the wider radiotherapy education team to participate in the assessment of clinical competence for both learners and qualified staff, using validated tools and frameworks to ensure consistency and fairness.



Partnership Working

· Work in close partnership with The Christie Institute for Cancer Education, other higher education institutions, and practice education leads to support curriculum development, placement quality, and learner progression.

· The post holder will be required to represent the radiotherapy service in regional and national education forums which will require them to be flexible with an unpredictable working pattern.

· Lead research, audit, and service evaluation activities related to education and workforce development.



Culture and Innovation

· Champion a culture of learning, inquiry, and professional growth within the radiotherapy service.

· Promote inclusive and supportive learning environments that value diversity and empower staff at all levels.

· Identify and implement innovative educational approaches, including simulation, digital learning, and reflective practice, to enhance engagement and effectiveness of clinical education



Financial and Physical Resources

The postholder will be required to participate in the senior leadership duty rotas to support the radiotherapy operational service needs and ensure senior clinical presence during key hours.
The post holder will be responsible as the Radiotherapy Training Budget holder, requiring them to authorise expenses for education related activities such as courses, conferences and other CPD for the radiotherapy workforce.

This job description is not exhaustive and will be reviewed periodically to take into account changes and developments in service requirements. Any changes will be discussed fully with the post-holder.


This advert closes on Friday 17 Oct 2025

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