Research Programme Manager | The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
| Posting date: | 17 February 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | £61,631 - £68,623 Per Annum |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 19 March 2026 |
| Location: | Sutton, SM2 5PT |
| Company: | The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust |
| Job type: | Contract |
| Job reference: | 7812640/282-CR1244 |
Summary
We are seeking an experienced and highly organised Research Programme Manager to join The Royal Marsden on a 9-month maternity cover contract.
This is a pivotal role, providing operational leadership for a prestigious, multi-million-pound NIHR-funded research programme, delivered in partnership with leading academic and clinical organisations. The postholder will play a key role in ensuring continuity of programme delivery, governance, and stakeholder engagement during the absence of the substantive post holder.
In addition to programme management responsibilities, the role contributes to a corporate research operations function, supporting the development of high-quality research funding applications across The Royal Marsden and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR).
The postholder will have lead responsibility for championing best practice approaches in a defined area of research operations. This could include equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) in research; the development and evaluation of ‘medtech’; and skills and development for researchers (fellowships).
The ideal candidate will have significant project or programme management experience within a clinical research setting. They will be proactive and highly organised, with a strong administrative background and an excellent attention to detail. They should also have experience of supporting funding applications for clinical research.
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:
• Provide high-level leadership, proactively organising programme management and governance to ensure appropriate oversight, attribution of responsibilities and effective communication with programme contributors.
• Build, engage and energise the multi-organisational team, setting high performance expectations, including standards for the maintenance of accurate records of programme progress against work plans.
• Oversee the reporting structure through which project leads are held accountable at programme level, ensuring the programme has policy/strategies in place for patient and public involvement and engagement, broader stakeholder engagement, dissemination, equality, diversity and inclusion, intellectual property protection and exploitation.
• Work closely with the Marsden Head of Trial management, trial managers for individual projects and respective clinical trials units to ensure efficient delivery of all clinical trials within the programme portfolio. They will need to undertake due diligence to ensure that those who conduct research on our behalf are qualified to do so.
This advert closes on Tuesday 3 Mar 2026
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.