Employer East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust Employer type NHS Site Mount Vernon Cancer Centre Town Northwood Salary £55,690 - £62,682 Per annum + 15% high cost area supplement Salary period Yearly Closing 09/03/2026 23:59
Radiotherapy Physics Lead Scientist
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Here at East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust
Our mission is: Providing high-quality, compassionate care for our communities
Our vision to 2030 is: To be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service
Our values - We want our staff to believe in, demonstrate and live our values in everything we do. Our values are:
* Include We value the diversity and experience of our community colleagues and partners, creating relationships and climates that provide an opportunity to share, collaborate and grow together.
* Respect We create a safe environment where we are curious of the lived experience of others, seek out best practice and are open to listening and hearing new ideas.
* Improve We are committed to consistently delivering excellent services and continuously looking to improve through a creative workforce that feels empowered to act in service of our shared purpose.
Job overview
We are recruiting for a Radiotherapy Physics Lead Scientist who shares our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.
The Radiotherapy Physics department provides a specialist technical radiotherapy physics service to the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, contributing to safe treatment of patients for radiotherapy.
It is responsible for ensuring the accurate calibration, according to national recommendations, of all radiotherapy treatment machines and providing a routine quality control service for all equipment used in planning, verifying and treating radiotherapy patients.
The aim of this post is to act as a lead physicist within the radiotherapy physics team. You will be responsible for an area of radiotherapy physics determined both by your own skill set and the current needs of the department. You will work across multiple areas of the team at various times.
This post will involve both development work and routine work within the department.
At the heart of everything we do are our core values: Include, Respect, and Improve. We encourage you to embrace these values throughout the recruitment process and in your role with us.
Main duties of the job
To perform treatment planning and checking within two sections of the department (external beam, brachytherapy, stereotactic).
To manage and coordinate allocated projects in collaboration with the project lead.
To provide appropriate training for physics and radiography staff with respect to treatment planning, machine QA and either brachytherapy or stereotactic and to assist in the assessment of staff competency for physics staff.
To undertake a role as a medical physics expert within the radiotherapy department.
To line manage and supervise staff. This may include those on training programmes in radiotherapy physics.
Working for our organisation
At East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general and specialist services we provide and our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible and innovative in the way we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.
We run the following hospitals:
* The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
* New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
* Hertford County, Hertford
We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient‑led Trust where dedicated staff provide high‑quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation and our staff and patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.
We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. This means that any employee is entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns and we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made and considered formally, and will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
We welcome applications from those who would relish the opportunity to be part of new and developing cancer service, building on the excellent reputation, research and patient experience the Cancer Centre already delivers.
Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification information pack for further detailed information regarding this role.
Person specification
Education and Qualifications
* Good (1st or 2nd class) honours degree in a relevant subject
* Relevant MSc or higher degree
* Completion of scientist training program or equivalent experience
* HCPC registered
* Good written and spoken English
Experience
* Significant experience in Radiotherapy Physics including: analysing and judging treatment options, identifying problems with patient‑related equipment, exercising judgement to solve problems and making decisions on how equipment is to be used safely and correctly, all usually under time‑pressure
* Specialist training and practical experience in the use and calibration of radiotherapy equipment (including linear accelerators and treatment planning computers), specialist test and measurement equipment and dosimetry equipment calibration.
* Significant experience in planning and checking complex patients treatment plans in one of brachytherapy, external beam or stereotactic radiotherapy (as appropriate to the post)
* Experience in planning and checking patients treatment plans in an additional area from brachytherapy, external beam or stereotactic radiotherapy
* Experience of imaging modalities other than CT
Knowledge
* Broad knowledge of radiation and associated areas within Medical Physics.
* Highly developed, specialist level of theoretical and practical knowledge across the full range of working procedures and practices within Radiotherapy Physics.
* Advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of Radiotherapy equipment, dosimetry and treatment planning, including sufficient knowledge and experience to act as a Medical Physics Expert in Radiotherapy Physics.
* Advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of relevant legislation, national standards, professional and other guidelines, including IRR, IR(ME)R ISO9001-200, other relevant BSI and ISO standards, professional and regulatory body reports and guidelines.
* Knowledge and ability to understand and use to their full extent a range of computerised treatment planning systems, including knowledge of treatment planning system algorithms and areas where their limitations may affect clinical decisions Understanding of patient and staff risks arising from treatment planning computer system errors, equipment failure, treatment errors and incorrect dosimetry
Skills and Abilities
* Able to use judgement involving facts that require analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options as, for example, in analysing the results of scientific measurements or treatment plans, which may conflict, and deciding upon an appropriate course of action.
* Able to supervise projects and small groups of staff.
* Able to prioritise and manage own work
* Highly developed physical accuracy and dexterity, for making precision measurements and adjustments on equipment, often under time pressure to ensure radiotherapy equipment is returned to clinical use as soon as possible.
* Use of fine tools for equipment adjustment
* Able to lift large, cumbersome medium/heavy weights on occasion (e.g. test instruments, measuring equipment and calibration jigs onto radiotherapy equipment)
* Able to concentrate when subject to constantly unpredictable working patterns (e.g. when interrupted to provide urgent advice affecting patients’ treatments).
* Able to concentrate for prolonged periods in safetycritical areas (e.g. carrying out or analysing radiation measurements or checking patients treatment plans)
* Able to use Excel, Word, Access etc. to set up documents and spreadsheets and extract information.
* Able to design, develop and adapt software solutions to meet the needs of radiotherapy physics and radiotherapy
* Able to exercise own initiative when dealing with issues within own specialist area of competence.
* Able to communicate highly complex information e.g. advice to consultant oncologists on patient treatment options, equipment status or operation to other professional groups.
* Able to present scientific papers at national and international conferences.
* Able to train groups of other professional staff.
* Able to deliver teaching and training on complex Radiotherapy Physics‑related subjects.
* Expected to act independently, without supervision, within professional guidelines, but can refer to his manager where necessary. The individual's manager assesses work at intervals
* Evidence of team leadership and an ability to motivate staff
* Evidence of publications in areas relevant to radiotherapy physics
Personal Qualities
* Able to deal with occasional distressing circumstances when working with terminally ill patients in Radiotherapy.
* Good negotiation skills with staff and suppliers to optimise Radiotherapy Physics services
* Able to deal with complex and unpredictable situations affecting patient treatments.
Other Requirements
* Evidence of continuing professional development.
* Understanding of hazards posed by, and precautions needed with: Ionising radiation, Non‑ionising radiation, Electricity (medium and high voltages), Cross‑infection, Bio‑hazards, Fumes, Solvents, Tools at elevated temperatures, Compressed medical gases, Cleaning agents and other hazardous materials
* Occasional exposure to uncontrolled radiation hazards, e.g. spillages, monitoring of radiation activated targets, leak testing of sources, radiation emergencies
When you apply…
Please note we do not offer visa sponsorship for roles unless clearly stated in our adverts. This means even if you have the right to work currently but will require a new sponsorship to work for our Trust your application will not be considered.
Vacancies may close earlier than the advertised closing date where a high volume of applications are received. We therefore encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible to avoid missing out on the opportunity to join the Trust or develop your career with us.
While we recognise that AI can support in drafting an application, you are encouraged to clearly demonstrate your personal skills, experience and behaviours that align with the role, and this is usually best done in your own words. We reserve the right to review all applications for the use of AI tools and where this is inconsistent with our values and standards of behaviour your application may be rejected.
All correspondence relating to vacancies will be via the e‑mail address you have provided on your application form. Some servers automatically send e‑mails to your junk mail so please check as well as your inbox.
Secondments/Fixed term
Where a vacancy is advertised as a temporary position, the duration will be specified in the advert. If the vacancy becomes permanent towards the end of the specified duration, the successful applicant may not be required to re‑apply and can be slotted into the role on a permanent basis if appropriate.
If you are an internal applicant applying for a temporary working arrangement, please see the attached notes on secondments.
Committed to our Community
East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion for all job applicants, staff, patients and the wider community. We want to create a workforce which represents the communities we serve. We are on a journey to become a more inclusive organisation and we welcome applications from everyone regardless of their background. In particular we encourage applications from candidates with disabilities, and candidates from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds who are currently under‑represented in various parts of our workforce.
We understand the importance of balancing work and home life. We are committed to support flexible working for our staff wherever possible and all our employees are given the opportunity to discuss potential for flexible working.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and achieved our status in 2019.
We will remove barriers that prospective candidates might face at any stage of our recruitment process. If you have a disability and would like the advert in an alternative format, or would like to talk about how we can adjust the interview process to best support you, please contact us by emailing resourcing.enh-tr@nhs.net.
We are also proud to support our UK armed forces by supporting Reservists, Cadet Instructors, Veterans and military spouses/partners into employment and offering supportive policies that value their contribution to the community and to our Trust.
We are committed to being a carer‑friendly environment, addressing the complex needs of families with caring responsibilities. In partnership with Carers in Hertfordshire, all our working carers have access to support from recruitment. We are also a member of Carers UK, providing resources to make balancing work and caring easier. Our approach is inclusive, recognizing diverse challenges and creating a supportive environment where carers feel valued.
King's Trust Support
If you’re aged between 16 and 30 years‑old, you can get FREE employability support from The King’s Trust. The King’s Trust will help build your CV and cover letter, offer advice and top tips for future interviews and support you with research about working in the NHS. Please contact Enquiries.H&SC@princes-trust.org.uk for support.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
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