Summary
As the Support Analyst you will play a key role in the programming team by handling tier one support requests and by providing technical assistance to our trial teams and external stakeholders. You will be expected to resolve a high percentage of these requests without referring on by referencing our standard procedures and technical guides. Some requests will require you to liaise with central University of Birmingham technical teams and you will be expected to develop and maintain good working relationships.
For more complex issues you will be required to analyse problems, identifying the cause, and using your judgement and experience decide whether to attempt resolution or escalate to a senior member of the team. Throughout this process, clear documentation and audit trials must be created, you will therefore need to be capable of writing clear and concise action plans and reports.
You will also support the delivery and maintenance of our clinical trial management systems, both hardware and software, by assisting senior members of the programming team in their ongoing activities. Consequently, you will need to be able to communicate complex technical problems and requirements in an understandable fashion to non-technical staff, including team leads, academic and administrative staff.
Main Duties
1. Handle tier one support requests on behalf of the programming team and document more complex issues, and by taking ownership of and tracking issues through to resolution ensure all stakeholders are kept up to date.
2. Investigate and analyse problems using own knowledge and expertise to facilitate the resolution of support requests if possible, or sufficiently document all necessary requirements for escalation.
3. Monitor GitLab issues for in-maintenance trials and creating new issues when system modification requests are received.
4. Manage and maintain records on active clinical trial management systems and linked applications, assist in the generation of documentation and reports about these systems.
5. Assist in performing system checks and backup monitoring to help ensure the integrity and safety of in-house systems and maintain records of checks undertaken.
6. Assist senior programming team members to: generate system validation plans for quality assurance.create and perform test plans for data requirements.Assist with the documentation of systems functional and data requirements.organise system validation activities.participate in reviews of applications with relevant trials and statistics staff during development.
7. Liaise with Trials and Statistical staff to confirm requirements specifications fit the user needs.
8. Participate in team discussions and reviews of procedures, technical guides, and system documentation and contribute to the development and updating of these as directed.
9. Interpret and provide advice on technical or procedure manuals to non-technical users and provide training/coaching as appropriate, including training and induction of new BCTU staff.
10. Develop own technical knowledge and skills either under the guidance of other staff or as agreed as part of a development plan.
11. Carry out other duties and responsibilities commensurate with the post on the direction of the Programming Team Leader or Unit Directors.
12. Support the delivery of clinical research in accordance with Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and University policies and procedures, (including, but not limited to the University’s Data Protection Policy, Information Security Policy and Code of Practice for Research) in order to protect the research subject and the quality of each study.
13. Supporting equality and values diversity, moderates own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
14. A degree, preferably in the physical or social sciences, equivalent professional qualifications or demonstratable related experience.
15. A good general knowledge on current trends in IT would be useful.
16. Some knowledge of research and electronic data capture would be useful.
17. The ability to work effectively as a member of a team.
18. Good time management skills and ability to work to deadlines.
19. Willingness and ability to acquire new knowledge and skills.
20. Excellent communication, coupled with a strong customer service orientation, and the ability to tailor responses to specific technical and non-technical audiences.
21. Ability to prioritise and schedule workload in the face of conflicting demands.
22. Structured and methodical approach to problem solving.
23. Some exposure to or experience of data processing and report writing.
24. Ideally conversant with:Microsoft Windows operating systemsMicrosoft office 20xx, particularly MS Excel.
25. A willingness to adopt and champion new ways of working.
26. A willingness to coach and train colleagues in your own areas of expertise.
27. Experience in any of the following areas would be an advantage:Some exposure to server administrationAdditional operating systems,. Mac OS and UbuntuWeb application developmentExperience of writing knowledge base articles of other relevant authoring.
28. Understands the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace.
29. Ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.
Dimensions
This role will have no direct financial or staff management responsibility, it is instead focused on providing support to end users of clinical trial management systems, the Programming team and working collaboratively with colleagues to find and implement solutions.
Planning and organising
The role is required to work independently on tasks of varying length and complexity and using own initiative and knowledge to recognise issues that need urgent attention and prioritise those tasks within own workload. There will also be project management of allocated tasks with support from senior members of the team.
Will be required to keep Programming Team Leader and relevant trials staff informed about project progress.
Problem solving and decision making
Without reference to others:
30. Handle incoming support requests and prioritise appropriately
31. Escalate issues as necessary when additional support is required
32. Apply skills and knowledge acquired through training and on job experience to analyse problems and identify and deploy solutions
33. Keep team lead and senior programmers updated on task status as necessary
34. Keep end users updated on task status
After consulting others:
35. Research issues and generate solutions independently
36. Generate documentation and test plans for system or end user testing
37. Assist trials teams in the use and onboarding of staff with CTMSs.
38. Perform systems testing
Would be referred to someone else:
39. Any technical system implementation or design issues (for example non-standard data structures), that require guidance from senior members of the team, or referral to senior management level.
40. Any technical problems that imply insufficient physical resources,. not enough server space or power
Internal and external relationships
Programming Team Leader
41. The post holder will need to keep apprised of critical or urgent tasks, will report to for tasks allocation and prioritisation. Will be the point of contact for any additional requirements the post holder may need, in relation to carry out task and undertaking training.
Senior Programming team members
42. Will be required to consult with or escalate issues for their attention and collaborate with on deploying solutions. Senior members of the team may provide training and collaborate on common projects to help the post holder understand BCTU programming development processes and terminology.
Trial Statistician
43. Interaction will be required to complete documentation and confirm data and systems requirements meet required specification.
Trials staff.
44. The post holder will interact with trial teams, likely daily, to support requests, generate reports and accurately document issues or work requirements, provide feedback and task status updates, and possibly provide guidance and/or training on effective use of existing documentation and systems.