Main area Research and Development Grade Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours
* Full time
* Part time
* Flexible working
37.5 hours per week (Full Time or Part Time/Flexible working hours may be considered.) Job ref 180-RD-255262
Employer Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Addenbrookes Hospital-Division R&D Town Cambridge Salary £47,810 - £54,710 p.a. pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 06/11/2025 23:59
Job overview
The R&D Department manages many research applications for the set‑up of research studies every month and contracts are required for the majority of these research studies.
We require an additional Contracts Manager to work with the R&D Legal team and wider R&D Department to provide initial drafts, review and negotiate research related contracts. You will also be expected to support the Project Manager (Contracts Management) as required with the set up and management of a contracts management system.
The work will involve working with nationally agreed templates for clinical research contracts as well as drafting and reviewing bespoke agreements. The role will also involve negotiation with other Hospital Trusts, academic institutions and research organisations as well as liaison with the Solicitor Consultants and governance team to ensure that all aspects of the research studies and research collaborations have appropriate contracts in place.
You will also review other contracts relating to research such as those issued by the Department of Health and funding bodies.
Responsible to the Solicitor Consultant and Head of BRC IP, the post holder will have the chance to gain considerable experience in the legal field of R&D.
Main duties of the job
Provide advice to research staff within the Trust in the negotiation and management of the terms of contracts relevant to research. Make sure that key contractual obligations have been highlighted to the research staff.
Actively keep up to date with all relevant research guidance and legislation. Provide accurate and relevant advice on the research guidance and legislation to the R&D Department and to researchers.
Contribute to regular reviews of and support the solicitors in updating the Trust’s policies and procedures for research and research related themes
Liaise with other Trusts and third party support departments on related contractual issues in particular, the supply of equipment, pharmacy, human tissue, data and information governance.
Provide support to the governance team with varied contractual queries arising from the set-up of research studies.
Support the R&D Solicitors with the training which they provide to the R&D Department, researchers and wider community.
Support the Project Manager (Contracts Management) as required with the set up and management of a contracts management system.
Working for our organisation
Our Trust
Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust comprises Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge. With over 13,000 staff and over 1100 beds the priorities of the Trust focus on a quality service which is all about people – patients, staff and partners. Recognised as providing 'outstanding' care to our patients and rated 'Good' overall by the Care Quality Commissioner, is testament to the skill and dedication of the people who work here. CUH’s values – Together - Safe, Kind, Excellent – are at the heart of patient care, defining the way all staff work and behave. The Trust provides accessible high-quality healthcare for the local people of Cambridge, together with specialist services, dealing with rare or complex conditions for a regional, national and international population.
CUH is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community - a place where we can all be ourselves. We value our differences and fully advocate and support an inclusive working environment where every individual can fulfil their potential. We want to ensure our people are truly representative of all the communities that we serve. We welcome applications for all positions in the organisation irrespective of people’s age, disability, ethnicity, race, nationality, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity status or social economic background.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached Applicant Information Pack (combined Job Description and Person Specification) for key duties and responsibilities.
Due to Home Office immigration rules, a full time permanent vacancy cannot be filled by individuals on a Student visa. Therefore, please be advised that if you are a Student visa holder, we will not be able to offer you a full time permanent contract unless you have:
- applied for a Graduate visa
- or you will have successfully completed your course and have applied for a Graduate visa before the anticipated start date of your employment
- or the Trust has agreed that they will Sponsor you as a Skilled Worker and you will complete your studies within 3 months of the anticipated start date of employment
For NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough based roles, all applicants from NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough who have identified that they are at risk of redundancy will be prioritised over those not at risk. However, interviews cannot be guaranteed.
This vacancy will close at midnight on 4th November 2025
Interviews are due to be held on 21st November 2025
Benefits to you
At Cambridge University Hospitals, we want to do all we can to support good working days. We offer development opportunities and a wide range of benefits, including on-site leisure facilities, shopping concourse and day nurseries. Our good work programme currently includes providing reduced cost Stagecoach bus travel to and from Cambridge University Hospital site. Park and Ride bus journeys between Babraham Road and Trumpington sites are free, as is the route to and from Cambridge train station and our hospitals. We also subsidise the cost of parking on site for eligible staff.
On CUH campus, hot food is available 24/7 and at a reduced cost for colleagues. Recently we launched the first of our staff pod break spaces. Located in the Deakin Centre, we have a purpose-created colleague-only café, with free tea and coffee, a break space and private outside area for colleagues to rest, refuel and recharge. Just one of the ways we are working hard to support good working days at CUH.
CUH is committed to assisting employees in achieving a good work-life balance irrespective of role or personal circumstances. Flexible arrangements may include, but are not limited to, part-time working, job-share, term-time working and flexible start and finish times.
Please note if you would like to discuss the required hours of this role further, you should approach the contact given. In some cases, alternative working hours will be considered.
We welcome applications from the Armed Forces.
Person specification
Qualifications
* Degree level or equivalent
* Legally qualified or training towards a legal qualification
* GCP trained
* Bioscience graduate or post graduate qualification
Experience
* Experience of working with contracts or working in a research laboratory setting or experience of setting up and running of a research study
* Highly efficient administrator
* Experience of negotiating contracts
* Experience of working in a clinical research environment in an NHS Trust, University, pharmaceutical company, charity or other organisation
* Experience of analysing and interpreting complex contractual terms and/or research management information
* Experience of negotiating contracts in a life- science or research setting
Knowledge
* Knowledge of clinical research governance
* Knowledge of commercial organisations and/or public sector bodies and/or charities within research
* Knowledge of current government policy and relevant legislation such as the Research Governance Framework, Good Clinical Practice, the EU Directive on Clinical Trials, the Human Tissue Act
* Knowledge of current Data Protection legislation
* Contract management, contract law and commercial negotiation or financial analysis
* An understanding and/or experience of the finance systems for research organisations
Skills
* Well-developed analytical capabilities
* Excellent presentation skills
* Ability to communicate, negotiate and influence effectively as appropriate at all levels and be persuasive and assertive when required
* Ability to communicate difficult information both orally and in writing both internally to colleagues and externally to a range of organisations
* Ability to analyse and interpret research management information
* Ability to work under pressure balancing conflicting workloads, including a range of tasks, to tight deadlines
* Ability to work with minimal day- to-day supervision and make decisions based on appropriate risk analysis
* Ability to use Microsoft Office suite
* Highly motivated, committed and effective team member
* Work flexibly and creatively, and quickly and accurately when under pressure
* Ability to support the configuration and set up of a contracts management within the NHS
Additional Requirements
* The ability to understand and behave at all times, towards patients, visitors and colleagues according to the Trust values of safe, kind, excellent.
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