Digital Research Facilitator

Job description

Job responsibilities

Main duties and responsibilities

Communication

• Act as a key liaison between the Commercial Research Delivery Centre, clinical teams, Kent, Medway, Sussex Secure Data Environment, GP practices, the Research Delivery Network (RDN), and any other digital services that are appropriate, ensuring seamless communication to facilitate the identification and recruitment of research participants.

• Proactively engage with and solicit feedback from a diverse range of stakeholders to refine digital workflows and ensure processes are fit for purpose.

• Work closely with the CRDC Sussex PPIE stakeholder group to ensure recruitment pathways are inclusive, transparent, and meet the needs of diverse regional communities.

• Translate complex digital data sets and feasibility metrics into clear, actionable reports for clinical teams and commercial sponsors to strengthen Expressions of Interest (EoIs) and recruitment strategies.

• Influence and persuade primary care partners to adopt new digital workflows, overcoming barriers to engagement by demonstrating the reduction in administrative burden and benefits to patient care.

• Communicate the importance of health equality and regional data usage to stakeholders, ensuring that recruitment strategies are designed to reach traditionally under-represented groups.

• Responsible for producing high-quality documentation, risk reviews, and performance updates regarding the new digital pathway, presenting findings to the Digital Research Access Manager and regional heads of service.

Service delivery and improvement

• Lead the operationalisation of a new digital workflow connecting hospital-led research with primary care data, converting complex manual processes into a streamlined, scalable digital pathway.

• Continuously evaluate and test new processes for participant identification, producing relevant documentation and adapting workflows based on feedback from a range of stakeholders

• Take responsibility for a 2-day invitation turnaround, ensuring that for at least 80% of eligible studies, potential participants are contacted within 48 hours of study opening.

• Produce comprehensive monthly activity reports to track progress against regional and national recruitment targets.

• Through proactive pre-screening across the community, monitor performance against UK government metrics for commercial research, including the first recruit in less than 30 days target is met for >/80% of eligible studies.

• Conduct regular risk reviews of the digital recruitment pathway, implementing corrective actions and process adaptations to mitigate bottlenecks and improve the reliability of trial feasibility data.

• Contribute to service improvements that specifically target previously less well served communities in areas such as Crawley, Eastbourne, and Hastings, ensuring the service model promotes equity of access to clinical trials.

• Maintain and update the local portfolio management system (LPMS), ensuring all study data is accurate and timely.

• Support the study set-up dashboard, providing real-time visibility of feasibility assessments and recruitment milestones to the wider Research Delivery team.

People management and development

• Responsible for carrying out duties in line with the Trusts e-rostering processes, including managing rosters, supporting staff allocation, and contributing to effective budget reconciliation and workforce planning

Patient care delivery

• Act as a guardian of patient data, ensuring that all digital identification and pre-screening processes adhere to the highest standards of data protection and confidentiality. Ensure that the use of data is conducted ethically and in full alignment with Trust information governance and "Patient First" values.

• Directly contribute to patient care by using digital tools to identify and include under-represented populations and seldom heard communities. This ensures that access to cutting-edge treatments and clinical trials is determined by clinical need and regional equity rather than geographic location or GP practice capacity.

• Collaborate with PPIE (Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement) stakeholders and the Surrey and Sussex Research Engagement Network to ensure that digital recruitment pathways are respectful, accessible, and designed with the patient experience at the forefront.

• Support the delivery of high-quality research by ensuring the rapid identification of participants, thereby accelerating the timeline for patients to access novel therapies and interventions that can improve health outcomes across Sussex.

Learning and development

• Identify learning and development needs within Primary Care and community settings regarding digital research workflows; design and deliver targeted training or guidance to GP staff and researchers to ensure the effective use of the new digital recruitment pathway.

• Act as a regional subject matter expert for digital participant identification, providing consultancy and support to the South East Research Delivery Network (SERRDN) and wider care settings to help staff adopt new digital tools, share best practices, and standardise recruitment processes across Sussex.

• Attend mandatory training updates as required.

• Undertake training as necessary in line with the development of the post and as agreed with the line manager as part of the personal development process.

• Achieve and demonstrate agreed standards of personal and professional development within agreed timescales.

• Identify own learning needs and jointly plan training requirements with your line manager

• Participate in the Trusts appraisal process to discuss how your role will help deliver the best possible care to our patients and help to deliver any changes in service.

This job description is an outline of the role and responsibilities. From time to time due to the needs of the service, we may ask you to flexibly undertake other duties that are consistent with your role and banding, including project work, internal job rotation and absence cover.

The job description and person specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the department and the organisation.

Key working relationships

Internal:

Sussex CRDC Management Group

UHSussex Research and Innovation

UHSussex Digital and Data teams

External:

Primary Care general practice; community pharmacy

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Sussex Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs)

South East Regional Research Delivery Network (SE RRDN)

Contract Research Organisations

Commercial trial sponsors

National Institute for Health and care Research (NIHR)

PPIEP stakeholders and the wider community

Secure Data Environment

NHS Surrey and Sussex

Sussex Health and Care Research Partnership

Public Health

CRDC UK Network, and other CRDC and CRDCs in Primary Care

Health Innovation Kent, Surrey and Sussex

Person Specification

Experience/ Qualifications

• Professional knowledge acquired through a degree in a relevant field (e.g., Science, Health, Data Science, or Information Management) or equivalent significant experience. Evidence of post graduate level training or equivalent experience in clinical research (e.g., Good Clinical Practice - GCP) or health informatics. Proven experience working within a clinical research environment, specifically in recruitment, feasibility, or study setup. Significant experience using health and care digital systems (e.g., Electronic Patient Records, Primary Care systems like EMIS/SystmOne, or Secure Data Environments) to support service delivery. Experience in operationalising new workflows or contributing to the transition from manual to digital processes. Demonstrable experience working across different professional groups, such as clinical teams, GP practices, and administrative staff. Experience handling sensitive patient data and applying Information Governance and GDPR principles in a practical setting.

Skills

• Evidence of having undertaken own development to improve understanding of equalities issues Ability to navigate and utilize complex health and care digital systems to extract and analyse participant data. Able to interpret complex clinical study protocols and translate them into accurate digital search criteria for feasibility assessments. Proven ability to manage a diverse portfolio of studies while meeting strict deadlines. Highly developed interpersonal skills with the ability to explain technical digital processes to non technical clinical and primary care staff. Expert ability to handle sensitive patient data in strict accordance with GDPR, Information Governance, and Trust confidentiality policies. Ability to identify risks in a digital workflow and proactively adapt processes to ensure service continuity and efficiency.

People Management and Development

• Able to provide clear direction and support to multidisciplinary teams and external partners to ensure the delivery of digital recruitment targets. Proven ability to work effectively within a team and across organisational boundaries, fostering positive working relationships with staff at all levels. Able to identify training needs in others and deliver informal coaching or guidance on new digital tools and research processes. Able to motivate and influence staff managed by other departments or organisations to align with project goals and timelines.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

• Evidence of having championed diversity in previous roles Able to use regional data sets to identify and target under represented patient populations, ensuring research opportunities are distributed based on clinical need rather than geography. Proven ability to adapt communication styles to meet the needs of diverse groups, including older adults and those in high-need, "hard-to-reach" communities. Commitment to the "Patient First" values with a focus on reducing health inequalities through the fair and transparent application of digital recruitment pathways.

Specific Requirements

• Ability and willingness to travel independently across various health and care sites within Sussex (e.g., Brighton, Bognor Regis, Crawley) as required. Able to represent the Trust and the Commercial Research Delivery Centre Sussex at regional meetings and external forums. Flexibility to adapt working patterns to meet the demands of study greenlight timelines and 48-hour recruitment targets. Commitment to the "Patient First" values and a clear understanding of the importance of research in reducing regional health inequalities.

Freedom to Act

• Works with a high degree of autonomy, managing own workload and prioritizing the delivery of multiple research studies across Sussex without direct daily supervision. Interprets national research metrics and Trust policies to develop and operationalise local digital recruitment workflows, ensuring compliance with clinical trial regulations. Acts on own initiative to identify potential recruitment bottlenecks or data risks, implementing immediate process adaptations to ensure the 48-hour participant contact target is maintained. Empowered to make operational decisions regarding the feasibility of digital searches and the suitability of specific primary care data sets for commercial study identification. Responsible for meeting specific performance KPIs and providing expert advice to clinical teams and external GP partners on recruitment strategy. Proactively identifies and resolves complex issues related to digital system access and data flow between secondary and primary care, escalating to the Digital Research Access Manager only when strategic or departmental policy changes are required.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

• Evidence of having undertaken own development to improve understanding of equalities issues
• Evidence of having championed diversity in previous roles (as appropriate to role)

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (279)

Address

Royal Sussex County Hospital

Sussex House, Abbey Road

Brighton

BN2 5BE

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.uhsussex.nhs.uk/