PaLaDIn Technical Project Manager

Salary: £33,966 to £36,024 with progression to £44,263 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 29 May 2024

The Role

To work as part of a team sitting within the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre to provide a comprehensive project management and professional support service to the IHI funded Patient Lifestyle and Disease Data Interactium (PaLaDIn). PaLaDIn is a €20 million EU funded project which will establish a state-of the art platform to collect real world, rare disease patient data to inform health decision making. Newcastle University are the Work Package (WP) Lead for the Communication, Dissemination and Scale up WP, the co-lead for the DMD Proof of concept WP and will contribute knowledge and expertise to other WPs within the project.

To be responsible for the day-to-day development and project management involved in developing innovative and validated tools for an integrated IT platform that will collect real world, rare disease patient data to inform health decision making.

This Post is fixed until the 31st December 2027.

Further information can be obtained by contacting Becca Leary (Becca.leary@ncl.ac.uk).

Key Accountabilities

• To act as the main point of contact on the project for scoping out and developing a range of tools to be implemented into an IT platform to allow for the collection of real-world patient data
• To lead on developing test plans for all new tools implemented into the platform and being responsible for carrying out rigorous testing of these ahead of launching them on to the live platform
• To work with the IT platform developers and the Central Recruitment Database (CRD) Manager to launch the DMD Hub Central Recruitment Database on to the new state of the art IT platform
• To lead on working with a range of key stakeholders scoping out and planning work around the implementation of the CRD model across a wide range of new disease areas
• Provide a coordinated and efficient service to the various stakeholders, including project collaborators, clinicians, patients and the pharmaceutical industry
• Ensure that information is correctly researched, collated, and validated for inclusion into the IT platform and reports/documents
• Analyse data in the IT platform to collect information of relevance to healthcare and link with existing initiatives to publish in appropriate forms (including academic publications, reports for use in policymaking initiatives, as well as information for patients)
• Liaise regularly with others in similar roles or with similar responsibilities (including DMD Hub staff and registry curators)
• Present the validated tools and integrated IT platform at relevant meetings and conferences and write related reports
• Contribute to project management groups as required to support the project e.g., Advisory Boards, Steering Groups, inter- disciplinary working groups
• Develop an understanding of the scientific, regulatory and technical elements of the project in order to cross communicate between different work packages
• Preparation for, and facilitation of, audits and/or inspections
• Take responsibility for identifying own learning needs, including identifying appropriate courses to ensure up to date knowledge in the funding streams available to support translational research, as well as developing an awareness of the regulations governing clinical research and research data
• Work as part of the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre team to develop common ways of working and promote the use of best practice in project management
• Supervising temporary staff if required
• Any other duties as deemed appropriate by line manager

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

Knowledge

• Awareness of the benefits and challenges of the collection of health data, particularly in the rare disease field
• Comprehensive understanding of GDPR requirements and how to apply them in practice
• Advanced knowledge of project management and relevant business operating procedures
• Knowledge of project management methodology
• A proven ability to manage projects to defined deliverables and meet audit requirements

Skills

• IT literate across a wide range of applications
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; confident, adept and empathetic communicator in a variety of media
• Excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills
• Excellent team-working skills
• Excellent numerical and data analysis skills
• Excellent presentation skills
• Excellent project management skills
• Ability to communicate technical information to a lay audience 
• Ability to take responsibility and prioritise workloads
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision
• Ability to work to agreed targets and strict deadlines
• Ability to use initiative, think strategically and adopt an active approach to problem solving
• Ability to understand complex scientific and medical information

Experience

• Developing test plans for use on IT software and carrying out rigorous testing ahead of service/product launches
• Working in a project management role
• Working in a research environment ideally in an international project
• Communicating and discussing sensitive personal information 
• Handling complex projects to deadlines
• Acting in an advisory capacity to colleagues at all levels
• Networking and dissemination work
• Healthcare issues related to patients and their families
• Managing complex interpersonal situations
• Dealing with complex numerical and scientific data
• Engaging clinicians in data provision

Attributes and Behaviour

• Has the ability to see the “big picture”, to think strategically and to manage complex problems and issues
• Uses clear, concise and accurate communication, tailoring the approach accordingly and encouraging a two-way communication process
• Works collaboratively with others, plays a positive role in teams and establishes and grows relationships across the organisation where different skills, expertise and opinions are valued
• Manages time and resources by prioritising and organising effectively
• Ability to undertake national and occasional international travel with overnight stays when required
• Ability to undertake work outside of normal working hours and travel nationally and internationally for work on an occasional basis

Qualifications

• Degree (or equivalent professional qualification) in a relevant discipline, or significant experience of working in a project management role

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 27012