Chief Operating Officer - NIHR Research Support Service Public Health Specialist Centre

We are looking for an enthusiastic and experienced professional to take a key senior management role in a NIHR RSS Public Health Specialist Centre with significant external focus at national level. You will be responsible to the Director of the Centre and to the Centre stakeholders.
 
The NIHR aims to increase the generation and use of public health research in non-NHS settings and has made substantial new investment of >£21 million in a NIHR Research Support Service Public Health Specialist Centre with a national remit to support this. This Public Health Specialist Centre will be hosted in the Population Health Sciences Institute at Newcastle University along with the NIHR Research Support Service (RSS).
 
The vision of this NIHR RSS Public Health Specialist Centre is to develop the infrastructure, capacity and capability to support practitioners and researchers to carry out high quality public health research, outside the NHS, to produce robust evidence to improve population health and reduce health and care inequalities. This post offers an exciting opportunity to be part of the team to establish this new Centre. 
 
You will have a leading role in the development, strategic management, and expert delivery of the national remit of this new NIHR investment to support for Public Health Research in settings outside of the NHS. This will include delivering expertise in research programme management, significant financial oversight, delivering and reviewing the Centre’s vision/strategy and meeting reporting requirements, including reporting on key performance indicators, set by and agreed with the National Institute for Health & Care Research (NIHR) and the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC). 
 
You will provide day-to-day leadership and management of this complex, national, multi-dimensional Centre to ensure its deliverables and objectives are achieved. The role includes direct line management and development of the Centre’s professional services support team based in Newcastle as well as the overall coordination of three satellite centres and the full budget of >£21 million. You will also work closely with the newly commissioned NENC Research Support Service (RSS) and with external contacts including local authorities (including Health Determinant Research Collaborations), the newly commissioned RSS across England, the NIHR Public Health Research hub, NIHR Academy, Clinical Research Networks, Health Research Authority (HRA), universities and public organisations, and the funding body (NIHR/DHSC).
 
This is a full time position (40 hours per week), fixed term until October 2028