Job responsibilities The Workforce and People Senior Manager will have overall responsibility for delivery of regional elements of the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN) Workforce strategy, including learning, and organisational development (OD), ensuring sites and regional networks have access to the knowledge and skills required to deliver the RDN efficiently and effectively. This includes but is not limited to the delivery of workforce, learning, inclusion, and OD initiatives, as well as other RDN and relevant NIHR strategic development initiatives relating to workforce, inclusion and OD. The post holder also has responsibility for strategic workforce planning informed by developing robust and accurate workforce intelligence pertinent to research delivery and the development of high-quality learning and training. This post will lead on equality, diversity and inclusion relating to the Regional RDN (RRDN) staff and Agile Research Delivery Teams, supporting strategic development of relevant capability and expertise across the delivery system, and will be knowledgeable of inclusion legislation as well as research governance and related regulations. The role will provide operational management of the Workforce Development function, and line management of the Learning & Development Facilitator, Digital Learning Designer (where employed by the same host organisation) and Clinical Educator posts. Line management of staff members will include undertaking staff reviews to identify training and development needs, and establishing how those needs will be met, and managing performance against agreed objectives. The post holder will ensure the same review processes take place for all staff with the defined function via appropriate line management arrangements and that skills and capabilities exist to meet current and future business needs. KEY RESULT AREAS/MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP Lead on the regional delivery of the RDN Workforce strategy to support the strategic, system-wide development of the research delivery workforce across a broad range of roles, specialties and settings Motivate and inspire teams by being a visible leader and acting as a role model for others Work as a senior member of the national RDN Workforce and Organisational Development team, representing the region at a national level and participating in nationally agreed initiatives Propose key innovative opportunities for increasing research delivery workforce capacity and capability across the RDN Act as an ambassador for the RDN and wider NIHR BUSINESS PLANNING Coordinate engagement with and adherence to annual planning and reporting requirements Input into the development of RRDN business planning and management for other services and functions where there are dependencies on workforce development, organisational development and the people side of inclusion INFORMATION & ADMINISTRATION Develop shared, national systems and processes for gathering robust research delivery workforce intelligence to inform the strategic development of regional workforce planning activities with partners Oversee and manage the coordination of regional and where appropriate, national programmes of learning and development including design, delivery and evaluation Lead and develop the use of Information and Learning Technology to support learning, teaching and assessment across the network and to align with the digital enablement strategy Report on and present complex data with clarity to senior forums including at Board Level OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT Line manage staff members in the Workforce Development function, which will include undertaking staff reviews to identify training and development needs, and establishing how those needs will be met, and managing performance against agreed objectives Ensure adherence to all RDN approaches and frameworks, and employers policies by all staff in the Workforce Development function Provide the link for all courses at a national level and provide advice and guidance to the local facilitators Provide operational oversight and management of regional and, where appropriate, national programmes of work Ensure effective local induction programmes are in place for all RRDN staff Provide highly specialist advice on all aspects of the research process in particular interpreting legislative and regulatory requirements and providing guidance to researchers on fulfilling their obligations Write regional policies and SOPs by interpreting national directives and guidelines for local implementation, and to work with local partners to support the implementation of these where necessary SERVICE IMPROVEMENT & DEVELOPMENT Actively contribute to the development and delivery of national projects and initiatives to drive national and regional impact Contribute to the development of research leadership that enables a positive One RDN culture and behaviours Understand regional and national research delivery learning and development needs and partner in the development of high-quality learning that is inclusive and meets the needs of a diverse workforce Work as a collegiate partner with colleagues across the Network to ensure consistency of the development opportunities provided to staff, customers and stakeholders PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Manage the Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Facilitator Development Programme and ongoing facilitator development, including performance management issues where required Determine capacity of the facilitator community across the RRDN region in conjunction with health and care organisations and advise/guide accordingly Performance manage course facilitators from the RRDN and Delivery Organisations to ensure a standardised approach to logistics for delivering learning and development is implemented Lead in managing performance issues locally as agreed with the Workforce and Organisational Development Directorate (RDNCC) LIFE SCIENCES INDUSTRY Actively collaborate with the RDN Life Sciences Industry in supporting the development of the research delivery workforce within new sites and increasing capacity and capability to deliver a range of studies Champion RDN Life Science Industry research and the importance and contribution of industry to NHS and social care within learning and development activities for RDN staff and stakeholders FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES Develop business cases/options papers for the RRDN leadership team to inform decisions regarding workforce and organisational development Working with the RRDN Finance team, provide accurate financial analysis for use by the RRDN Leadership team to inform strategic network wide decisions Provide effective management of any financial resources allocated for the successful development & delivery of high quality, cost effective learning and development as well as regional and national meetings or events to ensure value for money Proactively manage and review resource allocation, identifying areas of potential cost savings Procure and manage necessary hardware and software required for the design, development and delivery of learning and development, including annual subscriptions and licensing CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT Embed a culture of continuous improvement (CI) across the network in support of utilising shared CI methodologies to facilitate a learning organisation that meets measures of organisational maturity Promote the RDN as a learning organisation that uses the knowledge and skills of all members to improve performance and generate helpful and shared outputs and contribute to service improvement programmes Support the engagement from providers of NHS and social-care services, research participants and staff involved in portfolio research and relevant stakeholders in consultations about ways to improve the RDN service Ensure national systems and processes for the evaluation of all programmes of learning and development are adhered to, acting where performance falls short of expected standards Seek innovative ways of embedding digital enablement as a key workforce development strategy throughout the RRDN COMMUNICATION & STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT (NHS AND NON-NHS) Identify, establish and maintain working relationships with the relevant stakeholders and partners e.g. Clinical Trials Units, RSSs, Trust and regional R&D Directorates, commissioning bodies, patients, carers and the public and other relevant groups/individuals Work closely with staff and stakeholders, both within and outside the RRDN Host Organisation, to ensure a high-quality Workforce Development function that meets the needs of its customers. This will include working with learning and development teams, subject matter experts (i.e researchers, health and care providers, life sciences, etc), and liaison with external providers where appropriate Act as the main point of contact for all queries regarding the regional Workforce Development function Collaborate with NIHR infrastructure colleagues regionally and nationally to support a One NIHR approach to workforce development Work closely with regional and national communications teams to ensure learning and development opportunities are shared across a range of channels to engage new and existing groups Ensure local engagement of NHS organisations with the Workforce Development strategy of the RDN