About the job

Job summary

We are currently looking for a Head of Respiratory, Critical Care and Imaging to lead our Benefit Risk Respiratory Critical Care and Imagining Evaluation Team within the Safety & Surveillance group.

This is a full-time opportunity, on a permanent basis. The role will be based in 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf London, E14 4PU. Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas.  

Government departments and agencies are working towards implementing a minimum 60% attendance in office sites.

We are currently implementing a flexible, hybrid way of working, with a minimum of 4 days per month working on site to enable the collaboration and contact with partners and stakeholders needed to deliver MHRA business. Attendance on site is driven by business needs so depending on the nature of the role, this can flex up to 8 days a month, with the remainder of time worked either remotely or in the office. Some roles will need to be on site more regularly. Remote working is potentially available for some specific roles. Please discuss this with the recruiting manager before accepting an appointment. 

 

Who are we? 

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency enhance and improve the health of millions of people every day through the effective regulation of medicines and medical devices, underpinned by science and research.  

The Safety and Surveillance Group brings together into a single integrated structure devices and medicines safety expertise with enforcement capabilities. These functions will be supported by our data and evidence generating capabilities complementing our signal generating capabilities produced via the new Safety Connect System. 

Medicines and devices have traditionally been regulated separately largely driven by different regulatory processes and ways of working. As science and technology drives increasing understanding of disease, it is also opening new opportunities for treatments with both functions.  Product profiles are changing, becoming ever more complex and the boundaries between functions are blurring. These changes provide a unique opportunity to bring functional capabilities together to better address the regulatory challenges of the future. Against this background and the drive to improve treatment availability for patients, safety remains at the heart of our decision making. As such the core objective of the Safety & Surveillance Group is to protect the public from risks associated with medicines and medical devices by:

 

• Ensuring a world class, comprehensive vigilance system that can promptly detect and monitor signals across the product life cycle.
• Evaluating the benefit risk of signals and developing effective and measurable risk mitigation measures.
• Deploying innovative interventions to reduce the criminal threat.
• Exploiting data and embracing new technologies to develop the evidence to support our actions and understand their impact.

Job description

What’s the role?

The purpose of this role is to provide strategic leadership and management to a team of benefit-risk evaluation assessors in defined therapeutic areas within the Risk/Benefit function to ensure that safe and effective medicines and medical devices continue to be available to UK patients. The post holder will bring together medicine and medical devices expertise to ensure effective matrix working across the Benefit-Risk Evaluation functions, the wider Safety and Surveillance Group and Agency life-cycle Groups to see that scientific, technical, non-clinical and clinical benefit-risk assessment of potential safety issues takes place promptly and contributes to sound regulatory decisions regarding safety and performance.

 

Key responsibilities: 

• Lead and manage the Benefit Risk Evaluation work of the therapeutic team in line with One Agency aspirations to ensure the effective contributions to, and delivery, of the Agency business plan in their defined therapeutic area in this case Respiratory, Critical Care and Imaging.
• Provide leadership to a diverse team of scientific, technical, non-clinical and clinical staff, including developing SMART objectives, ensuring a high standard of benefit risk evaluation and supporting professional development.
• Effective management of the therapeutic team to ensure operational efficiency and continuous quality improvement to maintain adherence to Agency performance measures, Group targets, benefit risk assessment deadlines, ensuring allocation of resources to effectively meet targets and ensure patients and the public are involved in all aspects of benefit-risk decision making to improve patient safety outcomes.
• Ensure the therapeutic team can make autonomous decisions based on the available evidence, accepting that evidence may be incomplete and/or inconclusive, seeking expert advice and/or Expert Advisory Committee support where necessary.

Person specification

Who are we looking for? 

Our successful candidate will: 

 

• Be open and transparent and puts patients and patient safety at the centre of decision making.
• Demonstrate highly developed interpersonal skills and an ability to develop relationships with diverse stakeholders and influence without authority where necessary to bring about changes and improvements to patient safety.
• Experience of working at a senior level, communicating effectively with a range of senior level stakeholders.
• Experience of acting within regulations to mitigate risks to patients.
• Experience of leading and/or managing diverse, multidisciplinary teams and work programmes to deliver results to tight deadlines.

 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,000, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency contributes £20,250 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

If you would like to find out more about this fantastic opportunity, please read our Job Description and Person Specification! 

 

Please note: The job description may not open in some internet browsers. Please use Chrome or Microsoft Edge. If you have any issue viewing the job description, please contact careers@mhra.gov.uk

he selection process: 

We use the Civil Service Success Profiles to assess our candidates, find out more here. 

 

• Online application form, including a statement of suitability, attached as a PDF demonstrating how you meet the person specification (Behaviours, Experience and Technical criteria). Please ensure all application questions are completed in full; your application may not be considered if any responses are left blank. Our applications are CV blind, and our Hiring Managers will not be able to access your CV when reviewing your application. Please ensure not to include any personal identifying information on your supporting information.
• Interview, which can include questions based on the Behaviour, Experience, Technical and Strengths Success Profiles. 

 

Applicants are assessed on whether they meet any mandatory requirements as well as the necessary skills and experience for the role. Applications are scored based on the statement of suitability provided. You can view the criteria for this role in the job description.

 

If you require any disability related adjustments at any point during the process, please contact careers@mhra.gov.uk as soon as possible. 

  

Closing date: 22 January 2024

Interview date: 29 January and 02 February 2024 

 

If you need assistance applying for this role or have any other questions, please contact careers@mhra.gov.uk 

 

Candidates will be subject to UK immigration requirements as well as Civil Service nationality rules. Further information on whether you are able to apply is available here. 

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check as well as animal rights and pro-life activism checks. People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Any move to the MHRA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility here.

 

Successful candidates may be subject to annual Occupational Health reviews dependent on role requirements. If you have any queries, please contact careers@mhra.gov.uk.

 

In accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles our recruitment and selection processes are underpinned by the requirement of selection for appointment on the basis of merit by a fair and open competition. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should firstly contact Mira Mepa, Head of Recruitment and Operations, Mira.Mepa@mhra.gov.uk.  

 

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at: civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk 

 

info@csc.gov.uk 

Civil Service Commission 

Room G/8 

1 Horse Guards Road 

London 

SW1A 2HQ 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.