Programme Director - NIHR Global Health Research

The Programme Director of Global Health Research has the following key responsibilities:

• Support the continued development of the Global Health Research portfolio strategy, working collaboratively across the NIHR and with DHSC and through external liaison with a diversity stakeholders, taking into account the overall policy framework and budgetary limit.
• Provide strategic leadership in the development of key structure(s)/mechanisms required for scoping and prioritising research themes and focus areas for thematic NIHR Global Health Research programmes.
• Maintain oversight of the academic and scientific direction of the NIHR Global Health Research portfolio, including the balance of its content, relevance, and responsiveness to needs and priorities of LMICs, the wider global health landscape and DHSC.
• Scientific oversight of the funded NIHR Global Health portfolio and research commissioning process.
• Play a key role in raising the profile and impact of the NIHR Global Health Research portfolio through external liaison and ambassadorial activities, both national and global.
• Strategic oversight, through the NIHR global health secretariat teams and in conjunction with DHSC, for the procedures adopted for commissioning and monitoring programmes, ensuring delivery of objectives and financial commitments.

In addition to above key responsibilities, the Programme Director is expected to:

• Play a leading role in representing the global health research portfolio across the NIHR, including contributions via the NIHR Strategy Board.
• Advise on scope (and content where applicable), to develop scoping/prioritisation and commissioning briefs.
• Ensure the quality of the programmes commissioning processes, making recommendations for funding to the DHSC, and to have an oversight of the feedback to applicants.
• Attend Funding Committees regularly (typically observing three to five 1– or 2–day meetings per year usually held in the UK).
• Contribute to ensuring timely delivery of funded projects, in collaboration with the Funding Committee Chairs and the NIHR Global Health secretariat teams. This includes reviewing scheme–level annual and final reports / documentation, risks and issues, requests for protocol changes, virements and variations to contract including contract extensions (both no cost or costed).
• Actively participate in the NIHR Strategy Board (usually three 2–day meetings per year in the UK).
• Chair and attend multiple key forums and meetings across the NIHR and beyond.

You will be expected to work effectively with the NIHR Global Health secretariat teams across three NIHR Coordinating Centres (located in Leeds, Twickenham and Southampton). You will be supported in delivery of this role by the relevant senior NIHR Coordinating Centre staff, a consultant advisor who provides scientific support and advice, and NIHR secretariat teams who will manage all aspects of the committee's work and who actively monitor and assure each global health scheme within the overall portfolio.

Candidates should note that a lot of face–to–face engagement is likely to take place in the UK and while travel expenses incurred while delivering the role's duties will be recompensed, the NIHR is committed to achieving high value for money on its ODA funding and as the UK's largest funder of health and care research, we recognise the key role we must play in driving and promoting 'net zero'.