Operational Lead Review

I oversee an extensive portfolio of clinical trials, each with a trial manager and a team of data managers. I am responsible for budgeting and strategic planning and for the team management of staff. I have to interact with many stakeholders, from temporary admin staff to senior clinicians and regulatory personnel. I am responsible for ensuring trials run well and assisting in the development of new work.

During my apprenticeship, I gained an internal promotion and have been able to implement much of the learning from my course throughout my daily work. this ranges from project management and tracking, to budgeting and forecasting, through to softer skills such as conflict resolution and staff recruitment and ongoing development.

Since my role change, I have had a break in learning due to the busy nature of my new role. My apprenticeship team has been supportive and pragmatic and helped me to better plan my course work such that I am able to complete it alongside my new, busier schedule.

The taught aspect of the course are well planned out and executed. They are interactive and also forgiving of differing work situations (e.g. urgent calls to be taken on a teaching day!) This practical and pragmatic attitude allows the students to give their best, knowing that they are working alongside the tutor with the same goal.

My employer has been encouraging and supportive, and in fact were the people who suggested I start the course during one of my annual appraisals. They were helpful in fact-finding for the course and weaving my coursework into my daily duties. Since I have changed role, I am able to plan my own work with it in mind.

My training provider has provided me with invaluable support and encouragement from the first day. Not only during the initial months when I was unsure at what level I should be producing work. But discussing and offering my break in learning to allow me to take on my new role without detriment to my studies.

I feel that this qualification has been an essential underpinning to gaining an understanding of my role. The understanding of team dynamics, at a micro and macro level, and a more comprehensive view of how we all work together has been a key aspect to my new role which involves managing over 15 people directly.

The University of Oxford has many extra-curricular activities in which to get involved. Some are organised on a wider, University level, and some are organised with each department, or perhaps even within the working groups with each department. We have organised departmental Away Days, networking and social events year round.

Yes

The University is a well-equipped and stable employer. It allows you to work and then move between departments whilst keeping your employee status, therefore creating no gap in your employment record or pension contributions. It has a generous salary sacrifice and annual leave scheme and its salary scales are transparent with opportunities for development with your role.

The University is a fair and equal employer. They employ on merit and if you meet the criteria for a role, or can demonstrate that capacity as a translational skill, then you are likely to get an interview. The University is progressive in its outlook, certainly in the departments I have worked in, and is always looking for talent with room for development.