Director of Research, Innovation & Academic Partnerships (RIAP)

NHS Lanarkshire is recruiting a new Director of Research, Innovation & Academic Partnerships, the first of its kind in NHS Lanarkshire. This is a major leadership role that presents a unique, exciting – and high-profile - opportunity to shape the future of healthcare research and innovation (R&I) in NHS Lanarkshire, and to drive forward, strengthen and further-integrate collaborative working with our key academic partner universities.

The post is a part-time role (envisaged as half-time / 5 PAs/ 0.5 Whole Time Equivalent) with flexibility to work across 3 to 5 days per week. The remainder of the role will be dependent on the candidate’s own background and commitments, but may include clinical duties, research or other academic work.

NHS Lanarkshire is the third largest health board in Scotland. It serves a population of 655,000 across rural and urban communities in Lanarkshire and employs around 12,000 staff working in communities, health centres, clinics and offices, and at its three University Hospitals – University Hospital Hairmyres, University Hospital Monklands and University Hospital Wishaw.

NHS Lanarkshire has progressed over recent years to be one of Scotland’s most research-active boards, with around 200 high-quality research studies taking place in any given year; this includes externally funded academic research, commercial clinical trials of investigational medicines and medical device trials. The Board’s involvement in local, regional and national innovation activities is evolving, and growth in this area a key focus.

The Director of RIAP will be an accomplished researcher with a proven ability to lead and facilitate the development and implementation of an effective research vision and strategic plan for Lanarkshire. The appointee will work within both academic and clinical environments to enhance and further the opportunities for innovative research to improve the quality of care and outcomes for NHS Lanarkshire patients in line with the Board’s Healthcare strategy, ‘Our Health Together – Living Our Best Lives in Lanarkshire’.

The successful candidate will have a key role in the objective of creating, expanding and sustaining present and new academic partnerships towards a world class centre of excellence for clinical research across all academic institutions aligned with NHS Lanarkshire.

The Director of RIAP will report directly to the Executive Medical Director. They will foster relationships through engagement with key internal and external stakeholders, to build and engage multidisciplinary research programs of scale and focus that are both excellent and impactful for our Lanarkshire population.

We recognise that this post may be of interest to appropriately skilled and experienced individuals from a medical and non-medical background. We would not wish to preclude suitable applicants and would welcome further discussion with NHS Lanarkshire’s Executive Medical Director in the first instance.

If you wish an informal discussion with me about the role, I can be contacted through Jacqueline Logan on 01698 752863 or alternatively by email jacqueline.logan@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk.

For more information on the role, please refer to the Job Description. If you’re looking for more information on the recruitment process, organisation or the services we provide, please refer to our information pack, or our recruitment webpage.

Closing date: Sunday 7th September 2025.

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Director of Research, Innovation & Academic Partnerships (RIAP)