Chair of the Health Research Authority

• Maintain the values of the board and the culture of the HRA so it continues to protect and promote the interests of patients and public in health and social care research, ensuring that the board listens to the public and patient voice and that the outcome of good research can benefit them in the future, whilst making it easier to do research that people can trust to help make the UK a great place to do research;

• be the public face of the HRA as a champion of its role, earning and maintaining people’s trust in research.

• Oversee strategic direction, working collaboratively across a national system of Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs), as well as with key organisations across the health and social care system;

• oversee the delivery of HRA’s vision for high quality health and social care research today which improves everyone’s health and wellbeing tomorrow;

• oversee the HRA’s contribution to the Government’s health and growth missions’ vision by making the UK a world leading place to do research which people can trust.

• Support and challenge the Executive Committee whilst providing leadership to the HRA, setting a vision and inspiring high standards;

• ensure risks are managed and appropriate financial controls are in place;

• lead the HRA board and its development, ensuring the board determines business priorities and fulfils duties;

• Chair HRA board meetings according to any statutory requirements and agreed policies and procedures, ensuring meetings are reported appropriately and actions are monitored and completed;

• ensure that the HRA carries out its statutory functions with regard to aspects of government policy as the Secretary of State directs, including compliance with statutory and administrative requirements for the use of public funds;

• act on behalf of the board between meetings on matters delegated, such as signing off documents or in response to approaches from external organisations on issues which do not require approval by the whole board;

• ensure the HRA operates proportionately to the risks it carries and the resources it has, both in terms of its own operations, and the way it regulates health and social care research.

• Maintain effective working relationships at senior levels with all key players in the health and social care sector, including Ministers, other ALB chairs, research funders including industry and charity and senior figures within academia;

• through support and regular appraisal, ensure a high performance from the HRA Chief Executive and Executive Committee, ensuring that operational and strategic objectives are achieved, and best practice is followed in leadership and people policies and behaviour.

The Health Research Authority is a non-departmental public body, set up in 2011 and established under The Care Act 2014 with a mission to protect NHS patients, their tissue, and their data when they are involved in research. We have transformed UK research regulation and governance by simplifying processes, removing duplication, and reducing timelines.

We have better supported the research community by putting people first. To make it easy to do research that people can trust, we:

• work with people to understand what they want research to look like and act on this so that they can trust research.
• make sure that people taking part in research are treated ethically and fairly by reviewing and approving health and social care research studies that involve people, their tissue, or their data.
• work with other organisations across the UK to make sure that, wherever you are, research studies can be set up smoothly and are always subject to the same scrutiny before they start.
• work with others to coordinate and standardise the way research is set up and managed.
• encourage and support transparency about research so that everyone can find out what research is taking place, and what it found.
• are one of the gatekeepers of patient data making sure that information is protected if it’s used for research.
• put in place and support the digital platforms to help research get set-up and managed in the UK.

Our 260 staff, who work at home and in our offices in Bristol, London, Manchester, Newcastle, and Nottingham, provide specialist advice and learning to researchers about research ethics and governance. They also develop policies concerning research ethics and governance and support our committees and advisory groups to deliver our services. Our staff work with users of our services to design and put in place the digital systems used by the sector to set up studies. and effectively administer the organisation.

We could not operate without our HRA Community. The Community is made up of our Research Ethics Committees (REC) members, Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG) members, and our Public Involvement Network (PIN) – which includes members of the public who have experience of, or have been impacted by, research.

They all make an invaluable contribution to our work and the experience of people taking part in research. They helps us make sure that people can trust the research that we approve, so the research findings can improve care. They give their time generously, enabling the HRA to operate efficiently and respond rapidly when needed.

To deliver our ambition to make it easier to do research that people can trust and ensure that health and social care research is conducted with and for everyone, it is important that we are informed by a range of insights and experiences that reflect the population we serve.

We can make better decisions by working with a diverse group of people and we work with our HRA Community to ensure working with us is a positive experience, open to everyone.

Board meetings are normally held at the main office on the 3rd Wednesday of every other month at:

No2 Redman Place

Stratford

London

E20 1JQ

Specific dates are as follows:

21 May 2025 (Public session)

9 July 2025 (Private session)

17 September 2025 (Public session)

19 November 2025 (Public session)

Please note – 1 meeting a year is held at one of the HRA’s other offices, Manchester, Nottingham, Bristol, Newcastle, and meetings also take place virtually.

• strong strategic leadership skills with a significant record of achievement at the highest levels in the public or private sector and the proven ability to lead an organisation through ongoing change and adaption, during a time of constrained finances and ideally involving a digital transformation

• the ability to drive forward the highest standards of board level and public sector accountability, including strong financial governance, probity and propriety, and developing executive and board experience

• demonstrable interest in the work of the HRA and understanding of the opportunities and challenges it faces, with experience in a relevant field including research regulation and governance, medicine, health or social care research or medical ethics

• excellent communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across organisational boundaries to lead and drive development and improvement. Adept at building productive and constructive relationships with multiple stakeholders.