LIVERPOOL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE
DEPARTMENT OF CLINICAL SCIENCES
TROPICAL CLINICAL TRIALS UNIT /

JOB DESCRIPTION

Posts:Information Systems Developer

Responsible to:Professor Luis Cuevas

Contract:3-year contract in the first instance

The Tropical Clinical Trials Unit (tCTU) at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM)seeks to appoint anInformation Systems Developer. The tCTU is a newly established and expanding unit with a remit to provide specialist expert statistical, epidemiological, IT and other methodological advice and to contribute to the coordination of trials in in the field of tropical medicine in low and middle income countries. The tCTU ensures that the conduct and the delivery of the trials are of the highest quality and benefit populations of poor-resource countries.

The appointee will join a multidisciplinary team addressing high-burden diseases, including malaria, pneumonia, HIV, neglected tropical diseases and tuberculosis. The focus of the unit is the support of phase II/III and large-scale global health trials (e.g. evaluating different strategies of health care delivery), but also covers other types of descriptive and analytical studies resulting in a varied and interesting range of studies.

The successful candidate will work within the tCTU to support the development and maintenance of research data management solutions throughout LSTM research activities and may occasionally require overseas travel for short periods of time. In agreement with the director of the tCTU, the candidate will also provide more general research data management support and advice for other research activities within LSTM.

LSTM

LSTM is a world renowned institution with a strong track record in high quality medical research, postgraduate training and technical assistance. LSTM conducts research across a broad range of diseases affecting people in low resource settings, including HIV-infection, tuberculosis, malaria, pneumonia, neglected tropical diseases and neonatal and maternal health. Its international excellence standing is demonstrated in the HEFCE research performance and a research portfolio of over £250m, 366 staff and more than 300 postgraduate students. Our portfolio ranges from basic research through to large drug trials and applied health service research, with teams working in trials, research synthesis and modelling.

LSTM has important strategic partnerships with the Wellcome Trust Tropical Centre, the Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Programme and the Malawi-Liverpool-Glasgow Wellcome Programme of Clinical Tropical Research and leads a large number of research centres and consortiums. The Centre for Applied Health Research and Delivery (CAHRD) initiative within LSTM includes a strategic partnership with the University of Warwick and Lancaster University which offer opportunities to link with a larger network of information system developers and statisticians.

tCTU

The tCTU is a newly established unit in LSTM with the remit to provide specialist expert statistical, epidemiological and other methodological advice as well as contributing to the coordination of LSTM sponsored research involving humans (RCTs, epidemiological/ observational studies, surveys, etc.). The Unit operates within a stimulating environment comprising medical statisticians, mathematicians, epidemiologists, IT / data management specialists, and clinical and basic scientists. The tCTU is based in Liverpool but virtually all the research supported is carried out through partner institutions worldwide (predominantly in the tropics); the tCTU has collaborative relationships with many of these partners. The post holders regularly visit these partners and trial sites as an essential element of its commitment to ensure that the conduct and the delivery of the trials are of the highest quality and benefit to the populations of poor-resource countries.

Summary of the Role:

The post holder will be part of LSTM's tCTU and will work in in close partnership with data managers, medical statisticians, epidemiologists and principal investigators on a wide range of LSTM sponsored studies involving humans, predominantly in tropical and/or resource limited settings but also in the UK.While many of these studies will be standard clinical trials, epidemiological studies and medical surveys, LSTM is at the forefront in developing innovative methods for evaluatinghealthcare interventions / delivery systems / disease control strategies so work also will involve supporting and developing activities such as cluster-randomised public health trials and/or surveys evaluating both new and existing tools.

Working with multidisciplinary teams, you will have responsibility for ensuring that timely, appropriate and high quality research data management solutions are developed and maintained to support this research effort. You will be expected to contribute information systems expertise at the planning and implementation stages of studies.As LSTM’s research activities are growing rapidly, you will also be expected to take the lead in developing and expanding research information system services and provision within the tCTU, ensuring that these use the most up-to-date technologies available.

The successful candidate will be based in LSTM, but would be expected to travel overseas periodically for short periods of time in the tropics. In agreement with the director of the tCTU, the candidate will also provide more general research data management support and advice for other research activities within LSTM

Responsibilities:

Main Duties/ Key Responsibilities:

  • Design and develop research data management solutions for clinical and epidemiological studies.
  • Consider both back-end organisation of data and front-end accessibility for end-users
  • Improve current systems by analysing and identifying areas for modification
  • Design and develop integration tools for data received from partner institutions in various formats
  • Draft technical specifications and test plans for systems
  • Develop procedures for regular and properly documented back-up of research databases
  • Develop audit trails for any amendments to the database in compliance with regulatory requirements
  • Draft database documentation, including data standards, procedures and definitions for the data dictionary (metadata)

Other responsibilities:

  • Manage and update medical coding dictionaries including, but not limited to, MedDRA and WHODrug
  • Write queries to interrogate study databases and produce simple descriptive statistical reports
  • Extract and manipulate subsets of data for more complex statistical analyses
  • Develop and implement systems to allow authorised users to access data
  • Develop, test and implement back-up and recovery plans
  • Ensure that storage, archiving, back-up and recovery procedures are functioning correctly
  • Communicate regularly with technical and operational staff to ensure database integrity and security
  • Manage and implement upgrades to databases
  • Contribute to the development of LSTM scientific computing resources
    PERSON SPECIFICATION

Information Systems Developer

Criteria / Competency / Essential / Desirable / Assessment
Education & Training / A degree or equivalent in a computer science or related scientific/numerate subject / Essential / Application Form/CV
Demonstrable programming experience in languages such as HTML, PHP, JavaScript, Perl, Shell, Visual Basic, .net, C++, Android (java) etc / Essential
Experience / Working knowledge of RDBMS such as MS SQL and/or Oracle / Essential / Application Form,
Assessment
Experience of database management using large relational databases / Essential
Experience of writing databases, with evidence of a well-structured and methodical approach to large programming tasks / Essential
Significant experience in a systems developer related role / Essential
Experience of developing web based information systems, such as ODK. / Essential
Experience of electronic data capture and mobile operating systems (i.e. Windows Mobile and Android)Advanced SQL (Transact-SQL,PL/SQL,MS SQL) / Desirable
Experience of managing Linux s farms / Essential
Experience of designing systems that use forms and reports to manipulate data in these systems / Desirable
Good working knowledge of MS Access, MS Project and MS Sharepoint / Desirable
Knowledge managing web servers including Apache Web Server, Apache Tomcat Server & / Desirable
Knowledge / Knowledge and experience with EMEA/ FDA regulations and guidance (e.g., 21 CFR Part 11, ICH/GCP, E2b format). / Desirable / Assessment and Interview
Skills & Abilities / Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, analytical and organisational skills / Essential / Assessment and Interview
Proven track record of creating, testing and debugging data driven solutions / Essential
Ability to work independently and as a team player, in a multi-disciplinary environment / Essential
Sound operating knowledge and use of Microsoft’s family of operating systems and it’s Office Suite (Access, Word, Excel) / Essential
Demonstrable advanced SQL programming skills / Essential
Meticulous and accurate in all aspects of work / Essential
Special Aptitude / Ability to work in a self-sufficient manner and formulate ideas for further developments to be discussed with the collaborators / Essential / Assessment and Interview
Ability to work under pressure to meet tight timelines / Essential
Circumstances / Flexible with regard to work objectives and working arrangements
Ability to travel overseas frequently, occasionally for periods of several weeks

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