Programme Administrator

Royal College of Physicians

Hours
35 hours per week

About the Organisation

Royal College of Physicians is a rewarding and friendly place to work with an incredible history, dating back to our foundation in 1518. We are a professional membership body for physicians and doctors who work in hospitals with over 40,000 members in the UK and around the world, working to improve patient care and reduce illness.

Our activities focus on educating, improving, and influencing for better health and care. We work from two main sites: The Spine, a new state-of-the-art building at the heart of the Knowledge Centre in Liverpool, and an iconic Grade I-listed building overlooking beautiful Regent’s Park in central London.

We champion an inclusive culture and welcome applications from all sections of society. We value taking care, learning, and being collaborative. These values underpin everything we do. Join us to help achieve our vision of a world in which everyone has the best possible health and healthcare.

About the role

The programme administrator will be responsible for the administration relating to a number of areas. The successful candidate will arrange accreditation assessments, handle customer enquiries, process financial invoices, administer governance meetings and training events (virtual and in person), provide support to projects, and undertake general administrative tasks for the Accreditation Unit.

This is a fast-paced role that requires the post-holder to work closely with team members and external stakeholders. The AU comprises around 32 staff and 80 external accreditation assessors who work across six clinical areas. The accreditation unit is highly experienced and credible at leading professionally led and patient-centred clinical accreditation programmes as well as developing training packages for the endoscopy workforce. Each accreditation programme has a clinical lead and is supported by a multi-disciplinary steering group that includes patient representation.

Within the accreditation unit, the Improving Quality in Allergy Services (IQAS), established in 2015, the Quality in Primary Immunodeficiency Services (QPIDS), established in 2000, and the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Services Accreditation Scheme (PRSAS), established in 2018, all support improvement in their respective clinical services to ensure the highest quality of care for patients across the UK and Ireland.

Responsibilities

Programme & Project Administration:

• Assist clinicians with enquiries relating to accreditation, making clear the benefits of accreditation
• Organise accreditation assessments, and process applications and results; ensure a high-quality service is delivered and that the accreditation process is followed to programme standards
• Liaise with assessors, clinicians, and services to administer all aspects of the accreditation process from start to finish, ensure timelines are adhered to and that a high-quality service is delivered
• Update other team members on the progress of assessments during weekly meetings and escalate queries appropriately
• Keep up-to-date and accurate records
• Assist the team with administrative duties relating to quality improvement projects
• Contribute to the development of new guidance materials
• Continuously strive for improvement and proactively identify more efficient ways of working.

Communications:

• Be the first point of contact for external queries by telephone and email, and provide an excellent level of customer service
• Run a helpdesk service which responds to queries within agreed timescales. This may include providing guidance, assisting users to navigate various websites, resetting passwords and setting up new users
• Contribute to writing website copy, guidance materials and blogs
• Act as an ambassador for the programme by ensuring that documentation is branded consistently
• Work with the programme team to prepare regular newsletters using digital systems and other communications activities such as social media campaigns, keeping abreast of updates to ensure accurate comms
• Attend external meetings and events to maintain engagement by clinical teams and share programme news
• Take ownership of reviewing and updating the programme websites and the intranet page
• Conduct user testing for new website developments
• Ensure a high quality of presentation for all documents, including proofreading
• Contribute to documentation to help promote our programmes
• Respect confidentiality and uphold the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

Training Events and Governance Meetings:

• Provide administration for training events, including booking venues, accommodation and travel using RCP’s designated travel agent, and liaise with trainers, colleagues, and delegates
• Issue invitations for training events, process delegate registrations and maintain up-to-date and accurate delegate lists
• Prepare training material, including packs and online documentation, prepare agendas and slides
• Research best practices to maximise audience participation and engagement, for example, the use of polls and other innovative methods
• Present at workshops and training events (remote and in person)
• Collate and report on feedback from training events (remote and in-person)
• Maintain the training database and records
• Organise meeting dates as necessary, involving complex coordination of a number of people’s diaries, ensuring the quorum for each is available to attend
• Issue invitations for governance meetings, maintain up-to-date and accurate attendees’ lists
• Facilitate meetings by booking rooms, organising agendas, and booking travel and accommodation using the RCP’s designated travel agent
• Produce high-quality papers for the governance meetings, including drafting summary slides on behalf of the project manager and preparing materials to direct the accreditation pathway improvements
• Produce accurate and concise minutes and actions at governance meetings and circulate to the group in a timely manner
• Proactively liaise with clinical leads in reviewing and closing actions after each governance meeting
• Arrange team attendance at regional, national, and international events as required.

Quality Improvement Initiatives:

• Assist the programme team and clinical leads with the development of data collection, including drafting the data to be captured and seeking views from external stakeholders
• Assist with any accreditation forums and panels, acting as a key point of contact for liaison with the group
• Help with other improvement initiatives across the programmes and wider department.

Financial Responsibility:

• Take responsibility for raising invoices for the programmes
• Record and maintain an accurate log of all service payments and key details, such as the join date
• Attend regular meetings with the management team and finance colleagues to ensure payments are received in a timely manner, and queries are followed up with the service team
• Process invoices for payment, expense claims and other bills for travel, accommodation and teleconferences using a range of systems
• Take responsibility for setting up new debtors and suppliers
• Ensure value for money in all transactions.

Additional Duties:

• Administrative duties for all programmes
• Contribute to annual team planning and development processes
• Contribute to Accreditation Unit and wider team meetings
• Present at team meetings
• Learning from, and sharing ideas with, other teams both internally and externally
• Following robust information governance procedures to ensure confidentiality is maintained when using data
• Contribute to the work of the CQID directorate and wider RCP activities
• Undertake any other duties as may be reasonably expected and which are commensurate with the level of the post
• Adhere to and comply with the provisions of the RCP’s health and safety policy
• Undertake all duties and responsibilities in compliance with the rules and regulations encompassing equal opportunities.

Skills, Competencies, Experience & Attributes

Essential Experience:

• Good A-levels and equivalent, with excellent literacy and numeracy skills
• Relevant office administration experience
• Customer service experience
• Experience in handling customer queries, both written and verbal
• Experience in assisting with the planning and coordination of effective meetings and events
• Experience of working on committee-style meetings, including writing high-quality minutes of meetings
• Demonstrable experience of engaging and communicating with stakeholders effectively
• Experience in analysing data to produce reports using Microsoft Office
• Experience of working on multiple projects or workstreams at one time.

Essential Skills & Knowledge:

• Ability to work at a pace in a team and independently
• Ability to work on own initiative, delivering work to set deadlines and reacting to changing circumstances without compromising quality and standards
• Ability to identify improvements to existing processes and ways of working, making suggestions for change and improvement
• Problem-solving skills to determine the best course of action
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Excellent interpersonal skills and confidence, with the ability to liaise effectively with a wide range of multi-disciplinary staff
• Understand and interpret complex information, including data
• Ability to present to a multidisciplinary audience, distilling information in a suitable and engaging format
• Possesses a ‘can-do’ attitude, with a flexible approach to work and the ability to cope with changing demands
• Excellent IT skills (Microsoft Office, including Teams, Word, Excel, and Outlook)
• Uses a systematic approach to planning and organising.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of healthcare in the NHS and the independent sector
• Understanding of confidentiality and data protection legislation, including information governance.
• Experience in administration in a healthcare or related context
• Experience in digital communication and working with social media
• Experience of working as part of remote/ virtual teams.

Other:

• Willingness to travel occasionally.

Compensation & Benefits

• Annual leave
• Mental health activities and sessions
• Enhanced pension scheme
• Health cash plan and employee discounts

Working locations

• Hybrid model, working in the London office and remotely

How to apply

• Apply Now
• To submit your CV and a supporting statement (no more than 2 pages) explaining, with clear examples, how your skills and experience match the job description and person specification. Applicants who do not submit a relevant supporting statement as requested will not be shortlisted. 
• For an informal discussion about this role, candidates are welcome to contact our recruitment team on: Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 3075 1649
• Please note that we will be reviewing applications as they come in. Interviews could be arranged, and roles could be filled before the advertised closing date. We would therefore encourage those interested to apply as soon as possible.

Interviews

• Shortlisted candidates will be notified by 26th March 2026
• Interviewing date: 2nd April 2026

Policies

The RCP positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, transgender status, religion or belief, marital status or pregnancy and maternity. The RCP is all about our people our members, staff, volunteers and leaders.

We educate, influence and collaborate to improve health and healthcare for everyone and know we can only do this by being inclusive, encouraging and celebrating diverse perspectives. Welcoming into our community people who represent the 21st-century medical workforce and the diverse population of patients we serve is a priority for us.

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