Payments Strategy Specialist in Stratford-upon-Avon

Bold innovation and leadership. £530m income. Impacting the future.

Internally, this role is known as a Payments Specialist.

£60,000 - £65,000 (+ Benefits)

Grade: P3

Reports to: Head of Finance Operations with a matrix line into the Head of Propositions

Contract: 18 month fixed‐term contract

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week

Location: Stratford, London. Office‐based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office)

Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.

Closing date: 02 March 2026 23:55. This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications is received or once a suitable candidate is found, therefore we strongly recommend that you apply early to avoid disappointment.

If you require more time to apply as part of a reasonable adjustment, please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk as soon as possible.

Recruitment process: Two competency‐based interviews with an exercise included. Interview date: From the week commencing 02/09 March 2026.

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer. We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. But we need to go much further and much faster. That’s why we’re looking for someone talented, someone who wants to develop their skills, someone like you.

Cancer Research UK is a large and complex organisation, raising £530m from supporters and £135m through trading in 2024/25 across a wide range of income streams — from physical cash and cheques to online payments, direct debit, card payments, Open Banking and A2A. Managing this income, generously given by the public, is critical to the smooth running of our organisation, the experience we provide to supporters, and our commitment to fund life‐saving research.

To meet this responsibility, our Finance Operations and Propositions teams are delivering an ambitious Giving & Payments strategy designed to modernise our payment capabilities, maximise value, and safeguard the charity through robust security and regulatory compliance.

As a Payments Strategy Specialist, you’ll serve as our subject matter expert on payments and emerging payment technologies, playing a pivotal role in shaping and delivering this strategy and associated transformation initiatives. You’ll ensure our payment infrastructure evolves to meet the needs of our diverse supporters, partners, and suppliers.

This will involve providing strategic leadership while collaborating across the organisation to deliver hands‐on payment management, drive innovation, reduce risk, optimise savings, and unlock new opportunities for growth. You’ll also ensure our payment processes remain secure and fully compliant with all relevant regulations.

Your legacy by the end of this contract will be to have laid the foundations of a modern, secure, and future‐ready payments ecosystem that strengthens Cancer Research UK’s ability to reach our goal of beating cancer. If you’re an experienced payments leader with a proven record of transforming payment products and processes across multiple income streams in large organisations, we would love for you to join our mission.

What will I be doing?

• Strategic Advisory & Risk Management
  • Advising on payment trends, regulations, and innovations for regular donations, one‐time payments, and marketplace transactions.
  • Assessing and mitigating risks associated with delays in payment strategy implementation, ensuring compliance and continuity.
  • Defining clear governance and change management plans.
  • Ensuring payment processes are secure and compliant with regulations.
• Laying the foundations
  • Utilising subject matter expertise to lead the assessment, scoping, and redesign of Cancer Research UK’s payment landscape, infrastructure, and strategy.
  • Producing a unified view of payment strategy and associated action plans.
  • Reviewing insight and business cases to identify opportunities for improvement.
  • Reporting and tracking progress on actions, mitigating risks and escalating barriers.
• Optimising & innovating
  • Leading initiatives to introduce new payment capabilities and propositions (including methods like Open Banking, A2A, and recurring payments).
  • Collaborating with Product and Technology teams to deliver enhancements that improve supporter experience and operational efficiency.
  • Driving test‐and‐learn pilots on payment innovations.
  • Identifying opportunities for savings.
  • Review contracts and processes to identify cost‐saving opportunities and with suppliers to maximise value for the charity.
• Leading cross‐functionally
  • Collaborating cross‐functionally, acting as a liaison to ensure financial operations are fully aligned with Cancer Research UK’s strategic priorities and objectives.
  • Building credible and collaborative relationships across commercial, Product, Technology, Engineering, senior leadership, and the wider charity to define priorities and deliver against objectives.

What skills will I need?

• Payments product or proposition expert who has operated within large merchant or acquiring businesses that handle a multiple‐thousands of transactions across multiple income streams.
• Expert knowledge of payment flows, alternative payment methods, and processing systems, with experience ensuring all processes are secure and fully compliant with regulatory requirements.
• A strategic and innovative leader with a successful track record of developing and delivering commercially sound payment strategies and driving complex, cross‐functional projects in high‐growth environments.
• Has built credible and collaborative stakeholder relationships with strong interpersonal, communication, influencing, and negotiating skills (including senior leadership, Technology, and Product teams).
• Commercially minded with experience managing supplier relationships and driving financial value through partnerships and payment processes.
• A resilient and adaptable leader with experience driving change and leading and motivating teams and stakeholders in navigating ambiguity and responding to evolving business needs.
• A proactive, solutions‐focused approach to problem‐solving, encouraging innovation, promoting best practices, and challenging conventional organisational approaches and thinking.

Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do:

• Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination
• Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism
• Human: Act to have a positive impact on people
• Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively

We’re looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.

If you’re interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience we’d still love to hear from you.

What will I gain?

We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high‐quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work‐life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.

You can explore our benefits by visiting our careers web page.

For more information about working with us please visit our website or contact us at recruitment@cancer.org.uk.

For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under‐represented.

We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen. Please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.