Senior Strategy Leader – High-Impact Initiatives

Cancer Research UK’s mission is to bring about a world where everybody can lead longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer. We are looking for a Senior Strategy Manager to join our small, high-performing in-house Strategy Team. The Strategy Team helps leaders at Cancer Research UK to make choices about its future, set its long-term strategy and direction, and coordinate its plans to help beat cancer faster. We work on Board and Council-level priorities that shape the future of the organisation, often involving complex, cross-organisational trade-offs and decisions that materially change how we operate. We act as independent advisors, helping leadership to navigate difficult choices, and ensure the organisation, our operations, and the choices we make are aligned and optimised to deliver our mission as effectively as possible. We bring insight, structure and creativity to challenging strategic questions, and foster a strong culture of learning and development.

This is a high-impact, high-visibility role, which requires strategic leadership, intellectual agility, and the ability to simplify complexity and drive clarity in ambiguous environments. As one of three Senior Strategy Managers in the team, you will lead major strategy projects, working directly with Executive Directors and Trustees. We are seeking candidates with substantial strategy experience either in top-tier management consultancy or in-house strategy teams, who have led complex, cross-organisational projects and worked directly with senior executives and board members. In return you’ll have the opportunity to shape decisions that influence how Cancer Research UK invests, grows, and evolves - across areas as diverse as scientific research, fundraising, retail, commercial ventures, and organisational design. You’ll be motivated by our mission and excited to work across the full breadth of what Cancer Research UK does. Experience in fundraising, life sciences, healthcare or not-for-profits is a plus.

What will I be doing?

• Lead, own, and manage high-impact strategy projects, from initial scoping, defining the approach, through to recommendations and decisions.
• Identify and frame key strategic questions, simplify complexity, and break down problems to generate new insights and drive actionable decisions.
• Navigate and balance multiple senior stakeholders’ perspectives, pushing back when needed, to achieve the best outcomes for CRUK.
• Influence - without direct line management - by working in partnership and collaboration with stakeholders across the organisation.
• Operate at pace in a dynamic environment, managing scope, resources, competing priorities and your own workload, across multiple projects.
• Conduct rigorous qualitative and quantitative analysis to explore complex strategic issues and support evidence-based decision-making.
• Bring external insight - from market trends, partners, competitors, and people affected by cancer - to inform strategic choices and direction.
• Coach and support Strategy Managers and other colleagues across CRUK to build strategic capability, navigate ambiguity, and unblock delivery challenges.
• Build strong, collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders to enable effective strategy development and execution.
• Synthesise insights into clear, compelling recommendations and produce high-quality papers and presentations for senior audiences, including Executive and Trustee meetings.

What are we looking for?

• Proven experience leading and delivering organisational strategy projects at pace - from defining the scope to driving decisions and transitioning to delivery.
• Confidence and credibility in engaging with Board-level stakeholders, navigating unfamiliar subject areas, simplifying complexity, and guiding decision-making.
• Breadth of cross-organisational experience and project types (e.g. long-term strategy, reviewing a major part of the business, strategic options assessment to drive growth, organisation design).
• Ability to draw on deep personal experience to tackle new and complex strategic challenges, think creatively, and proactively define effective approaches to deliver the work.
• Strong strategic thinking - able to interpret complex information, see the big picture, and apply financial and business acumen to manage trade-offs and support conclusions.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills - able to distil complexity into clear, actionable insight that enables major organisational decisions.
• A collaborative team player who can lead, support, and coach others effectively, contribute to building the team and a good place to work.
• Comfortable working flexibly in a fast-changing environment.
• Numerate and financially literate, with the ability to analyse and model data, and communicate findings in a clear and accessible way.

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.

How do I apply?

We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won’t be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you fairly and objectively. For more information on this career opportunity please visit our website or contact us at recruitment@cancer.org.uk.

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.