Strategy Manager

£46,000 - £54,000 plus benefits

Reports to: Head of Strategy

Directorate: Strategy & Philanthropy

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full-time 35 hours per week

Location: Stratford, London

Office-based with high flexibility (the strategy team is in the office 2 days per week)

Closing date: Friday 25th September 23:55pm

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.

Recruitment process: Multiple stage competency-based interview process with an assessed task included in the final stage interview.

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.

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 Strategy Manager to join our small, high-performing in-house Strategy Team. As a Strategy Manager, you will support leaders at Cancer Research UK to set the organisation’s long-term direction and navigate complex choices that shape how we grow and evolve. You will work on Board-level priority projects across the breadth of the organisation, bringing clear thinking, structure, robust analysis and creativity to develop actionable recommendations that enable well-informed decisions.

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.

Cancer Research UK is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation, with 4000+ staff bringing in £700m+ revenue through a world-class fundraising and philanthropy operation and a network of 500+ shops. Our income enables us to fund scientific research through a network of 4000+ scientists, 90 research institutions and global partnerships. We also use evidence to influence public policy and to provide information to patients. Through our commercial arm - Cancer Research Horizons - we invest and partner to take scientific breakthroughs from the lab to the bedside, translating them into effective treatments and diagnostics for cancer patients.

In this role 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.

What will you be doing?

• Deliver strategy projects or workstreams within larger programmes, from initial scoping through to recommendations and handover.
• Translate ambiguous problems into clear questions, hypotheses and structured approaches, with guidance where needed.
• Develop and assess strategic options, including evaluating trade-offs, risks and implications, into clear, evidence-based recommendations that support effective decision-making.
• Navigate and balance multiple senior stakeholders’ perspectives, to achieve the best outcomes for CRUK.
• Conduct rigorous qualitative and quantitative analysis, drawing on internal data, external insight, and stakeholder input.
• Prepare high-quality papers and presentations for a range of audiences, including senior stakeholders and governance forums (Executive Board and Trustee-level).
• Work across a wide range of strategic topics and organisational challenges, quickly building understanding and applying structured thinking to new and unfamiliar areas.
• Work collaboratively with stakeholders across CRUK to gather input, build alignment, and support ownership of outcomes.
• Bring relevant external insight and perspective (e.g. market, partners, patient voice) into strategic thinking.
• Contribute to effective project delivery, managing your own work plan, timelines and priorities and support the transition from strategy to delivery, helping ensure recommendations are actionable and implemented.
• Contribute to building the capability, culture and ways of working of the Strategy Team and the strategic capability of the wider organisation.

What are we looking for?

• Educated to degree level or equivalent, with a strong foundation in business strategy or a related field.
• Experience of delivering strategy projects with proven impact on complex, organisational-level business decisions.
• Motivated by our mission, with an interest in (and ideally some exposure to) relevant sectors such as not-for-profit, fundraising, healthcare or life science.
• Able to break down complex issues into clear components, apply structured problem-solving approaches and standard strategy frameworks to real-world problems.
• Comfortable working across a wide range of topics in a fast-paced, evolving environment, with the ability to quickly get up to speed and adjust approach as new information or priorities emerge.
• Clear and effective communication skills, with experience producing clear, high-quality Board-level written outputs and presentations, and the ability to distil complexity into straightforward, actionable messages.
• Strong analytical capability, including experience working with data, building structured analysis and combining quantitative and qualitative inputs to generate meaningful insight.
• Sound business judgement, with interest in how organisations make strategic decisions and trade-offs and ability to understand organisational implications of decisions from multiple angles.
• Builds effective, collaborative relationships and influences through collaboration, even without formal authority.
• Well organised, with the ability to manage time across multiple priorities and deliverables, prioritise effectively, and consistently deliver high-quality work to deadlines, adapting approach as challenges arise.
• A strong team player who supports others, contributes positively to team culture, and is open to feedback and development.

Our organisation values 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.

For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: Linked In, 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.