Strategy Manager

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. Experience in fundraising, life sciences, healthcare or not-for-profits is a plus.

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