Head of Strategy and Partnership Development (Health and Life Sciences)

You will lead delivery of SC1 London's catalyst strategy, working closely with the SC1 London Board, founding partners and wider ecosystem to turn strategic priorities into action and demonstrable impact. You will develop SC1 London's health and life sciences partnership model and identify opportunities that bring organisations together around shared priorities, such as strategic partnerships, innovation initiatives and joint funding opportunities. You will develop the activity plan and impact framework for year two of the catalyst strategy, working with the SC1 London team and presenting to and gaining approval from the SC1 London Board. You will provide high-quality strategic advice and briefings to senior leaders, contribute to SC1 London and partner Boards, oversee delivery against the strategy's impact framework, manage relevant resources and budgets, and represent SC1 London with partners locally, nationally and internationally., As Head of Strategy and Partnership Development (Health and Life Sciences), you will:

• Lead activation and delivery of SC1 Londons two-year catalyst strategy and oversee progress against its activity plan and impact framework.
• Develop SC1 Londons health and life sciences partnership model, building effective relationships across public, academic, charitable and commercial organisations.
• Work across the seven founding partners and three innovation clusters to identify and mobilise collaborative programmes, strategic partnerships and funding opportunities.
• Provide strategic advice, briefings and recommendations to the SC1 London Board and senior leaders, including for engagement with policymakers, investors and external partners.
• Build strong relationships across Londons health and life sciences ecosystem, including SMEs and other innovation districts.
• Translate national, regional and local policy and growth priorities into opportunities for SC1 London and its partners.
• Lead complex cross-organisational programmes, using influence, negotiation and excellent political judgement to build consensus and deliver results.
• Manage relevant resources and budgets and ensure robust monitoring of delivery and impact., Proactive and delivery-focused: Self-motivated, resilient and comfortable operating with autonomy, ambiguity and competing priorities while maintaining a strong focus on outcomes.
• Collaborative and credible: Able to build trust and effective relationships with people from different organisations, professions and levels of seniority, adapting approach appropriately.
• Constructive challenge and integrity: Willing to listen, question and appropriately challenge different perspectives while demonstrating openness, honesty, integrity and sound professional judgement.

Desirable

• Influential system leader: Demonstrates the credibility, curiosity and personal influence to engage others around a shared ambition and help create momentum for improvement.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
We are looking for an experienced strategic leader who can operate confidently across organisational boundaries, navigate complexity of multi-organisation partnerships and translate strategy into impactful delivery. You will bring substantial health and life sciences experience and a strong track record of building partnerships, influencing senior stakeholders and delivering complex programmes.,

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience with evidence of continued learning/development and/or further study, Senior health and life science experience: Considerable senior management experience within health and life sciences, with relevant experience of the NHS, university, commercial, local government and/or charitable sectors.
• Complex strategy, programme and change leadership: Strong track record of developing strategy and successfully leading complex programmes/change across organisational boundaries, translating strategic priorities into demonstrable delivery.
• Partnership development and system working: Extensive experience of developing and delivering partnerships in complex, multi-agency environments, working collaboratively across organisational and professional boundaries.
• Health and life sciences ecosystem: Strong understanding of the health and life sciences environment and the relationships between healthcare, academia, government, communities and commercial organisations., London and place-based experience: Knowledge of London's health and life sciences ecosystem and/or experience of working across local systems and communities, with particular relevance to Lambeth and Southwark.
• Financial and people management: Evidence of managing budgets/resources and successfully leading, developing and performance-managing staff and/or teams., Strategic and analytical capability: Demonstrable ability to think strategically and creatively, analyse complex issues, exercise sound judgement and translate ambiguity into practical, deliverable solutions.
• Senior stakeholder influence and political judgement: Highly developed influencing, negotiation and relationship-management skills, with the political awareness and credibility to work with senior leaders and reconcile differing organisational interests.
• Leadership and collaborative delivery: Ability to lead and motivate people across organisational boundaries, create common purpose and deliver through matrix and partnership arrangements where direct authority may be limited.
• Communication and engagement: Excellent written, verbal, presentation and facilitation skills, including the ability to communicate complex or sensitive information clearly to senior and diverse audiences.
• Organisation and delivery: Ability to manage significant and competing workloads, anticipate and resolve problems and maintain high-quality delivery in a complex and changing environment., Innovation and system thinking: Demonstrable ability to look beyond established organisational structures and ways of working to develop innovative approaches to partnerships, programmes or service delivery., Proactive and delivery-focused: Self-motivated, resilient and comfortable operating with autonomy, ambiguity and competing priorities while maintaining a strong focus on outcomes.
• Collaborative and credible: Able to build trust and effective relationships with people from different organisations, professions and levels of seniority, adapting approach appropriately.
• Constructive challenge and integrity: Willing to listen, question and appropriately challenge different perspectives while demonstrating openness, honesty, integrity and sound professional judgement., Influential system leader: Demonstrates the credibility, curiosity and personal influence to engage others around a shared ambition and help create momentum for improvement.
  This is an exciting opportunity to play a leading role in SC1 London - one of London's major health and life sciences innovation districts.

SC1 London is a health and life sciences innovation district in south central London. The district is a unique ecosystem of people, places and partners dedicated to world-leading innovation in health and life sciences, all in the heart of the UK's capital. SC1 London has seven founding partners: Lambeth Council, Southwark Council, Guys & St Thomas Foundation, and Kings Health Partners (which is formed of King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital, and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts). As we build momentum as one of London's innovation districts, this is an exciting time to join SC1 London. Responding to the National Industrial Strategy, London Growth Plan, London Local Improvement Skills Plan (LSIP) and Life Sciences Jobs Plan, SC1 London has the opportunity to support the delivery of national and regional agendas for inclusive growth. Together, we are developing a globally recognised health and life sciences innovation district across three distinctive clusters: The BioMed cluster at London Bridge, MedTech cluster at Waterloo and Mental Health and Neuroscience cluster at Denmark Hill. Our catalyst strategy was published in June2026 and the focus is now firmly on impact and delivery, demonstrating the contribution our ecosystem can make to London and the UK.

The post is hosted by King's Health Partners, with Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust as the formal employer.

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