Chief Strategy Officer in Poplar

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the UK's sovereign regulator for medicines, including biological medicines, medical devices, and blood products. Our primary purpose is to ensure that products intended for the UK market are safe and effective and to monitor the ongoing safety of licensed products.

The Chief Strategy Officer is responsible for setting and stewarding the organisation's long-term strategic direction and ensuring that the strategy is translated into clear priorities, policies, programmes and outcomes. The post-holder provides corporate leadership across strategy development, business planning, performance insight, governance, policy reform and delivery, and acts as the organisation's senior lead for economic growth and external strategic relationships.

This role leads the Strategy Group which sits at the centre of the organisation's coordination architecture, enabling greater clarity, alignment, prioritisation, sequencing, and coherence across the organisation. The role operates at executive level, advising the Chief Executive, Chair, Executive Committee and Board, and represents the organisation with Ministers, senior officials, national partners and external stakeholders.

High level responsibilities are:

• Provide authoritative strategic advice to the Chief Executive and Chair, Executive Committee and Board on emerging risks, opportunities and external trends.
• Translate long-term strategy into annual business plans, corporate priorities and measurable outcomes.
• Own the annual business planning cycle, ensuring strong integration between strategy, resources, risk and delivery.
• Lead the organisation's business intelligence and performance framework, providing high-quality analysis, insight and reporting to support decision-making.
• Ensure corporate governance, organisational risk management and compliance frameworks are in place that ensure high standards of transparency, assurance and accountability.
• Lead and manage the Private Office, including oversight of briefings, correspondence and diary coordination for the Chief Executive and Chair.
• Provide executive oversight of project delivery across the organisation, ensuring delivery is aligned to strategic priorities.
• Lead and sponsor the Enterprise Portfolio Management Office (EPMO), embedding strong portfolio management, prioritisation and benefits realisation.
• Provide strategic leadership on policy and regulatory reform, including UK-wide and EU-derived reforms and primary/secondary legislation.
• Act as the organisation's senior interface with sponsoring departments and partners on policy development and legislative change.
• Lead the organisation's UK national partnerships, building effective relationships with government, regulators, agencies and delivery bodies.
• Contribute as a full member of the Executive Committee to collective leadership, culture and organisational effectiveness.

Person specification

It is essential that the CV and personal statement provide evidence and examples of your experience in each of the essential criteria listed below and the main duties of the role listed in the previous section:

• Senior / executive leadership experience in complex organisations, with a proven track record of delivering strategy in politically or regulated environments.
• Strong experience in business planning, performance management and governance, including the delivery of major programmes, change portfolios and complex organisational change.
• Experience of policy development, regulatory frameworks and/or legislative processes.
• Excellent judgment, political awareness and the ability to balance competing priorities.
• Understanding of the UK life science industry and the life science regulatory environment.
• Highly effective influencing skills, communication and political awareness with the personal credibility to gain the trust of a diverse range of senior stakeholders within and outside government, and national partners.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £105,000, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency contributes £30,418 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Learning and development tailored to your role, an environment with flexible working options, a culture encouraging inclusion and diversity, and a Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% are included.

As well as offering a great place to work, MHRA offers a supporting benefits package for its employees at work and outside of work.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application; however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified, applications may be withdrawn.

Selection process details

Deadline for submission by 23:55 17th September 2026, providing the documents outlined below:

• A two-page CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements.
• A Statement of Suitability explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role.
• A Diversity Monitoring Form.

MHRA is a Disability Confident Employer under the government's Disability Confident Scheme which denotes organisations that have a positive commitment towards disabled people. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum selection criteria are guaranteed an interview.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found.