Senior Research Manager, Vaccine Product Development

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation. We improve health for everyone by funding science, leading policy and advocacy campaigns, and building partnerships. We plan to spend £16bn over the next ten years, funding new discoveries in life, health, and wellbeing, and taking on three global health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health.

The Infectious Disease Solutions Programme (IDSP) is looking for up to 2 Senior Research Managers with a background in vaccine product development. You will help develop and deliver projects focused on early-stage vaccine development and the supporting environment required to see effective uptake of these products. We are keen to hear from individuals who have worked in early-stage vaccine development including preclinical studies and phase 1/2 studies, and with knowledge of how to embed equitable access considerations into early product development to enable uptake.

This is an exciting time to join Wellcome under the new direction of John-Arne Rottingen – who joined as CEO in 2024. The IDSP is a relatively new team and as such an opportune time to join and help sculpt future direction for vaccines R&D. The team focuses on two key drivers of infectious disease – environmental change and antimicrobial resistance. We take a holistic approach and combine an interest in gaining a better understanding of these drivers for the optimal development and use of interventions (including vector control, vaccines and small molecules). Initially, we are focusing on vector-borne disease, cholera, TB, and AMR with a geographical focus on Africa and South Asia.

We are looking for an individual with a passion for global health, to work collaboratively across the IDSP team and Wellcome to address key gaps in the global health field through definition, refinement and delivery of our vaccine product development portfolio for a number of infectious diseases that affect Africa and South Asia. You will be joining a multidisciplinary, collaborative and enthusiastic team (the Vaccines team) focused on developing impactful vaccines for low-and-middle income countries, gaining a greater understanding of protective immunity and filling key knowledge gaps that inform policymakers on the best use of these vaccines.

In this role you will:

• Work with the Research Lead for Vaccines product development to manage, define, refine, monitor and advance the vaccine development portfolio aligned with the IDSP strategy.
• Management of an existing portfolio of vaccine development projects.
• Providing critical scientific assessment of applications, participating in decision-making reviews and making clear recommendations to senior management.
• Identify and devise approaches to capitalise on emerging opportunities within the vaccine development space (e.g. new preclinical and clinical programmes with line of sight to impact, developing novel strategies etc.).
• Monitor and critically assess progress of new and ongoing preclinical and clinical projects in Wellcome’s portfolio, gaining guidance from specialist advisers and commissioning work as appropriate.
• Scoping out new disease areas of interest in the vaccine product development space.
• Effectively use knowledge and expertise to manage, influence and sustain long-term relationships with research teams, funding partners, and other global vaccine development stakeholders.
• Clearly communicate the vaccines strategy and work of the Infectious Disease Solutions Programme to internal and external audiences.
• Contribute to a diverse and inclusive culture across the organisation, collaborating across departments.

To be successful in this role you will have:

• An advanced degree in the life sciences.
• Significant expertise in the field of vaccine development (preclinical and early clinical) through relevant work experience in an academic, industrial, or funding agency.
• Significant expertise in infectious disease through work in academic, industry or funding settings.
• A strong understanding of the landscape of global health stakeholders for vaccines R&D.
• Experience shaping and delivering vaccine research and development projects and programmes.
• Experience in research project management and grant administration.

To apply, please upload your current CV and complete our short application. Interview dates: W/C 19 May.

Our Hybrid Way of Working: We understand that our colleagues have commitments and personal interests outside of work and we strive to build a flexible working environment, in which people can perform at their best. We are currently working 3 days per week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays) from our Euston Road offices (as part of our hybrid Ways of Working) with the remaining 2 days working either remotely or in the office.

Diversity and Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to cultivating a fair and inclusive environment, where everyone can be themselves and thrive. We are happy to discuss flexible working options for all roles. We work to ensure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible to everyone. This includes making adjustments for people who have a disability or long-term condition.