Senior Grants Manager (Cancer Grand Challenges)
£46,000 - £54,000 plus benefits
Reports to: Head of Research - Cancer Grand Challenges.
Contract: Fixed Term Contract (12 Months)
Location: Stratford, London Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office). There will also be some international travel required in this role.
Hours: Full time 35 hours per week
Application Deadline: Sunday 1st March 23:55pm
Interview Date: Approximately w/c 23rd March
Recruitment process: 2 stage - Initial phone screen followed by competency-based 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.
At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.
We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Grants Manager to join Cancer Grand Challenges and lead on grant and funding operations across the Research Team including through open funding calls and review / stewardship of research teams supporting Cancer Grand Challenges' mission.
This is a rare opportunity to help shape and deliver one of the world's most ambitious cancer research partnerships. You'll be joining a passionate, collaborative team working to enable breakthroughs that could transform outcomes for people affected by cancer worldwide.
About the team
Cancer Grand Challenges is a global funding initiative founded in 2020 by the two largest funders of cancer research in the world: Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the US ).
Cancer Grand Challenges builds on the success of CRUK's Grand Challenge that launched in 2015 – to date we have committed in excess of c$400m to fund 16 interdisciplinary teams, and our portfolio now includes over 1200 researchers and collaborators across 16 countries.
We recently launched our fifth call for applications to address seven new challenges, and we are thinking about what the next decade for the initiative will look like. So, this is an exciting time to join the team.
When you work at Cancer Grand Challenges, you'll be employed by Cancer Research UK.
What will you be doing?
* Design, develop and maintain standardised work plans, process documents and reporting mechanisms for all research operational activity within Cancer Grand Challenges.
* Manage the operational activities of the Grand Challenge Scientific Committee and associated meetings, working closely with scientific colleagues and with the Chair and membership.
* Design, develop and oversee the application and review processes for Cancer Grand Challenges, identifying and implementing improvements within and between funding calls.
* Design, develop and oversee post-award grant operations and processes in collaboration with key stakeholders in CRUK and the NCI, specifically annual reviews, funding commitments and liabilities, reconciliations and grant audits at host institutions.
* Lead the development of appropriate research policy guidance documents for Cancer Grand Challenges stakeholders.
* Line manage direct reports, providing clarity of vision as well as establishing and maintaining appropriate team culture to deliver research operations function for Cancer Grand Challenges.
Key experience, technical skills and competencies
* Excellent communication and relationship management skills.
* Proven project management skills.
* Experience in grants management and familiarity with relevant applications and systems.
* Highly organised, able to set and work to challenging deadlines, and to hold others accountable to demanding deadlines.
* Able to understand and handle complex financial information and problems.
* Strong analytical skills – able to bring structure to complex problems, and extract key issues, and to present data in a clear and concise format.
* Resource management experience, with a demonstrated ability to coach and mentor others within a wider team.
* Process design expertise, including implementing and evaluating new processes.
Team behaviours
* Excited by and committed to the Cancer Grand Challenges initiative.
* Willing to go above and beyond to ensure this new initiative delivers on its potential.
* Demonstrate excellent self-awareness and understand personal impact.
* Integrated into, and works well as part of a dynamic, evolving team based across different geographical locations.
* Respond well to and embraces change and ambiguity.
* Provide and receive feedback to enable individual and team development.
* Self-starter able to perform independently, as well as part of a team.
* Act as a role model for the team whilst demonstrating integrity and Cancer Grand Challenges brand values.
Our organisation values are designed to 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
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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 or 0 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.