Strategic Partnerships Insight Manager

Strategic Partnerships Insight Manager  

Salary:  £37,000 - £42,000 +  benefits 

Department: Research and Innovation  
Reports to:  Head of Strategic Partnerships 
Contract type/ hours: 12-month Fixed term contract, full time 35 hours per week 
Location: Stratford, London (High flex – we’d expect you to be in the office 1 to 2 days a week) 
Application Deadline: Friday 23rd October 2026
Recruitment Process: Competency based interview process via MS Teams with a presentation task.  
Interview Date: Approximately w/c 2nd or w/c 9th November

Please note: 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 

Are you passionate about advancing world-leading cancer research through strategic collaboration? We're looking for a highly organised and analytical Strategic Partnerships Insight Manager to join our team on a 12-month fixed-term contract. 

In this pivotal role, you'll help shape and support partnerships with leading medical research charities, government funders and other non-commercial research organisations. Working closely with senior stakeholders, you'll provide the insight, planning and operational support needed to deliver our ambitious research partnerships strategy. 

You'll lead portfolio planning and reporting, identify and assess new partnership opportunities, manage key processes and governance activities, and ensure the team has access to the latest intelligence on the evolving research funding landscape both in the UK and internationally. 

This is an exciting opportunity for someone with experience in medical research funding who enjoys combining strategic thinking with operational excellence. If you're naturally curious, passionate about building relationships, and thrive on turning complex information into actionable insight, we'd love to hear from you. 

What will you be doing? 

• Strategic partnerships portfolio planning and reporting: 
• Work with the team to set ambitious objectives and KPIs at the start of each year, taking responsibility for tracking and reporting on progress against these. 
• Prepare bespoke reports and presentations for senior leadership on the charity's partnerships portfolio, tailoring these to specific stakeholders as appropriate.

• Provide operational and project management support to the Strategic Partnerships team across a number of areas including:  

• Planning agendas and papers for key internal and external meetings 

• Building strong relationships with key internal stakeholders and looking for opportunities to raise the profile of the team internally and externally 

• Supporting on the development and tracking of relationship building and management strategies including annual review of key relationships and contacts 

• Ensure that the team has the operational processes and policies in place to successfully deliver against its priorities: For example, owning the team’s due diligence process for assessing new opportunities and ensuring ways of working are compliant with wider organizational policies. 

• Insight/Intelligence gathering and knowledge management to support the identification of new partnership opportunities: Maintain an awareness of the competitive and collaborative non-commercial research funding partnership landscape, including major sector trends and activities. Share regular updates with the team and wider organisation as appropriate.  Use this information to identify new partnership opportunities, working with the head and senior managers to prepare engagement strategies and briefing notes. 

What skills are we looking for?  

• Excellent organisation and planning skills with proven track record of coordinating and delivering multiple tasks to deadline, prioritising where necessary. 

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience, ideally in a biomedical or life sciences subject or setting  

• Experience of working in a medical research funding organisation 

• An analytical mindset with the ability to grasp and analyse complex information quickly to draw conclusions and develop recommendations in an accurate and accessible format  

• Motivated by high standards, with the ability to work both accurately and systematically with excellent attention to detail.  

• Demonstrable understanding of the international cancer research funding landscape 

• Outward-looking approach, with proven ability to bring external trends and developments to bear.  

• Ability to apply creative thinking to provide solutions to problems within own work area and overlapping teams.   

• A flexible, self-starter who is also comfortable and able to work in an independent, proactive, self-directed manner; seeking support when required.   

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with ability to convey expertise and insight to multiple different audiences in a way that engages others and builds their knowledge.

• Collaborative working style with the ability to form strong, positive collaborative relationships within and across teams and with senior staff   
• Comfortable working in a dynamic, matrix environment with multiple competing tasks and responsibilities at any given time.

• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office packages  

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 recruitment@cancer.org.uk.     

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 recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400 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.