Senior Strategy Manager

Cancer Research UK; London Borough of Newham; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Cancer Research UK is seeking an experienced Senior Strategy Manager to be the first dedicated strategy role in the Policy, Information & Communications (PIC) directorate. You will establish a new strategy capability to identify strategic opportunities across health and science, prioritise resources, and focus on impact for people affected by cancer.

You will lead strategic projects, build partnerships across PIC and beyond, conduct horizon scanning, and provide insight, foresight and

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading and delivering strategy projects in a large, complex organisation.
• Experience setting up new ways of working or establishing a new capability.
• Collaborative and independent thinker who challenges constructively and builds trust.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills.
• Proven horizon scanning, foresight and strategic insight capabilities.
• Strong analytical skills with qualitative and quantitative research expertise.

Responsibilities

• Lead and deliver strategic projects from initial scoping through to recommendations and handover to delivery teams.
• Establish a PIC strategy capability and build relationships across PIC.
• Build trusted relationships across PIC and the wider organisation.
• Conduct horizon scanning across health, science and R&D to identify trends, risks and opportunities.
• Produce high-quality analysis, presentations and recommendations for Executive Directors and Senior Leadership Teams.
• Contribute to PIC's Strategic Advisory Group with external expertise.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Horizon scanning

Analytical skills

Communication & influencing

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

We're looking for an experienced and forward-thinking Senior Strategy Manager to be the first dedicated strategy role in our Policy, Information & Communications (PIC) directorate. You'll help establish and shape a new strategy capability within the directorate, with a clear aim: to identify the most important strategic opportunities across health and science, improve how we prioritise, and focus our resources where we can have the greatest impact for people affected by cancer. Working closely with, and directly for, the PIC Executive Director, and with the Senior Leadership Team, you'll provide insight, foresight and evidence-based recommendations that support strategic decision-making. This is a role for someone who enjoys working with lots of different people. You'll build strong partnerships with colleagues across PIC and beyond, including Research & Innovation, so that strategy is shaped with the teams. What will I be doing?

• Lead and deliver strategic projects supporting PIC priorities, from initial scoping through to recommendations and handover to delivery teams, leading flexible teams and external consultants where needed.
• Establish a PIC strategy capability, building the relationships, ways of working and credibility with teams across PIC that will help it succeed, make the case for additional capacity and, if that goes ahead, line manage a Strategy Manager.
• Build trusted working relationships across PIC and the wider organisation, bringing people together around shared priorities, even when views differ.
• Conduct horizon scanning across the health, science and R&D landscape, bringing in external insight from policy developments, market trends, partners, stakeholders and people affected by cancer, to identify emerging trends, risks and opportunities.
• Produce high-quality analysis, presentations and recommendations for Executive Directors and Senior Leadership Teams.
• Contribute to PIC's Strategic Advisory Group, which brings in external expertise to inform our strategic thinking.
  Significant experience leading and delivering strategy projects or programmes in a large, complex organisation, getting work done by influencing and coordinating colleagues across several teams, including people more senior than you, rather than relying on formal authority.
• Experience of setting up new ways of working, or establishing a new capability, in an organisation.
• A collaborative and independent thinker who is approachable and builds trust quickly, listens well, and can challenge constructively and handle disagreement with confidence and sensitivity, while still driving strategic outcomes.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills.
• Proven horizon scanning, foresight and strategic insight capabilities.
• Strong analytical skills with qualitative and quantitative research expertise.
• Knowledge of the health sector, science policy environment, research sector and/or wider R&D landscape.