Strategic Lead - Reach

Macmillan Cancer Support; Glasgow; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday (+ bank holiday)

Pension matched up to 7.5%

120+ learning and development offers

Flexible working patterns

Holiday buying and selling scheme

Life insurance

Retail discounts

Job summary

Macmillan Cancer Support is seeking a Strategic Lead for Reach to shape the programme's direction and delivery. The role focuses on turning insights into equitable, accessible information and support for people living with cancer.

You'll lead strategy development, manage a small team, and influence senior leaders across the organisation to prioritise outcomes that reduce inequity and improve reach, access, and experience.

Qualifications

• Experienced strategy leader with a track record in complex organisations.
• Strong focus on equitable outcomes and inclusive service design.
• Proven ability to translate insight into practical delivery and impact.
• Credible working with senior leaders, Boards or Trustees.

Responsibilities

• Provide thought leadership on inclusive information and support services.
• Lead Reach strategy development, prioritising outcomes and sequencing.
• Ensure equity and access shapes organisational learning and delivery.
• Champion participatory approaches with people with lived experience.
• Build relationships with partners to advance Reach opportunities.
• Translate strategy into practical actions with delivery teams.
• Lead one direct report and a programme team of 6–8 people.

Skills

Strategy leadership

Customer insight

Stakeholder relationships

Communication skills

Change management

Job description

At Macmillan, our ambition is clear: to do whatever it takes to support people living with cancer. Reach is one of our programmes to achieving this ambition; focusing on how our information and support services must be better connected, easier to navigate and more equitable - so we can reach everyone while focusing on people who need the most support.

We're looking for a Strategic Lead - Reach, to shape and drive the strategic direction for this work. Grounded in insight, data and lived experience, you'll turn long-term ambition into a clear approach that drives practical delivery and measurable improvements for people living with cancer. This is a senior strategic role for someone who can connect bold thinking with the choices, trade-offs and sequencing needed to make change happen.

What you'll be doing

• Providing thought leadership on how people living with cancer interact with information and support services now and in the future, with a strong focus on equitable and accessible services.
• Leading the development of Reach's strategy and approach to implementation, defining ambition, priority outcomes, choices, trade-offs and sequencing.
• Ensuring evidence about inequity, exclusion and underserved communities shapes Reach's strategy and wider organisational learning.
• Championing inclusive and participatory approaches so people with lived experience play a meaningful and central role in shaping our work.
• Using insight, data and lived experience to identify gaps in outcomes, access, experience and engagement, and working across Macmillan to address them.
• Acting as a trusted strategic adviser to senior leaders, providing constructive challenge and aligning ambition with capacity, resources and delivery.
• Building influential relationships with commercial, public and third-sector partners to bring fresh thinking and opportunities to Reach.
• Working closely with the Strategic Programme Lead and delivery teams to translate strategic intent into practical action.
• Leading one direct report and a programme team of approximately 6-8 people, creating a safe, inclusive and high-performing environment.

Who we're looking for

You'll be an experienced strategy leader, comfortable operating with senior leaders and shaping direction across a complex organisation. We're particularly interested in candidates with:

• Significant experience of developing and delivering strategy in a complex organisation, such as a charity, public-sector or health setting.
• A strong track record of using customer insight and intelligence to deliver tangible, equitable outcomes, particularly for people facing the worst outcomes.
• Extensive experience of customer-centred change and service design across digital and non-digital channels.
• The ability to bring together diverse perspectives and turn long-term ambition into practical implementation choices.
• Credibility and confidence working with senior leaders, Boards or Trustees.
• A clear understanding of how organisational culture, leadership and systems influence equitable outcomes for customers, communities and colleagues.
• Excellent strategic thinking, relationship-building and written and verbal communication skills.

In return, we offer a range of benefits including:

• 25 days holiday plus flexible bank holiday options, increasing by 1 day every year of service up to 30 days
• Pension matched up to 7.5%
• 120+ learning and development offers, with access to external professional qualifications
• Flexible working patterns, such as compressed hours, flexibility to work earlier or later around our core working hours of 10am-4pm
• Holiday buying and selling scheme, life insurance, free wills, retail discounts and much more