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 (www.cancergrandchallenges.org).

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.