Delivery Manager (Research Operations)

Delivery Manager (Research Operations) £37,000 - £41,000 plus benefits Reports to: Senior Delivery Manager (Research Operations and Communications) Directorate: Research & Innovation Contract: Permanent Hours: Full time 35 hours per week Location: Stratford, London Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office) Closing date: Thursday 25th June 23:55pm Interview process: 2 stage competency based interview process Interview date: First stage w/c 6th July 2026 – Second stage w/c 13th July 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. Cancer Research UK are seeking a talented Delivery Manager to join our Research Operations & Communications team within the Research & Innovation (R&I) directorate. The Research Operations and Communications department underpins the work of CRUK's Research & Innovation activities, driving the delivery of our Research Strategy through world-class funding, communications and engagement. As part of the Planning & Delivery team, you’ll take ownership of cross-departmental initiatives, lead strategic projects, and support senior stakeholders, including members of the Research & Partnerships Leadership Team. This is a highly collaborative role, offering the opportunity to shape and deliver activities that directly support our mission to beat cancer. You will work closely with the Research & Partnerships Director, leading the development, delivery, and reporting of the annual departmental operating plan. Alongside this, you’ll manage key strategic projects, ensuring delivery against priorities and driving measurable impact across the department. What will you be doing? Drive and lead the delivery of cross-department projects, being responsible for elements including planning, delivery, reporting and pro-actively seeking and resolving blockers. Matrix-management of cross-departmental project teams. Providing leadership to teams of varying size, creating the conditions for accountability and collaborations. Collaborate with Sponsor and Business Owners to clearly define the vision, objectives, key milestones, governance and roadmap of the project. Establish appropriate governance frameworks to ensure that activities are managed effectively, and decisions and escalations are managed appropriately. Take direct accountability for stakeholder expectations, develop and maintain strong and constructive working relationships at all levels from stakeholders through to project team members, to ensure that all necessary resources and contributors are fully behind the delivery. Develop clear plans, including clear deliverables, milestones, dependencies, owners, risks and mitigations. Monitoring project progress and proactively adjusting plans as necessary to ensure goals are met and projects are delivered in accordance with best practice and standards. Ensure the Research & Partnerships Director has necessary briefings for key meetings with external stakeholders, drafting these in close collaboration with Partnership and Science teams. Oversight of cross-departmental activities and key priorities to ensure these are aligned with key review and governance points, including leadership team meeting, CRUK Executive Boards and Committees. Ownership of departmental meeting planning and collaborating with CRUK Internal Comms teams on Research & Innovation events, as required. Support with operational planning and reporting for the Research & Partnerships department. To be responsible for ensuring departmental objectives and work plans are monitored and reported to the Director and Leadership Team, proactively identifying risks as required. Contribute to wider Planning & Delivery Team activities by helping to embed a consistent project delivery framework across R&I and support the implementation of project management best practice. What are we looking for? Strong project management track record, with a demonstrated ability to deliver on a diversity of projects. Knowledge or experience of at least one formal project management methodology, e.g. APM or Prince2. Highly organised, able to set and meet demanding deadlines, and to hold others accountable for delivery of projects/activities. Ability to build effective relationships with and influence a broad range of stakeholders at all levels. Understanding how to influence effectively and build consensus and matrix manage cross-disciplinary teams. Strong analytical skills – able to bring structure to complex problems, and extract key issues, and to present data in a clear and concise format. Confident in discussing difficult issues and to influence solutions with staff at all levels. Assured self-starter, with an ability to work independently, delivering day-to-day workload and priorities with minimal supervision. Strategic thinking and an ability to think beyond the immediate issues. Excellent IT skills including Microsoft office applications and Office 360. 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. For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube. 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. We’re the world’s leading cancer charity, dedicated to saving and improving lives with our research. We work to reduce the impact of cancer on people’s day-to-day lives through our research, influence and information. We are beating cancer – step by step, day by day. Our work means that people with cancer live better lives through earlier diagnosis and kinder, more effective treatments. Find a purposeful career that will empower you to grow and collaborate with like-minded experts.