LifeArc
Senior Manager, Rare Disease Network
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Job Title: Senior Manager, Rare Disease Network
Location: London
Job Type: Permanent with hybrid working (3 days in the office required)
Closing date: 16th September 2026
Agencies:
We will only work with recruitment partners on our preferred supplier list and will not engage with speculative CVs submitted.
Are you passionate about making life science life changing and delivering impact for patients? We want to hear from you.
About The Role
Embedded into LifeArc’s Ecosystem department, this role will lead the delivery of Ecosystem projects or workstreams, providing scientific and delivery leadership to ensure high-quality outputs and successful progression of activities.
Working within a collaborative, matrix environment, with a focus on rare disease, the role is responsible for end-to-end project or workstream delivery, contributing to planning, management, including LifeArc award management as required, execution, and decision-making across the Ecosystem portfolio.
We expect this role to be largely focussed on translational research programmes in the Ecosystem rare disease portfolio, but this may be subject to change to also include other programmes, depending on need.
About You
Key responsibilities include:
- Leading the planning and delivery of assigned projects or workstreams, ensuring timelines, quality standards, milestones, and objectives are achieved
- Contributing to shaping project scope and approach, providing scientific input into planning and decision-making
- Build and apply deep scientific and technical expertise to guide project delivery and inform key decisions
- Developing and owning project plans, timelines, risks, and dependencies, maintaining oversight and control of delivery
- Prepare and present project proposals and recommendations, including assessment of risks, opportunities, and delivery considerations
- Manage external awards and reporting, if required, working closely with colleagues in the project management office team.
- Provide clear, high-quality reporting and documentation, including plans, progress updates, and outputs to support governance and decision-making
- Proactively identify, manage, and mitigate risks and issues, escalating as required
- Lead collaboration across internal teams and external partners, ensuring coordinated delivery in a matrix environment
- Act as a key project point of contact for stakeholders, supporting engagement and effective communication
- Critically review project outputs, challenging and refining work to ensure quality and impact
- Support governance processes, including preparation of materials and engagement with decision-making forums
- Contribute to continuous improvement of delivery, identifying opportunities to enhance ways of working
- Act as a role model for LifeArc’s principles and behaviours
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Essential Experience Required
- Strong experience in biomedical, life sciences, or translational research environments, with a focus on therapeutic and diagnostic development
- Demonstrated ability to lead projects or workstreams, delivering outcomes to agreed timelines, quality, and budget
- Experience in planning, managing, and executing projects, including managing risks and dependencies
- Experience working within matrix environments, coordinating across teams and functions
- Strong analytical, scientific, and problem-solving capability
- Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence across a range of audiences
- Experience and/or knowledge of rare diseases is desirable
Education
- Degree (or equivalent experience) in a biomedical, life sciences, or related discipline
- Postgraduate qualification (e.g. MSc/PhD) desirable
Skills & Abilities
- Strong project delivery leadership, with the ability to manage end-to-end delivery
- Ability to plan, prioritise, and coordinate complex activities across multiple stakeholders
- Effective collaboration and influence in matrix environments
- Proactive and structured risk management and problem-solving
- Clear and confident written and verbal communication
- High level of scientific judgement and critical thinking
- Adaptable and resilient, able to operate in a dynamic, delivery-focused environment
About Us
LifeArc is a not-for-profit life science organisation, leading the way for change in rare diseases in the UK and supporting promising initiatives in global health. We seek out research in areas of unmet need that has great potential, providing support to help it become breakthroughs that change lives.
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What We Can Offer You
Focused on finding life changing solutions for underserved patients, our people thrive in an inclusive, and supportive environment that prioritises their health and wellbeing. Our multidisciplinary approach guarantees our people growth opportunities, while our culture of innovation and collaboration drives the impact we make delivering on our purpose of ‘putting patients at the centre of everything we do’.
LifeArc is committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible and developing a culture that values differences. As a Disability Confident Employer, we guarantee an interview to candidates with a disability or long-term health condition who meet the essential criteria for the role.
Please note that in certain situations, such as high volumes of applications, it may not be practical to interview all eligible candidates. In these cases, we may need to select those who best meet the essential criteria. (At LifeArc, the Disability Confident Scheme’s ‘minimum criteria’ is referred to as ‘essential criteria’).
Salary will be determined by qualifications and experience along with other exceptional benefits. Because we understand everyone has different requirements, our flexible benefits allow you to choose those which are important to you. Our pension scheme offers employer contributions of up to 12%, private health insurance, and annual leave of 31 days PLUS bank holidays.
Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people from minority ethnic backgrounds, for example, are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At LifeArc we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so whatever your background or lived experience, if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. Our top priority is finding the best candidate, and you may be just right for this or other roles.
We all have potential. At LifeArc, you’ll discover what you can really do with it.
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