Director of Research

Base: Central Edinburgh/hybrid preferred.  Fully remote with regular travel to the Edinburgh office is a possibility for candidates beyond reasonable commuting distance.

Hours: Full time and permanent: 35 hours a week over core working hours of 10am – 3pm.

To support the Team’s work-life balance, we work a nine-day fortnight where the charity is closed every second Friday i.e. in this week staff only work 28 hours. 

The office is open 8am – 6pm daily and our hybrid working policy requires all full-time office-based employees to work at least two days a week in the Edinburgh office.  For a remote working arrangement, at least monthly travel to the office will be required.

Please note that as a flexible employer other working patterns and hours can be considered and the need for flexibility should not be a barrier to application.

Benefits: 9-day fortnight, 10% employer pension contribution; employee assistance programme and counselling service; enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption pay; enhanced sick pay; 31 days’ paid holiday/year plus four paid winter public holidays; 2-weeks fully remote working/year; three paid carer days/year; death in service benefit; cycle to work and travel season ticket schemes.

About the role and why we need you

As Director of Research, you will contribute to leadership of the whole charity as a member of the Senior Management Team and oversee all our charitable activity by directly leading the Research Directorate. Core charitable activity is the discovery research grant funding programme and, after several years of growth, we are now poised for the next phase of strategic development.  This means answering questions such as:  Can we increase our reach to new discovery cancer research ideas across the world?  How do we ensure that access to our research funding is truly inclusive and equitable? And is there anything more we could and should be doing to help turn those ideas into patient impact? 

You will have a PhD in a molecular/cell biology- related field and recent experience in a senior research management role that involved strategy development and some exposure to working at Board level.  You will have an aptitude for strategic analysis and be good at making the complex, simple.  As a strong communicator able to quickly establish professional credibility, you will be able to represent the charity as a media spokesperson and cultivate relationships with partner funders and high-level charity supporters.  And your skills in translating deeply technical science in an inspirational and accessible way for a non-expert audience will be key to driving further fundraising income and helping the charity achieve its ambitious curestarting goals.

If this sounds like the role for you, we would love to hear from you.

Who are we? 

At Worldwide Cancer Research, we start new cures. Cancer is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide, but cutting-edge science can give us hope. Discovery research seeks to uncover new knowledge that could change the way we think about cancer. It reveals new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer that can save lives.

We actively seek unconventional and imaginative ideas from scientists at all stages of their career, across the globe. In some cases, we are the only organisation that will fund a scientist’s idea. We take an unbiased approach to research funding by focusing on supporting only the best ideas for new cures. By having a diverse research portfolio, we increase our chances of finding breakthroughs.

Our vision is of a day when no life is cut short by cancer, and we believe we can achieve this by starting the life-saving advances of the future by sowing the seeds of discoveries. Anyone that helps bring forward breakthroughs – including our staff, our supporters, and the researchers we fund – is a Curestarter.

As a charity, we are committed to opportunity without barriers, and we are striving to seek, value and learn from different perspectives and experiences. We want Worldwide Cancer Research to be an inclusive organisation – where everyone can be themselves and feel valued – as diverse as the scientific community we fund and the families whose lives we impact.

We are committed to ensuring that we provide equal opportunities to every applicant regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. We aim to ensure that our recruitment process is unbiased and that everyone is treated equitably. In support of this, we have pledged to ‘Show the Salary’ for our roles and we are registered as a Disability Confident Committed Employer - because our team members are at the heart of everything we do to start new cancer cures around the world.

To help start new cancer cures and save lives, we are looking for a Director of Research to lead the Research Directorate, the charity’s multi-million-pound global funding programme for discovery cancer research.

How do I apply?

• Please email your CV with your cover letter to recruitment@worldwidecancerresearch.org via the 'Apply' button.
• Closing date is 13 January 2025, 12 noon.
• First round interviews will be held virtually on 6 February 2025 and the second round for shortlisted candidates will be held in person, in our Edinburgh office on 27 February 2025 - we will contact all applicants as soon as possible after selection for interview.
• We are a disability confident committed employer - please contact Paula Cahill, our HR Manager, if you have any questions about our recruitment process, accessibility and adjustments to support you: paulac@worldwidecancerresearch.org
• Please note your cover letter will be key to the success of your application and applications without cover letters may not be considered.
• Please consider the use of AI in your application carefully, AI generated content tends to be generic and is unlikely to showcase your individuality and suitability for the role.
• Please tell us where you first saw this job advertised.

Additional information

Award

Worldwide Cancer Research is a team of around 50 and we run an annual Employee Engagement Survey; in 2024 we achieved a 93% positive response to ‘I would recommend Worldwide Cancer Research as a good place to work’.

Privacy

We will hold your application data on file for six months after the end of the recruitment round, after which your data is deleted or destroyed. Please view our Recruitment Privacy notice .

Thank you for your interest in our work.