Grants Finance and Contracts Manager

Grants Finance and Contracts Manager

£45,000 - £50,000 plus

Reports to: Operations Manager - Cancer Grand Challenges

Directorate: Research & Innovation

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week

Location: Stratford, London Office-based with high flexibility (up to three days per week remotely)

Closing date: 16 February :55

This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications is received or once a suitable candidate is found, therefore we strongly recommend that you apply early to avoid disappointment. Please let us know if there is anything about the recruitment process that you would like to discuss, in particular if there are any changes or adjustments that would make it easier for you to apply.

Visa sponsorship: Cancer Research UK can consider visa sponsorship for this vacancy. If this applies to you, please ensure that this is clearly marked on your application.

Recruitment process: Competency based interview via Microsoft Teams

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.

Uniting the world's brightest minds against cancer's toughest challenges

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 (CRUK) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the US ().

Cancer Grand Challenges supports a global community of world-class, interdisciplinary research teams to come together, think differently and take on some of cancer's toughest challenges, with the ultimate aim of transforming outcomes for people affected by cancer.

Like the global teams we fund, our team is multidisciplinary - including specialists in cancer science, research grant funding, marketing and communications, patient involvement, partnerships and philanthropy.

We are looking for an experienced Grants Finance and Contracts Manager with a strong background in finance and contract management to support the Cancer Grand Challenges initiative.

This role provides and exciting opportunity to help manage large multi-million-pound contracts and work with our partners to ensure we work together productively to fund ground-breaking cancer research. Alongside this, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to use their strong financial reporting and management skills to help ensure our multi-million-pound research budget is being deployed effectively.

When you work at Cancer Grand Challenges, you'll be employed by Cancer Research UK, the world's leading independent charity dedicated to cancer research.

What will I be doing?

• Maintain systems to track financial data associated with CGC applications and awards, provide management information relating to CGC research finance and act as the primary CGC team contact for all questions related to CGC financial award data;

• Lead the management of contracts between CRUK and NCI which provide the framework for the CGC initiative, including ensuring compliance with contractual terms and obligations, and take the lead in producing all necessary reports and information for submission to NCI - including accurate and compliant financial reporting;

• Work closely with CGC leadership and colleagues across CRUK (e.g. Legal, Finance and Strategic Partnerships) to support all contractual negotiations with future funding partners;

• Ensure compliance with contracts between CRUK and other CGC funding partners and take the lead in producing all necessary reports and information - including accurate and compliant financial reporting;

• Ensure compliance with all other CGC contracts, as required;

• Work closely with colleagues internally and externally, where appropriate, to coordinate the execution of CGC Award Agreements with Cancer Grand Challenges funded teams and institutions;

• Lead the management of all CGC Award Agreements including monitoring grant expenditure, determining future grant values and overseeing the release of grants payments;

• Implement, oversee and refine the CGC grants audit approach;

• Support the CGC Leadership Team in preparation for, and submissions to, any external or internal audit requests;

• Advise funded teams and institutions on grants finance and audit requirements, and other funding policies as required;

• Continually review all relevant processes and procedures, to ensure they remain fit for purpose and reflect current best practice;

• Develop and maintain excellent relationships with key individuals at NCI and other funding partners in order to support the development of productive partnerships to support CGC and maximise emerging opportunities, working closely with CRUK colleagues to ensure alignment with broader relationship management plans;

• Act as primary CGC team contact for other CRUK departments involved in CGC contracts including Finance, Legal, Data Governance, Procurement and Grants Management.

What are you looking for?

• Very strong financial literacy, including relevant experience of managing budgets, financial reporting and analysing data;

• Extensive experience of developing, reviewing and managing compliance for complex contracts, ideally within the academic sector;

• Experience in managing day-to-day relationships between contract partners to ensure contractual compliance and providing advice where needed;

• Experience of relevant financial management and reporting processes tied to contracts including an awareness of annual budget and forecasting cycles;

• Experience of handling and/or making audit requests;

• Strong stakeholder management experience with both internal colleagues and external organisations;

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with strong attention to detail and the ability to interpret and explain complex information in a creative and engaging way, and an ability to deal with sensitive information in a professional way, demonstrating a high level of self-awareness at all times;

• Numerate and analytically minded, with an aptitude to resolving day-to-day problems by developing innovative, robust and pragmatic solutions, implemented with attention to detail;

• 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 .

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.