Blood Cancer UK is looking for new Trustees, due to the upcoming retirement of current Board members. At Blood Cancer UK we fund world-class research, provide trusted information and support to people affected by blood cancer, and campaign to improve outcomes for everyone living with or beyond blood cancer. Our vision is clear: we are here to beat blood cancer.
Who we are looking for:
We welcome applications from people who share our commitment to beating blood cancer and who can bring strategic thinking, sound judgement, curiosity and a collaborative approach. You do not need previous trustee experience to apply.
We would particularly welcome applicants with experience in areas such as, finance, working in the NHS, clinical practice, research, fundraising, or marketing. We are also keen to hear from people with personal experience of blood cancer and from people whose voices and experiences are under-represented in charity governance.
How to apply:
Please apply by submitting your CV and a supporting statement (no more than 2 A4 pages) outlining why you are interested in becoming a Trustee and what you would bring to the role.
-
Uphold and adhere to the highest standard of charity governance as set out by the Charity Commission.
- Contribute to the strategic direction of the charity.
- Monitor the performance of the executive against the organisation’s strategic and operational plans.
- Participate in meaningful challenge and discussions. Apply sound judgement and scrutinise appropriately to make informed decisions.
- Commit to difficult decisions when required.
- Identify and monitor risk.
- Maximise your networks and identify opportunities that will benefit Blood Cancer UK.
- Act as an ambassador and an advocate at all levels for Blood Cancer UK, with patients, researchers, politicians, policy makers, volunteers, fundraising partners and the world at large.
- Adopt an open, curious approach, willing to learn and improve. Be able to confidently challenge the Board, Executive and the Board’s advisers constructively and welcome challenge back.
- Build constructive, positive relationships with other Trustees and staff.
- Be responsive to a changing world, actively engaging with and learning about developments in the charity sector and beyond.
-
Clinical, research and NHS experience: If you have experience of working in one of these settings and have the ambition to help us grow our mission, we would love to hear from you. We would be especially interested in talking to to people who have worked in the fields of childhood cancer, lymphoma or myeloma or with a strong understanding of data in a research or clinical setting.
- Brand and/or fundraising: You could be a fundraising or marketing director but most important is the ability to provide effective strategic challenge and support at a time when we’re committed to growing our awareness and reach with people affected by blood cancer when they need us the most.
- Financial management and/or investment experience: We have big plans to grow Blood Cancer UK’s impact and fundraising in the coming years. We need robust financial plans to underpin this growth and need to appoint a trustee who is either a qualified accountant or who has direct financial experience. We would also like to hear from candidates with experience of managing a portfolio of investments.
FLEXIBLE WORKING & OUR BENEFITS
We welcome conversations about part time working, job shares, and all forms of flexible working right from application stage. You can get in touch with us at
[email protected] if you want to ask us anything about flexible working.
Benefits: We think our benefits are brilliant, and the majority start from day 1. These are just a few of them:
- 30 days annual leave PLUS bank holidays
- Generous pension scheme and Life Assurance
- Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave, as well as study leave and a day off to move house
- Wellbeing is a priority for us, we offer a wide range of individual and team support in our Wellbeing Hub
- Our Academy is our in-house Continued Professional Development (CPD) learning and development programme, including an internal mentoring scheme. We have organisation-wide focus days, which are days set aside for you to focus on your own development, without being interrupted by emails and meetings.
- Cycle to work and season ticket loans
- Opportunity to take sabbaticals
You can find full details about our benefits on our website.
Location: Working agile means we changed from having a culture where people are expected to be in the office from 9am to 5pm to one where we’re much more focused on what they deliver. We've built a positive culture where autonomy, trust, wellbeing and flexibility allow us to recruit and retain the very best people. We recognise that teams still need to come together regularly to develop relationships and strengthen collaborative working. Therefore, for the majority of roles, your contractual place of work will be one of our offices. The expectation for how often you will be required to attend the office is outlined in the job profile and will be discussed with you. Details about our hybrid and agile working approach (including how travel expenses work) can be found on our website.
HOW TO APPLY
We ask you to send us a CV and cover letter. In your cover letter, we'd like to know why you're interested in working with us at Blood Cancer UK. It's also helpful if you tell us why you think you are a great candidate for this role based on the skills, knowledge and expertise section above. Your cover letter doesn't have to be too long, 1-2 pages is ideal. Please don't add photos or graphics to your CV, as we use blind shortlisting at this stage of the process.
Full details about our recruitment processes, including how we use blind shortlisting and what to expect at each stage of the process can be found on our website. Sometimes we close our vacancies early, usually because we have had a lot of great applicants, so we’d always encourage you to apply early rather than wait until the deadline.
WHY WORK AT BLOOD CANCER UK?
We're the 9th best charity in the UK to work for according to Best Companies 2021!
We started because of Susan, we’ll get there because of you.
Blood Cancer UK was started by one family who lost their daughter, Susan, to blood cancer, and that history and sense of family continues to shape who we are today. When you join Blood Cancer UK, you don’t just become an organisational employee – you become part of a collaborative community dedicated to funding research into beating blood cancer that includes some of the most inspiring people you’ll ever meet.
And we’re not that far away from beating blood cancer. We’re confident we can do it within the next generation, and this makes us hugely ambitious and gives us a sense of real urgency. It also means we’re changing quickly as an organisation as we constantly challenge ourselves and strive to become more and more effective. This pace of change means working here isn’t for everyone. But if you’re excited by the chance to work in a fast-paced, agile and supportive environment with the focus and ambition to beat blood cancer this could be the place for you! We focus on results rather than time spent at a desk, so we deliver more for people affected by blood cancer.
Blood Cancer UK offers the chance to work for and with people affected by blood cancer, and the opportunity to advance your career and develop your skillset whilst taking on exciting new challenges and making your mark.
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
We are committed to actively promoting equality, diversity, and inclusivity. Read our statement which reflects our strong drive to change in this area.
To this end we would welcome approaches from individuals from underrepresented groups, including minoritised communities, and applicants with a disability, to better reflect the community we serve and help broaden our perspectives.
You can read some examples of how we can support you through the application and interview process here.
