Health Policy and Systems Programme Lead
Department: Policy, Information & Communication (PIC)
Salary : £70,000 - £80,000
Hours: Full-time ( we’re happy to discuss flexible working arrangements)
Location: Stratford, high flex, with one to two days per week in the office . Flexible working requests to be home-based within the UK or to be based at another CRUK site will be considered.
Closing date: 1 7 June 2026 : 11 :59 pm
At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.
As the world’s leading cancer charity, we are at the forefront of the global fight against cancer, bringing together millions of people who share our determination to beat it. For over 120 years, we’ve been making discoveries that have saved countless lives, and which benefit millions of people around the world each year. Yet, the challenge of cancer remains , we have so much more to do. We want to live in a world where everybody lives longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.
This role sits within CRUK’s Health Policy and Systems team. It provides leadership for the development of CRUK’s views on key issues in health policy, systems and services, and is a key component of our approach to influencing national policy and health systems activities in all 4 nations of the UK.
In this role, you’ll be our informed expert on health policy and health systems . You’ll work with colleagues to ensure that CRUK maintains a robust, relevant and credible set of positions in areas that support our core purpose of improving cancer outcomes for UK populations .
What will be some of the main responsibilities?
Lead a small team delivering a portfolio of work developing CRUK’s positions on priority health policy and health systems topics to inform short, medium and long-term influencing activities aimed at improving cancer outcomes across the four nations of the UK. Example topics include health/cancer budgets, national governance for cancer strategies, workforce planning, or commissioning arrangements for cancer services.
Maintain strong personal knowledge of health systems and policy topics, issues, and stakeholders and act as subject matter expert for CRUK in these areas, including advising on activities led by other teams; also support reports to develop deep expertise in relevant subject-matter areas
Work closely with colleagues to integrate cancer expertise with knowledge of the health system and policy context, to set priorities and deliver analysis, insight and evidence- based positions; ensure that this results in a balanced portfolio reflecting the contexts of all 4 UK nations
Ensure portfolio activity anticipates and supports a proactive approach to key influencing opportunities at national and system levels such as spending reviews, national strategies, or publication of guidance for systems, and including horizon-scanning for emerging issues and opportunities
What skills are we looking for?
Ability to develop and lead end-to-end programmes of work from ideation and scoping, through discovery and analysis, to development of outputs and dissemination, across rapid, reactive work and longer-term programmes
Each and every one of our employees contributes to our progress and is supporting our work to beat cancer. We think that’s impressive.
In return, we make sure you are supported by a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools, policies and processes to enable you to do your job well.
Our benefits package includes a substantial retirement plan, a generous and flexible leave allowance, discounts on anything from travel to technology, gym membership, and much more.
We don’t forget people have lives outside of work too and so we actively encourage a flexible working culture.
Our work – from funding cutting-edge research to developing public policy – will change the world. It’s exciting to be part of our team.
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 quickly, fairly and objectively.
For more information on this career opportunity please visit our website or contact us at [email protected] .
For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: Linked In , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter 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 [email protected] or 0 20 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.
