Salary: £65,000 – £69,000 plus benefits
Reports to: Head of Organisational Effectiveness
Directorate: COO
Contract: 6 Month Fixed Term Contract (with possibility of extension)
Hours: 35 hours per week
Location: Stratford, London. Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office) or home based
Closing date: 2 November 2026
Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.
What will I be doing?
- Lead Strategic Workforce Planning across Cancer Research UK, supporting HR teams to run consistent planning cycles and identify future workforce and capability requirements.
- Translate workforce scenarios into clear risks, opportunities, trade-offs and recommendations that support long-term strategic decisions.
- Define and monitor critical roles, capabilities and skills requirements, informing build-buy-move workforce strategies and People Plan priorities.
- Own and drive delivery of the People Plan roadmap, managing priorities, governance, dependencies, risks and progress reporting across multiple workstreams.
- Partner with People Analytics, HR Business Partners, Finance and Organisational Effectiveness colleagues to ensure workforce insights support business decision-making.
- Build planning and performance management capability across HR teams by embedding practical tools, routines and governance that improve delivery and accountability.
What are we looking for?
- A credible senior People Strategy, Planning & Performance professional with substantial Strategic Workforce Planning expertise gained within a broader organisational, people or transformation environment.
- Proven experience leading or shaping People Plans, HR strategy delivery, organisational performance reviews, governance forums, portfolio prioritisation and executive reporting.
- Demonstrable experience translating business strategy into workforce and capability plans, including demand and supply modelling, skills planning, workforce scenarios and build-buy-borrow approaches that have informed real business decisions.
- Strong understanding of how Strategic Workforce Planning connects with HR Business Partnering, People Analytics, Finance, Organisational Design and transformation activity.
- Experience influencing and challenging senior leaders, presenting decision-ready options and trade-offs, and driving adoption of new planning and performance approaches.
- A pragmatic, delivery-focused approach with the ability to work at pace, implement sustainable solutions, coach colleagues and successfully hand over improvements within a fixed-term assignment.
Our organisation values
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.
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 careers page.
We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented, and believe that a diverse workforce will help us to beat cancer sooner.
As the world’s largest independent cancer research charity, we conduct research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Our aim is to see 3 in 4 people survive cancer by 2034 and our staff are integral to achieving that ambition.
Cancer Research UK offers you excellent prospects to expand your career as well as the ability to make a real difference to the lives of others. We’re always looking for sharp, brave, and collaborative people to join Cancer Research UK and continue to make it a great place to work.
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