Research Finance Manager

Research Finance Manager (Cancer Grand Challenges) £50,000 - £56,000 plus benefits

Reports to:

Programme Manager - Cancer Grand Challenges

Contract:

Permanent

Location:

Stratford, London Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office).

Hours:

Full time 35 hours per week Final date to receive applications:
Tuesday 1st September 23:55pm Interview Date: W/C 7th September 2026 Recruitment Process:
Initial screening call followed by competency-based interview process. 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.

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer. We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Research Finance Manager to join Cancer Grand Challenges (CGC). This role will provide financial planning, analysis and coordination across Cancer Grand Challenges, working closely with the CGC team, leadership, and CRUK Finance. The role will serve as primary liaison to the CRUK Finance Team to support coordination of CGC financial management and reporting, and will provide analytical expertise across research, operational and partnership income finance.

Cancer Grand Challenges is a new global cancer research partnership between Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the US National Cancer Institute. This is a rare opportunity to help shape and deliver one of the world’s most ambitious cancer research partnerships. You’ll be joining a passionate, collaborative team working to enable breakthroughs that could transform outcomes for people affected by cancer worldwide.

To deliver on our mission, we focus on four core objectives:

• Lead a global debate to identify cancer’s most complex challenges
• Make important and transformative discoveries
• Accelerate the translation of discoveries for public and patient benefit
• Build a global community and harness its collective power

• Grants and Research Finance:
  Working closely with the Senior Grants Manager and Grants Finance and Contracts Manager, support the calculation of grants for funded host institutions including direct and indirect costs and managing FX rates. Input into the annual reforecasts of grants and maintain forward looking projections by host institution and funding stream. Working closely with the Grants Finance and Contracts Manager, support with financial audit and reconciliation activity and data requests.
  
  Support implementation of new research funding models with advice on finance and budgeting processes while coordinating financial inputs. Maintain visibility and monitoring of increasingly complex funding flows into and out of CRUK related to grants and research finance.
• Partnership finances and income:
  Support oversight of all partnership financial arrangements to support reporting and reconciliation for partners;
  Supporting the Senior Grants Manager and Grants Finance and Contracts Manager to aid the management of research funding matters related to the NCI. Lead on operational income queries and operational finance processes for the National Cancer Institute and other partners;
  Support financial review of partner contracts / agreements to identify risks, minimising exposure and ensuring value for money.
• Operational finance:
  Support the Programme Manager on day to day management of CGC operational finance activities. Support on the management, reporting and reconciliation of the CGC operational budget with a focus on working with the Leadership Team with tracking and reforecasting of operational budget. Lead on management and tracking of non-research grant arrangements including with American Friends of Cancer Research. Drive the streamlining and standardisation of financial processes across CGC.
• Financial planning and reporting:
  Work closely with CRUK Finance Team to provide detailed inputs into planning cycles to build detail across the financial plans. Maintain accuracy of underlying programme financial data. Provide operational insight and data to inform decision‑making. Maintain bespoke management reporting in CGC team.