Finance Manager

£57,500 - £65,500 (+ Benefits)

Reports to:

Senior Finance Manager

Contract:

Permanent

Hours:

Full time 35 hours per week

Location:

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

Closing date: 9th October 2026 23:55

Recruitment process:
Two competency-based interviews Interview date:
From the week commencing 26 October 2026. Please note that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the vacancy may close before the advertised closing date if a suitable number of applications are received. We encourage interested candidates to apply as early as possible.

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer. We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. But we need to go much further and much faster. That’s why we’re looking for someone talented, someone who wants to develop their skills, someone like you. Cancer Research UK’s Finance team’s credibility and professionalism in handling money fund raised through public generosity are essential to the smooth running of our organisation, ultimately helping the charity reach our goal of beating cancer.

In 2024/25, the finance team managed an income of £735m and expenditure of £715m. We’re recruiting for a commercial Finance Manager to join the team, to business partner the Give function in the Fundraising Directorate, looking after a budget of c.£85 million. As a Finance Manager, you’ll lead the delivery of high-quality and insightful reporting and financial planning for your specified business area.

This will involve advising senior managers and leaders on important financial decisions across a range of initiatives and projects to deliver our ambitious strategy. Your legacy will be to have made a meaningful and lasting impact on the organisation’s financial capability, decision‑making, and long‑term planning. If you’re a qualified finance professional who has led budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning activities in large, complex organisations, we would love for you to join our mission.

Owning and delivering timely and insightful reporting for Give Taking accountability and ownership of the Financial Planning, Forecasting & Budgeting for your specified business areas. This includes:

• Creating in-year forecasts, full-year budgets, and long-term financial plans.
• Supporting and collaborating with your stakeholders to enable the organisation to own and take responsibility for their plans and delivery.
• Collaborating with the other members of the wider finance team to guide them on financial planning activities.
• Acting as an advocate and role model for understanding cost drivers and cost control.
• Owning the financial reporting for your areas by:
  Collaborating with Management Accountants to ensure accurate and insightful monthly reporting for your business areas.
• Providing commentary and understanding on monthly and year-to-date variances and expectations.
• Understanding what is needed to inform decision-making.
• Providing financial analysis and supporting financial decision-making:
  Provide high-quality analysis and decision support to help shape strategy, initiatives, projects, and business cases.
• Analysing trends and performance and feeding findings into forecasts and long-term financial planning.
• Helping senior stakeholders (including Heads) to understand the financial impact of their initiatives and decisions on the charity's financial plan.
• Producing analysis that turns complex data into insight, understanding the 'so what', and questioning Heads and Senior Manager on 'what's next?'.
• Identifying opportunities to drive change and improving…