Jobs

??4,000 professionals, 0 days wasted, 1 incredible purpose. Together we will beat cancer. ?

Senior Category Manager (Technology) - 12 month FTC

Department: ?Chief Operating Office?

Contract: ?12 month fixed-term contract?

Salary: £56,000 - £63,000

Hours: ?Full time 35 hours per week?

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

Closing date: 11.59pm 28th October

??This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications are received or once a suitable candidate is found?

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 determined, someone like you. ?

We're looking for a Senior Category Manager to join our Procurement team on a fixed term basis. In this crucial role, you will be accountable for driving value and impact for Cancer Research UK by leading the development and execution of strategic procurement initiatives across our technology-related services and solutions spend categories. As well as helping CRUK to mitigate risk, you'll support the organisation's long-term goals through effective supplier partnerships and commercial strategies. You'll also build strong relationships with senior stakeholders and influence key decision-making, ultimately ensuring that Procurement deliver measurable benefits aligned with CRUK's mission to beat cancer.

What will I be doing?

• Develop and deliver category strategies that align with CRUK's objectives, using market insights, risk analysis, and stakeholder input to drive value and efficiency. 

• Engage and influence senior stakeholders across CRUK to ensure procurement strategies are understood, supported, and embedded in business planning. 

• Lead sourcing activities including supplier evaluation, selection, and competitive tendering to ensure optimal quality, cost, and service outcomes. 

• Negotiate and draft commercial contracts that secure robust terms, mitigate risk, and maximise value for CRUK. 

• Collaborate with stakeholders to manage supplier relationships, ensuring delivery against KPIs and continuous improvement. 

• Identify and mitigate supplier risks to protect CRUK's operational and reputational interests. 

• Monitor and report on category performance to ensure delivery of savings, value, and alignment with CRUK's strategic goals.

What are we looking for?

• Proven ability to build and manage strategic relationships with internal and external stakeholders at all levels to drive collaboration and innovation. 

• Strong influencing and communication skills, with experience in securing stakeholder buy-in for complex technology procurement strategies. 

• Extensive experience in leading change IT categories, identifying opportunities for digital and operational improvement and delivering measurable benefits. 

• Deep expertise in managing complex IT contracts and supplier relationships, including managed services, SaaS, cloud, and infrastructure, ensuring compliance, performance, and value delivery. 

• In-depth knowledge of category management principles, with a track record of developing and executing IT category strategies that align with organisational goals and technology roadmaps. 

• Comprehensive experience in end-to-end sourcing within IT categories, including tendering, supplier evaluation, and delivering excellent stakeholder experiences across technical and non-technical audiences. 

• Advanced negotiation skills, with a history of securing favourable commercial terms and drafting robust  IT contract schedules, including SLAs, KPIs, and exit strategies. 

What will I gain?

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.

Cancer Research UK is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation, with 4000+ staff bringing in £700m+ revenue through a world-class fundraising and philanthropy operation and a network of 500+ shops. Our income enables us to fund scientific research through a network of 4000+ scientists, 90 research institutions and global partnerships. We also use evidence to influence public policy and to provide information to patients. Through our commercial arm - Cancer Research Horizons - we invest and partner to take scientific breakthroughs from the lab to the bedside, translating them into effective treatments and diagnostics for cancer patients.

This is a high-impact, high-visibility role, which requires strategic leadership, intellectual agility, and the ability to simplify complexity and drive clarity in ambiguous environments. As one of three Senior Strategy Managers in the team, you will lead major strategy projects, working directly with Executive Directors and Trustees.

We are seeking candidates with substantial strategy experience either in top-tier management consultancy or in-house strategy teams, who have led complex, cross-organisational projects and worked directly with senior executives and board members. In return you'll have the opportunity to shape decisions that influence how Cancer Research UK invests, grows, and evolves - across areas as diverse as scientific research, fundraising, retail, commercial ventures, and organisational design.

You'll be motivated by our mission and excited to work across the full breadth of what Cancer Research UK does. Experience in fundraising, life sciences, healthcare or not-for-profits is a plus.

This role is not suitable for general project managers or those without direct experience in shaping business strategy at an organisational level.

 What will I be doing?

• Lead, own, and manage high-impact strategy projects, from initial scoping, defining the approach, through to recommendations and decisions.

• Identify and frame key strategic questions, simplify complexity, and break down problems to generate new insights and drive actionable decisions.

• Navigate and balance multiple senior stakeholders' perspectives, pushing back when needed, to achieve the best outcomes for CRUK.

• Influence - without direct line management - by working in partnership and collaboration with stakeholders across the organisation

• Operate at pace in a dynamic environment, managing scope, resources, competing priorities and your own workload, across multiple projects.

• Conduct rigorous qualitative and quantitative analysis to explore complex strategic issues and support evidence-based decision-making.

• Bring external insight - from market trends, partners, competitors, and people affected by cancer - to inform strategic choices and direction.

• Coach and support Strategy Managers and other colleagues across CRUK to build strategic capability, navigate ambiguity, and unblock delivery challenges.

• Build strong, collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders to enable effective strategy development and execution.

• Synthesise insights into clear, compelling recommendations and produce high-quality papers and presentations for senior audiences, including Executive and Trustee meetings.

What are we looking for?

• Proven experience leading and delivering organisational strategy projects at pace - from defining the scope to driving decisions and transitioning to delivery.

• Confidence and credibility in engaging with Board-level stakeholders, navigating unfamiliar subject areas, simplifying complexity, and guiding decision-making.

• Breadth of cross-organisational experience and project types (e.g. long-term strategy, reviewing a major part of the business, strategic options assessment to drive growth, organisation design).

• Ability to draw on deep personal experience to tackle new and complex strategic challenges, think creatively, and proactively define effective approaches to deliver the work.

• Strong strategic thinking - able to interpret complex information, see the big picture, and apply financial and business acumen to manage trade-offs and support conclusions.

• Excellent communication and presentation skills - able to distil complexity into clear, actionable insight that enables major organisational decisions.

• A collaborative team player who can lead, support, and coach others effectively, contribute to building the team and a good place to work.

• Comfortable working flexibly in a fast-changing environment.

• Numerate and financially literate, with the ability to analyse and model data, and communicate findings in a clear and accessible way.

Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.

Bold: 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

We're looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.

If you're interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience we'd still love to hear from you.