Biomedical research officer jobs
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We are seeking an ambitious and motivated Head of Research to oversee the delivery of our research funding programme. You will ensure our funding is delivered strategically with the greatest impact possible for people affected by MND. You will manage our research team to oversee the development and delivery of effective funding schemes, partnerships and initiatives, whilst ensuring the outputs of our research are monitored and evaluated, to communicate our impact and inform our future activities.
This is a key role in our small, agile organisation that will involve close working across the charity, and the research community. We are looking for someone with strong experience in research and people management, working experience in drug discovery, with excellent communication skills and strong motivation to make a difference for people affected by MND.
Team Structure:
You will report to the Director of Research and manage a team of four: three Research Programme Managers and a Research Officer.
Key responsibilities:
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Have day-to-day responsibility for distribution of the charity’s research funding, developing detailed annual plans and delivering against time and budget;
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Be responsible for overseeing governance and compliance for all research funding activities, including adherence to standards set by the Association of Medical Research Charities;
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Identify opportunities for improvements to grant management systems, processes and documentation and work closely with the research team to ensure they are implemented;
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Maintain oversight of the research programme budget, working closely with the research and finance teams to plan, monitor and forecast;
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Oversee the development and implementation of new funding schemes and research initiatives to ensure our funds are delivered for maximum impact and address gaps in the research landscape;
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Oversee the setup and delivery of large collaborative research programmes including managing relationships with joint funders and other partner organisations;
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Build and maintain strong relationships with the research community, including members of our review committees and grant holders;
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Oversee the development and implementation of a robust impact evaluation framework to monitor, report and evaluate the impact of the research we fund and use this information to inform our future funding activities;
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Ensure the outputs of our research funding activities inform the work of the charity, working with the research and communication teams to create and disseminate compelling and engaging scientific content to engage supporters and drive income;
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Maintain a strong understanding of the MND research landscape, using those insights to inform our research activities;
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Develop a high performing team, ensuring team members are supported and developed to contribute to their full potential in the achievement of the charity’s aims;
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Oversee the delivery of research events e.g. annual meetings to bring together our researchers;
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Support the development and implementation of future research strategies, working closely with the Director of Research;
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Represent the Foundation at external meetings including international conferences;
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Deputise for the Director of Research as required;
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Undertake other appropriate work as required by the Director of Research.
Skills and experience required:
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Educated to postgraduate level, or with similar experience in a relevant biomedical science subject e.g. biochemistry, molecular sciences, neuroscience, pharmacology;
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Working experience of drug discovery, gained either in the bio-pharmaceutical industry or an academic setting;
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Significant experience in research management, ideally within a charity or government funding organisation;
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Proven leadership and people management skills with direct line management experience;
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The ability to think strategically, navigate uncertainty and adapt to evolving environments;
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A great communicator, with excellent written and oral skills and the ability to build and maintain relationships with a wide range of stakeholders;
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Motivated to make a real difference for those living with MND and future generations.
Please note, this role involves occasional overnight stays from home, occasional international travel and occasional attendance at meetings and events during evenings and weekends. Candidates must have the existing right to work in the UK.
Registered Charity
21 - 50
We are My Name'5 Doddie Foundation and we're absolutely committed to our goal: A World Free of MND
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Location: Hybrid working between our office, based in Horsforth, Leeds and home working is preferred, however, remote working will be considered for the right candidate. Nationwide travel will be required.
We are the leading charity dedicated to fighting primary bone cancer and are uniquely placed to make a difference through research, information, awareness and support.
The Involvement Officer role sits at the junction of lived experience involvement and our charitable objectives and will build meaningful collaborations and alignment between those affected by primary bone cancer, researchers, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders. The successful candidate will be required to build relationships with and contribute to key organisations and initiatives, such as the FOSTER and Euro Ewing consortia, like minded charities and Sarcoma Patients Global Network.
The successful candidate will co-ordinate and grow our Patient and Public Involvement Panel, which currently focuses on bringing lived experience to shape and review primary bone cancer research; however, we are keen for the voices of our community to contribute to our work across all our charitable pillars including our Support & Information service and our Influencing & Advocacy work. You will also support and empower our panel to share the work of Bone Cancer Research Trust more widely to their networks, ensuring a greater awareness of the charity and the impact of our work.
This is a varied position offering the chance to apply and further develop your expertise in involvement across areas such as the shaping and reviewing of research, the capturing and sharing of lived experience through written and video stories, ensuring our health information is patient focused and understandable, and advocating with and for patients both nationally and globally.
We are looking for someone with a good grasp of both the scientific and patient landscapes, who can balance attention to detail with big-picture awareness and work confidently in highly collaborative settings with multiple stakeholders and partner organisations. This role offers a unique opportunity to make a tangible contribution and ensure that our community’s voices drive progress across the UK and further afield.
The successful candidate will be a natural communicator and will excel at building and maintaining relationships with a variety of stakeholders. A background in cancer research or research funding would be advantageous.
If you are excited about joining our team, please read through this job pack to see if you have the right skills we are looking for. We look forward to hearing from you!
Registered Charity
21 - 50
Our mission is to save lives and improve outcomes for people affected by primary bone cancer through research, information, awareness and support.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
About the role
The Academy runs some of the most valued grant schemes and development programmes in UK biomedical and health research. Springboard Awards help researchers establish their independence. Starter Grants keep talented clinicians in research alongside their clinical work. Leadership programmes like FLIER develop people who can work across academia, healthcare and industry to tackle real-world challenges, and alongside these sit opportunities to spend time working in industry, the NHS or government. Moving between sectors should be a normal part of a medical research career (it is not yet), and much of our work is built with that belief: a more connected and mobile workforce is better able to turn discovery into benefit. Between them, these schemes change the course of people's careers, and the research they enable reaches patients across the UK and beyond.
This role leads that portfolio. The heart of the job is excellent delivery: schemes that are well designed and well run, and that make a real difference to the people they reach. You will work closely with the Fellowship, whose expertise and generosity run through the whole portfolio, and you will make sure the schemes serve the whole of the medical sciences community (across the devolved nations and the regions, in industry as much as academia), not just those already inside the most established institutions. And science is global, so this work is too: the portfolio draws on evidence and partnerships from around the world, and the mentoring and networks around the people we support reach well beyond the UK.
Today much of the portfolio's focus is research talent and careers. That will always be a substantial part of the portfolio, but over time we plan to expand it further. That expansion could go in several directions, and what matters is that we are taking an evidence-based approach to ensure that our efforts are responding to what the medical sciences sector needs. Whatever we launch next, the same principles apply; good design, sound funding, proper governance and solid evaluation, with our effort concentrated where it delivers the most impact. So, the job is twofold: run today's portfolio brilliantly and build the future portfolio. It is a role where you can see your work land in people's lives, with real scope to shape what comes next. And none of it stands alone: what we learn from the people we fund sharpens our policy voice, the community our programmes build strengthens our engagement and public trust work, and insight flows back the other way to shape what we design next.
As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, you will share in the leadership of the Academy as a whole, working closely with the other directors: the Chief Operating Officer and the Directors of Policy, Communications and Engagement, and Translation and Enterprise. The relationship with Translation and Enterprise matters especially. That team will shape new partnerships and initiatives that your team is best placed to deliver, so the two of you will work in very close partnership.
What we are looking for
These are the six areas we will explore with candidates. They match the six parts of the role above, so you can read straight across — and your supporting statement can follow the same structure if that helps. We do not expect anyone to arrive with every part fully formed, but the strongest candidates will be convincing across most of them.
1. Excellent delivery
A strong track record of running grant schemes or of significant programmatic delivery. Much of this is operational: holding an annual cycle to time and budget, catching problems early and getting stuck things moving again. It is also about making sure the portfolio adds up to a coherent whole rather than a collection of separate schemes, with the governance discipline — sound contracts, clean compliance, rigorous oversight — that sits behind delivery done well.
2. Building partnerships and negotiating well
A track record of building and sustaining partnerships with funders, delivery organisations and industry, and the skill and pace to turn them into agreements where appropriate. We will want to hear how you have handled a complex negotiation and brought it to a close. The Chief Operating Officer leads the Academy’s income strategy, so we will also explore how you develop partners in concert with colleagues.
3. Range and credibility across the community
This role runs from Fellows (some of the most eminent scientists in the country) to researchers at the very start of their careers, and from government and funders to industry partners. We are looking for someone with the range to work well across all of them, and the credibility to be taken seriously at every level. We will also explore how you have widened access and drawn talent in from beyond the usual places.
4. A focus on impact
A commitment to looking at what difference the portfolio you lead makes. We are looking for someone who treats evaluation as a source of learning and uses what it shows to decide what the Academy should do next, keeping sight of the people and patients the work is for.
5. Leading and empowering people
A brilliant leader of people: someone who gets the best from a talented team by giving them space and ownership, backing them with real support and coaching, and building a culture where people thrive and develop.
6. Collective leadership
As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, you would share responsibility for the Academy as a whole, not only your own directorate. We want someone who takes that seriously, brings challenge where it is needed, backs colleagues when it counts, and helps make the Academy a brilliant place to work.
Benefits
We offer a competitive and evolving benefits package designed to support your wellbeing, development and work–life balance, including:
- Competitive salary and pension
- 26 days’ annual leave, plus bank holidays
- Option to buy or sell annual leave
- Additional paid closure between Christmas and New Year
- Hybrid and flexible working
- Health, wellbeing and employee support programmes
- Cycle-to-work scheme and everyday benefits
- Structured learning and development
- Enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity leave
- Enhanced occupational sick pay
For further information and to apply, please visit our website via the apply button.
Closing date for completed applications: Midday on Monday 17 August 2026.
First interviews will be held 25-26 August 2026 with the CEO, Roz Campion, and the COO, James Lawrence, and focused on two competencies – leadership and delivery.
Second interviews will be held on 1 September 2026 with an external panel.
