Senior Business Manager (in the funding team) - 12 month maternity contract

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Job Title: Senior Business Manager (in the funding team) - 12 month maternity contractLocation: London, Stevenage or Edinburgh

Job Type: Full time 12 month maternity contract

Agencies: We will only work with recruitment partners on our preferred supplier list and will not engage with speculative CVs submitted.

Are you passionate about making life science life changing and delivering impact for patients? We want to hear from you.

About the role:

This is a great opportunity to join LifeArc as an interim Senior Business Manager to cover maternity leave - contributing to the significant work we do in the funding team. The Funding team has oversight of all grant funding activity across the organisation. Reporting to the Head of Funding, this Senior Business Manager role involves independently leading and/ or providing advice on all funding-related activities, to colleagues in the Translational Challenge teams, the wider organisation, and representing LifeArc externally.

The Senior Business Manager has responsibility for leading on delivering high quality technical insight when supporting internal and external clients, in relation to the identification of science that has the potential for patient impact. This includes advising applicants in shaping funding applications, and mentoring other colleagues to do the same, and requires a sound understanding of translation, across modalities, and the ability to offer credible translational advice, to partners at all levels of seniority, without preparation.

The role also requires an expert knowledge of grant funding policies and processes and is expected to proactively make suggestions for improvement where appropriate, playing an integral part in shaping, developing and continuously improving LifeArc's Funding Framework.

Responsibilities span the full funding lifecycle, from the design and planning of funding calls, through delivery and into the post-award phase. This role will also be required to independently lead, and support Business Managers and other colleagues, on the management of a £ multi-million post-award grant funding portfolio, ensuring key performance targets are met and appropriately reported. The Senior Business Manager will build and maintain relationships with our awardees, our co-funders and other stakeholders, and is expected to proactively identify opportunities to collaborate.

The Senior Business Manager will be required to flex to the requirements of different funding applicant pools across the breadth of translation, in various disease areas, and to lead on developing co-funding opportunities with other key stakeholders, building and maintaining a high profile in their focus area.

About you:

Your responsibilities will include the following:

• Independently lead on a significant portion of LifeArc's grant funding activities, across the full lifecycle including pre- and post-award.
• Leading on the management of a portfolio of Principal Investigators, projects, and technologies under development, requiring engagement with applicants and awardees at all levels of seniority.
• Line management of Business Managers
• Working collaboratively in a matrix environment with different parts of LifeArc, including other colleagues in the Partnerships Team, Opportunity Assessment Group, Science and Legal, enabling the funding of high-quality translational science.
• Taking responsibility and accountability for leading specific funding calls and leading matrix teams also working on the same funding calls.
• Working collaboratively with the Head of Funding and the Funding team as they assess and execute translational science projects and provide advice. Identifies issues early in the process so solutions can be found. Mentor and develop other colleagues.
• Ability to communicate effectively in written work getting the tone right and flexing their style for different types of writing, including external communications.
• Growing and maintaining collaborative relationships within the wider Funding ecosystem, acting as an advocate for LifeArc. Proactively identify other key stakeholders in their area of focus and build a high profile within the ecosystem.
• Using and working to KPIs and targets. Deadline driven but considers how things can be improved in the future.
• Acting as Panel secretariat for certain funding calls, leading an internal LifeArc team and providing high quality support to our expert panels.
• Line management of Business Managers.
• Taking a lead role in championing and implementing Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) policies and procedures to ensure grant calls and technology transfer services are provided in line with our strategy
• Acting as an ambassador for LifeArc, role-modelling our value-add Funding culture, both internally and externally

Skills & experience required:

• Significant experience of delivering high quality professional services to external clients
• Significant experience in the design, establishment and front-office delivery of funding calls to further the R&D goals of organisations.
• A keen understanding of funding policies, terms & conditions, legal requirements and the complexities of managing multimillion pound funding initiatives
• A sound understanding of translation, the development path for different modalities, and the challenges faced in developing solutions for rare disease patients.
• Significant experience of the translational research funding landscape in the UK and other key stakeholders operating within it.
• An effective and professional communicator, able to engage at all levels.
• Demonstrable skills and experience in building collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships internally and externally
• Seeks win/win solutions to challenges that lead to positive outcomes that benefit all participants
• Good understanding of Technology Transfer services and able to advise and support clients with confidence on issues relating to IP and downstream development
• Financial and commercial acumen, enabling good application of judgement and decision making
• Have a good knowledge of the needs of your beneficiaries, committing to delivering the best outcome for our clients, flexing the approach depending on the situation
• Good level of self-awareness, recognises own strengths, development areas and seeks to develop own self
• Have a successful and demonstrable track record of handling complex negotiations
• An impact focussed mindset, being able to review and critically analyse past performance and looking for areas for continuous improvement in the teams' approach and performance
• Will be able to quickly understand, and draw on all service offerings, including having an in-depth knowledge of IP and the development path for therapeutics and diagnostics in bringing all our capabilities to our clients with impact

Education required:

• Qualified to degree level in a scientific discipline with a PhD and/ or equivalent experience in academia and/ or industry

About us:

At LifeArc, our ambition is to make life science life changing. We do this by advancing scientific discoveries beyond the lab, faster, so that they can shape the next generation of diagnostics, treatments, and cures.

Working at the cutting edge of translational science and as the early-stage translation specialists, we progress scientific discoveries on their journey to becoming a medicine, diagnostic or intervention that improve patients' lives. Our work begins by seeking out innovative science, then helping to develop this to a point where there is a clinical and commercial pathway for others to invest the time and money to take it further forward.

What we can offer you:

Focused on finding life changing solutions for underserved patients, our people thrive in an inclusive, and supportive environment that prioritises their health and wellbeing. Our multidisciplinary approach guarantees our people growth opportunities, while our culture of innovation and collaboration drives the impact we make delivering on our purpose of 'putting patients at the centre of everything we do'.

We are dedicated to creating a diverse, flexible, equitable and happy work environment so our colleagues can thrive as their truest selves. We act with courage, curiosity, care & commitment to deliver quality & excellence for our patients and each other Join us, and you'll be given the scope to develop your professional skills and experience in a safe, supportive and challenging environment

Salary will be determined by qualifications and experience along with other exceptional benefits. Because we understand everyone has different requirements, our flexible benefits allow you to choose those which are important to you. Our pension scheme offers employer contributions of up to 12%, private health insurance, and annual leave of 31 days PLUS bank holidays.

Don't meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people from minority ethnic backgrounds, for example, are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At LifeArc we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so whatever your background or lived experience, if you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. Our top priority is finding the best candidate, and you may be just right for this or other roles.

We all have potential. At LifeArc, you'll discover what you can really do with it.