Researcher Networks Manager

Wellcome is a global charitable foundation. We improve health for everyone by funding science, leading policy and advocacy campaigns, and building partnerships.

We plan to spend £16bn over the next ten years, funding new discoveries in life, health and well being, and taking on three global health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate. These challenges need the bold research our funding supports, but they won’t be solved by science alone.

The Discovery Research team supports a broad programme of curiosity driven research that leads to significant shifts in our understanding of life, health and wellbeing. We are pursuing these goals through both open and directed funding routes to enable individuals and teams to pursue bold and creative research within our broad remit.

Recognising the value of the research community, we are committed to recruiting a permanent Researcher Networks Manager to the Discovery Research team. This new role will be critical in developing and establishing new ways for us to forge partnerships with individuals and established networks within the research and funding communities. We want to use Wellcome’s position as a major independent funder to bring people together, support opportunities for new research ideas to flourish and to continue to promote the reforms needed to create a positive research culture within the UK and internationally.

The role holder will be the lead point within Discovery Research for scoping, developing and driving team-level strategic engagement with external researcher communities, across a breadth of research disciplines, as well as networking with other organisations involved in this work.

In this role you will:

• Evaluate current opportunities for engagement with research communities, across the Discovery Research portfolio.
• Develop a new approach to ensure that Discovery Research optimises interactions with different cohorts of researchers, to meet its ambitions, including reaching new audiences of strategic interest.
• Design and run a research communities foresight function to identify, evaluate and act on the emerging issues for key research communities as they relate to the success of Discovery Research and advance them accordingly.
• Establish and maintain partnership opportunities with external organisations relating to research community engagement.
• Ensure integration of engagement activities within Discovery Research and with those led by other Wellcome teams.

We are looking for people with:

• The ability to demonstrate a breadth of research interests and expertise in a relevant field through relevant work experience in an academic, industrial, funding agency or charity setting.   
• Experience/knowledge of universities, funders and other relevant scientific and research organisations and communities  
• The ability to employ diverse approaches to effectively communicate complex information to individuals and groups from a range of different background and different seniority levels.
• Experience of designing and evaluating physical and digital events for diverse groups of stakeholders, particularly researchers
• Excellent organisational skills and the demonstrated ability to manage a fluctuating, heavy, workload and competing priorities
• Strong verbal communication skills
• Well-developed writing skills with ability to synthesise information conveying key points clearly and concisely 
• IT literate with experience of using database and other computerised systems, including Microsoft Office products 
• Experience/knowledge of managing projects in an academic or industry setting. 

To apply please upload your current CV and complete our short application form.

You can view the full job description here

We understand that our colleagues have commitments and personal interests outside of work and we strive to build a flexible working environment, in which people can perform at their best. We are currently working 2 days per week (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) from our Euston Road offices with the remaining 3 days from home.

You can read more about the benefits we offer our employees here

Diversity and Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do

Diversity and Inclusion is a priority at Wellcome. We are committed to cultivating a fair and inclusive environment, where everyone can be themselves and thrive. We are happy to discuss flexible working options for all roles. We work to ensure that our recruitment processes are ! as inclusive as possible to everyone. This includes making adjustments for people who have a disability or long-term condition. Please visit our website for more information on adjustments and accessibility, or contact us at jobs@wellcome.org.