Curestarter careers at Worldwide Cancer Research

Our vision is of a day when no life is cut short by cancer. Anyone that helps bring forward the breakthroughs that will make this possible - including our staff - is a Curestarter.

Join us. Become a Curestarter. Save lives.

Cancer is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide, but cutting-edge science can give us hope. Discovery research seeks to uncover new knowledge that could change the way we think about cancer, revealing new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat the disease.

Worldwide Cancer Research team standing and laughing

We are committed to opportunity without barriers.

We strive to seek, value and learn from different perspectives and experiences. We want Worldwide Cancer Research to be an inclusive organisation - where everyone can be themselves and feel valued - as diverse as the scientific community we fund and the families whose lives we impact.

We are committed to ensuring that we provide equal opportunities to every applicant regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

We aim to ensure that our recruitment process is unbiased and that everyone is treated equitably because our team members are at the heart of everything we do to start new cancer cures around the world.

Current Vacancies:

Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships and Philanthropy

To help start new cancer cures and save lives, join the busy Partnerships and Philanthropy team to help us run our multi-million-pound funding programme for discovery cancer research.

Hybrid, Based in Edinburgh
c.£90,000 per annum on a full-time permanent basis

Find out more

Please contact us on [email protected] if you have any questions.

Curestarter career benefits:

We believe in providing a work-life balance that allows our team to make a real difference while having a fulfilling and rewarding time.

Our employee benefits

Salary: We regularly benchmark and review our salaries in line with our Remuneration Policy.
Holiday: We offer 31 days’ FTE paid leave a year, plus four public holidays on 24th, 25th December and 1st, 2nd January, or as close as possible.
Pension: We provide an employer contribution of 10% of your annual salary, greater than the statutory minimum of 3%, and your contribution is optional.
Maternity, paternity and adoption: Our occupational maternity, paternity and adoption pay are greater than the statutory minimum requirements. We offer coaching sessions on return from leave.
Medical insurance: We offer private medical insurance to give our employees quicker access to diagnostics and medical treatment.
Travel cost loans: We offer interest-free loans to help spread your commuting costs.
Cycle to work scheme: This is available via salaruy sacrifice to support your health and sustainable commuting.
Sick pay: We support our team while off work unwell, and our sick pay is in excess of the statutory minimum requirement.
Death in service: We will pay three times your annual salary as life assurance to the person you choose.

Your wellbeing matters

Health and wellbeing guidance: We work hard to create a workplace and culture that promotes health and wellbeing as its cornerstone.
Carer days: If you're ever needed to help a dependant, planned or unplanned, we offer three paid carer days FTE a year.
Occupational health: We work with external OH professionals to help team members stay in work or return to work.
Employee counselling service: We offer referrals to an independent and confidential counselling service.
Mental health training: Mental health matters. That’s why we run regular medical health training and have mental health first aiders among our team.
Employee assistance programme: Every member of our team and their household have access to a free, independent helpline that offers support around finance, mental and physical wellbeing.
Workstation safety and comfort: We run regular display screen equipment check-ins for both office and home working.

Supporting work-life balance

Hybrid working: If you are full time, we ask you to be in the office at least two days a week over our 10am – 3pm core hours.
Two-weeks fully remote working: You can apply to work fully remotely from a location of your choice for two weeks each year.
Nine-day fortnight: To support the team’s work-life balance, we work a nine-day fortnight where the charity is closed every second Friday.

Our accreditations

Don't just take our word for it! We have previously been awarded Employer Brand of the Year at the Marketing Society's annual St Andrew's Day dinner, where we were recognised for our commitment to staff wellbeing and empowering colleagues through person-centred values.

We also run an annual Employee Engagement Survey and we have won Employee Engagement awards in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. In 2025, we achieved a 100% response to 'I would recommend Worldwide Cancer Research as a good place to work' and were awarded the 5-star Employer Award from WorkBuzz.

We are also registered as a Disability Confident Committed Employer to show that we are taking action to improve how we recruit, retain and develop disabled people.

Find out more

We welcome applications from all communities to help build an inclusive team, as diverse as the scientific community we fund and the families whose lives we impact. Our people are important to us, and are critical to the success of the charity. Check out our People Plan to find out more.

To find out more about what it is like to be part of Team Worldwide, contact [email protected]

Further information

We are committed to inclusive and accessible recruitment, promoting vacancies through a range of channels and offering interviews to applicants who have told us of their disability and who meet the criteria for the role.

Please contact Paula Cahill, our HR Manager, if you have any questions about our recruitment process, accessibility and adjustments to support you.

As part of our candidate application and recruitment activities we collect, process and store personal information. For more information on this, please read our Recruitment privacy notice.