Job Description

£40,000 - £45,000 plus benefits

Reports to: Senior Procurement Manager - Operations

Directorate: Finance, Governance & Assurance

Contract: 12 Month Fixed Term Contract

Hours: 35 hours per week

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

Closing date: 21st September 2026

Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.

Recruitment process: 2 stage competency-based interview with a task

Interview date: Interviews will take place w/c 5th October 2026

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.

We're looking for a Sustainable Procurement Manager to help us drive meaningful change across our supply chain and support our sustainability and net zero ambitions. This newly created 12-month fixed term opportunity will play a key role in embedding environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles throughout procurement activities, ensuring responsible sourcing, robust supplier governance and effective risk management.

Working closely with Procurement, Sustainability and business stakeholders, you'll act as a subject matter expert, helping shape policies, processes and supplier engagement strategies that support ethical sourcing, reduce carbon emissions and strengthen our approach to modern slavery risk management. This is an exciting opportunity for someone passionate about sustainability who wants to make a tangible impact while contributing to Cancer Research UK's mission to beat cancer.

What will I be doing?

• Support the development and implementation of sustainable procurement policies, procedures and governance frameworks across CRUK.
• Drive supplier sustainability initiatives, including ethical sourcing, supplier due diligence and modern slavery risk assessment and mitigation.
• Identify supply chain carbon hotspots and deliver initiatives that contribute towards CRUK's carbon reduction and net zero goals.
• Develop ESG reporting, dashboards and governance metrics that provide meaningful insights to stakeholders and decision makers.
• Optimise supplier risk management tools, systems and external partnerships to strengthen sustainability oversight and compliance.
• Provide expert guidance, training and support to procurement teams, contract owners and wider stakeholders to embed sustainable procurement processes.

What are we looking for?

• Experience working within sustainability, ESG, responsible sourcing or sustainable procurement.
• Knowledge of supplier sustainability, modern slavery legislation, ethical standards and carbon reduction initiatives.
• Experience engaging and influencing suppliers to improve sustainability performance and deliver measurable outcomes.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to assess supplier data, interpret sustainability metrics and communicate insights clearly.
• Experience developing questionnaires, risk assessments, reporting frameworks or governance processes relating to sustainability.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills with the ability to influence colleagues and suppliers.
• We'd be particularly interested in candidates with sustainability expertise, even if they have limited direct procurement experience. Experience working with supplier sustainability programmes, ESG reporting, modern slavery risks or carbon emissions reduction initiatives would be highly valuable.

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.

What will I gain?

We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.

You can explore our benefits by visiting our careers web page.

How do I apply?

We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won’t be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you fairly and objectively.

Please note that applications can’t be edited once submitted.

Owing to the nature of this position, any offer of employment for this role will be subject to a satisfactory basic DBS check.

For more information on this career opportunity please visit our website or contact us at recruitment@cancer.org.uk.

For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.

We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen. Please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.