Operations Administrator (Cancer Tools)

£27,000 - £33,000 plus benefits

Reports to: Operations Manager

Directorate: Research & Innovation

Contract: 6 month Fixed Term Contract

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week

Location: Stratford, London (1-2 days per week) Or Homebased * We’re happy to offer home-based contracts through our flexible working policy. P lease note that travel expenses are not covered. We aim to keep travel minimal and purposeful, ensuring it adds real value to your work and team collaboration

Closing date: 26 October 2025 23:55

This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications is received or once a suitable candidate is found, therefore we strongly recommend that you apply early to avoid disappointment. Please let us know if there is anything about the recruitment process that you would like to discuss, in particular if there are any changes or adjustments that would make it easier for you to apply. Please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible.

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: Competency based interview via Microsoft Teams

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.

CancerTools.Org are looking for a proactive and organised Operations Administrator to join the Customer Operations Team at our Kent Lab (this position can be also be homebased)

About the team

CancerTools.org, the research tools arm of Cancer Research UK (CRUK), is a non-profit, global community of cancer researchers, academic institutes, and professional societies, with a shared mission to accelerate cancer research. With a history of more than 40 years of managing and providing reagents to both academic and for-profit laboratories around the world, CancerTools.org has been steadfast in its mission of accelerating cancer research by making research tools widely and easily available, extending CRUKS influence to a global audience

What will you be doing?

In this role you will provide essen tial administrative support to enable the smooth running and growth of the business. This role involves a range of responsibilities, including data input and analysis, generating insights to inform strategic decisions, and supporting cross-functional collaboration. You will act as a central point of communication between departments, helping to streamline processes and drive operational efficiencies.

You’ll be joining a growing team of individuals passionate about what they do, so we are looking for candidates who thrive in a dynamic startup environment, keen to make the role their own and grow with us.

Key duties include:

Assisting the team with administrative and financial processes to enable excellent reporting (including raising requisitions and purchase orders, processing sales orders and invoices, setting up customers and suppliers) to support KPI progression.

Support our customers/partners with payment processing, overdue payment tracking and general customer support to ensure an ongoing positive relationship.

Liaise and work closely with CancerTools contract compliance team for post-contract management and compliance aspects needed to inform financial processes
General administration : Prepare and process financial and partnership reports, maintain accurate records and data systems, and manage incoming enquiries by directing them to the appropriate internal teams (including telephone and email triage)

Support the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to develop and implement plans within the team. Preparation for team meetings, including managing meeting invitations, preparing agendas, attending and taking minutes, and circulating the key actions and notes.

What skills are we looking for?

This role would suit a strong administrator who has worked within an operational setting, it could suit someone with some account receivable experience, whatever your background, you’ll be able to demonstrate :

Strong data collection and analysis skills – ability to pull complex data together, analyse it and provide key insights

Able to challenge assumed and embedded practices to improve operational standards and processes

Proven success of good stakeholder management, with the ability to build strong working relationships and collaborate effectively

The ability to prioritise, manage conflicting deadlines, work well under pressure and manage multiple tasks to deadlines

Strong IT skills and able to use all Microsoft packages in addition to learning new systems

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.

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 0 20 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.

Cancer Research UK

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