Prospect Research Manager

£3 7,000 - £ 43,500 plus benefits

Directorate: Strategy & Philanthropy
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full-time 35 hours per week
Location: Alternating between Stratford & Francis Crick Institute. Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office) .

Closing date: Sunday 30th August 23:55pm

Interview Process: Screening call followed by competency-based interview process.

Interview dates: Approximately w/c 7th September

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.

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.

Our sector leading Philanthropy team ha s an exciting opportunity to join as Prospect Research Manager . We are looking for a diligent, detail-orient ated individual with strong communication skills to join our well established and proactive Prospect Development team.

The Prospect Research Manager leads the delivery of a proactive, intelligence-led prospect development function across the Philanthropy Directorate, enabling Principal and Leadership Giving teams to identify, qualify and engage high-value prospects, including support for key fundraising areas such as the Francis Crick Institute and Trusts & Foundations.

Partnering with fundraisers across a range of portfolios and priority areas, the role identifies and develops high-value prospects tailored to specific funding opportunities. You’ll build and nurture strong relationships with fundraisers and stakeholders to ensure insight is relevant, actionable, and drives income growth.

The role is responsible for proactive and reactive research, strengthening the prospect pipeline, and supporting a structured approach to prospect identification, qualification , and engagement planning. This includes delivering high-quality research outputs such as biographical profiles, prospect ratings, portfolio allocation, network mapping and regular pipeline , and portfolio reviews.

As a part of the wider CRUK fundraising efforts, the Philanthropy Directorate is one of the largest and most successful high value fundraising teams in the UK. An ambitious and innovative team of 60 talented philanthropy professionals, our focus is the £400m ‘ More Research, Less Cancer’ (MRLC) campaign which has four key priorities: the Francis Crick Institute, Cancer Grand Challenges, Translation & Innovation, and our Future Leaders’ programme. We’ve recently reached the milestone of £200m.

This is a great opportunity for someone from a prospect research background, whether this is through major gift fundraising, sales, business development or academia. You’ll be curious, diligent , and analytical in your approach. In return you’ll join an award-winning team and have the chance to feel the impact of your work in our mission to beat cancer.

What will you be doing?

• Support prospect development for philanthropy by delivering high-quality research, insights, and actionable recommendations to inform engagement and income generation; taking the lead on specific relationships and associated workstreams as they develop.

• Partner closely with fundraisers to manage portfolios, allocate prospects, prioritise activity, and track pipeline progression.

• Produce high-quality research profiles, briefings, and network insights to strengthen donor engagement , and maximise fundraising success.

• Proactively identify and develop high-potential prospects aligned to strategic priorities, KPIs, and income targets.

• Contribute to and refine prospecting strategies, ensuring a sustainable and effective pipeline of opportunities.

• Manage multiple research requests with agility, ensuring timely delivery to agreed service standards.

• Support the continuous improvement of prospect management processes, systems, and team KPIs.

• Collaborate across teams, sharing knowledge and providing guidance to enhance overall prospect development capability.

• Maintain high standards of accuracy, data integrity, and presentation in all outputs and database records.

• Champion effective use of the CRM database, ensuring data is consistently captured and maintained to agreed standards.

• Contribute to team planning, strategy development, and key organisational initiatives as an active member of the Prospect Development function.
  

What are we looking for?

• Demonstrable track record of success in prospect research, using a variety of research resources .

• Strong understanding of major gift and Trusts & Foundations fundraising, and the value of prospect research in identifying and advancing fundraising opportunities.

• S trong research and analytical skills, including ability to produce profiles and network lists for individuals and trusts .

• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to manage personal workload alongside coordinating external stakeholders' requests, driving progress and ensuring delivery against targets.

• Ability to collect and assess information rapidly, identifying key points and drawing conclusions .

• Innovative and always ready to take initiative, solve problems and think laterally .

• Strong relationship-building and collaboration skills across teams with the a bility to influence and challenge constructively .

• Familiarity with fundraising databases and prospect management systems (CRM) .
  

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