Research and Policy Executive Assistant

Research and Policy Executive Assistant

Hours: Full-time, 37 hours per week

Closing date: 5 November 2026

About Us

Yorkshire is one of the regions hardest hit by cancer. Together, we can change this.

Yorkshire Cancer Research is a charity dedicated to funding research so that you and those you love live longer healthier lives, free of cancer.

Thanks to supporters, the charity funds vital cancer research and pioneers innovative new services for people with cancer. These life-giving medical breakthroughs are helping more people survive cancer - in Yorkshire, and beyond.

As an inclusive employer, our aim is to ensure our workforce reflects the rich diversity of our region. We believe a diverse workforce is vital to us taking action to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer more effectively in Yorkshire. We offer equal opportunities regardless of race, religion or belief, age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnerships.

We've got a strong set of values that inform everything we do, and we're looking for people who are aligned with these. As a Research and Policy Executive Assistant, you will put people in Yorkshire at the heart of everything you do, unite with colleagues and other organisations in this cause, and dare to think big and bold to make positive solutions happen.

To find out more about our values and how important they are to us, please read the role profile linked above.

The Benefits

We offer a wide and generous range of benefits designed to support our employees through every stage of life. To read about these, please see the benefits section of our Careers Page.

The Role

As Executive Assistant to the Director of Research, Policy and Impact, you will provide high-quality, confidential and proactive executive and administrative support to the Director and coordination support across the Research, Policy and Impact directorate.

You will manage the Director's diary, priorities, correspondence and meeting commitments, helping to ensure that time and attention are focused on the directorate's most important strategic, operational and governance priorities.

You will support effective coordination across the directorate's research and clinical trials, cancer insight, data and impact, and policy and public affairs functions. This will include planning meetings, preparing agendas and briefing materials, maintaining accurate records, monitoring decisions and actions, and supporting communication with internal and external stakeholders.

Success in this role will require excellent judgement, forward planning, attention to detail and the confidence to manage competing demands. You will handle sensitive information appropriately and build trusted working relationships with colleagues, Trustees, researchers, healthcare professionals, public bodies, partner organisations and other stakeholders.

Specifically, you will:

• Proactively manage the Director's diary, identifying priorities, resolving scheduling conflicts and ensuring that sufficient preparation, travel and follow-up time is protected.

• Maintain an overview of the Director's commitments, deadlines and actions, anticipating upcoming requirements and prompting or escalating matters where appropriate.

• Support the Director in prioritising correspondence, meeting requests and other demands, using sound judgement to distinguish urgent, important and routine matters.

• Draft correspondence and quality-assure, presentations, briefing notes, reports and other materials on behalf of the Director.

• Coordinate travel, accommodation and practical arrangements where required.

• Coordinate meetings for the Research, Policy and Impact directorate, including leadership meetings, full-team meetings, planning sessions and other working groups.

• Work with the Director and senior colleagues to develop purposeful agendas, commission papers and ensure that materials are circulated in good time.

• Produce accurate minutes or decision records, clearly identifying decisions, actions, owners and agreed deadlines.

• Maintain action and decision logs and follow up with action owners to support timely completion.

• Coordinate the directorate's forward meeting plan and key annual activities, helping to identify dependencies, deadlines and potential clashes.

• Support the preparation and coordination of directorate contributions to Executive Team, Board and Committee papers, ensuring that the correct templates, approval routes and deadlines are followed.

• Provide coordination support for key directorate processes, which may include research funding activity, peer review and assessment meetings, impact reporting, policy development and stakeholder engagement.

• Coordinate meetings and information flows involving researchers, healthcare professionals, NHS organisations, universities, public bodies, charities and other partners.

• Support the management of consultation responses, briefings, funding or governance papers and other time-sensitive directorate outputs.

• Maintain accurate stakeholder and contact information for the Directorate and support a planned approach to key relationships.

• Coordinate internal and external meetings, including liaison with Trustees, senior colleagues, researchers, NHS leaders, academics, government and public-sector contacts, funders, partners and other charities.

• Prepare meeting packs containing agendas, relevant background information, previous actions and practical arrangements.

About You

To be considered for this role, you will need:

• To be educated to Level 3 (such as A-level or T-Level) or able to demonstrate equivalent knowledge and capability gained through relevant experience

• To have substantial experience of providing proactive executive or senior-level administrative support in a complex organisation.

• To have demonstrable experience of managing a demanding diary, competing priorities and confidential correspondence.

• To have experience of coordinating senior-level meetings, preparing agendas and papers, recording decisions and monitoring actions.

• To have experience of quality-assuring professional documents, reports and presentations for senior or external audiences.

• To have experience of working with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

• To have advanced working knowledge of Microsoft 365, particularly Co-Pilot, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams and SharePoint.

• To have experience of using document-management, CRM, HR or other corporate systems.

• To have excellent organisational and forward-planning skills, with the ability to anticipate needs and manage multiple competing priorities.

• To have sound judgement and confidence in making day-to-day decisions within agreed parameters.

• To have the ability to understand and summarise complex or technical information accurately, while recognising when specialist input is required.

• To have excellent written English, proof-reading and document-production skills.

• To have the ability to produce clear agendas, minutes, decision records, action logs and professional correspondence.

• To have strong interpersonal skills and the confidence to communicate appropriately with senior leaders, Trustees and external stakeholders.

• To have a collaborative and service-focused approach, combined with the ability to work independently.

• To have diplomacy, discretion and consistently high standards of confidentiality.

• To have excellent attention to detail ensuring accuracy and quality of work in all tasks including preparation of documents, scheduling of meetings, proof-reading communications and other administrative tasks.

• To be able to remain calm, flexible and solutions-focused when priorities change.

Application

Before applying, please read the full role profile linked above.

Yorkshire Cancer Research is a responsible and flexible employer. We welcome any discussion for flexible working at the interview/offer stage where we will consider an individual's circumstances against the needs of the charity.

We positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates from all backgrounds. If we can make any reasonable adjustments to support your application please contact us.