Early careers at Cancer Research UK

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Join us to beat cancer

We are at the forefront of the global fight against cancer, bringing together millions of people who share our determination. But we need to go much further.

We’re looking for people who can work collaboratively and focus on what matters to help us to get to where we want to be.

Whether you’re a graduate, undergraduate, school leaver or looking for a career change, we have programmes that will help develop your skills at the UK’s leading cancer charity. Our schemes offer insight into working for a charity in a supportive environment, all while playing a vital role in the fight against cancer.

Our early career programmes are unique as no previous experience or qualifications are required. This is because we are committed to breaking down barriers and creating an inclusive and diverse workforce, which we believe will help us beat cancer.

Benefits

All our programmes offer a competitive salary and a range of benefits. Our Accelerate trainees earn £26,000 in your first year with an increase to £27,750 in your second year, whilst our Interns earn the London Living Wage.

Each and every one of our employees contributes to our progress. And every ounce of effort you put in will be supporting our work to beat cancer. We think that’s impressive. In return, we make sure you are supported by high-quality tools, policies and processes to help you to do your job well. Our work – from funding cutting-edge research to developing public policy – will change the world. It’s exciting to be part of our team.

Our benefits include: 

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Flexibility

We want our people to have time away from work to support their different commitments, needs and interests. We encourage a flexible working culture, including options such as home-working, reduced or flexi-hours, job shares, job-splits, compressed and core hours. We offer a high level of flexibility for the vast majority of our office-based roles, meaning that you’ll only be required to work from a specific location for 1 or 2 days a week on average.

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Development

We offer a wide range of career and personal development opportunities, including induction, core business skills, leadership and management development, talent programmes, accelerated progression opportunities for those with leadership potential, secondments and much more.

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Annual leave

Working with us, you’ll be encouraged to take your 25 days holiday a year, plus bank holidays, and an extra day for Christmas Eve. We provide flexibility on religious holidays meaning you can choose to use the 5 UK religious bank holidays at another time for any reason including religious festivals, caring, wellbeing or other interests.

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Discounts

Cancer Research UK staff enjoy great benefits in and around Stratford with deals at local shops, bars and restaurants. Our staff have access to a wide range of discounts, benefits and cashback deals to support you with your financial wellbeing, through our Rewards platform. We offer an online savings and discounts portal covering many widely recognised retailers and brands from electronics, groceries, home and leisure, holidays and more.