Purpose of the post

HDR UK’s Capacity Building team has created a suite of high-impact training and talent programmes, including:

• HDR UK Futures, our global learning platform with 30,000+ active learners
• Flagship academic programmes, including the HDR UK/Wellcome Turing PhD Programme in Health Data Science and Masters scholarships
• National award-winning internship programmes, including the Black Internship Programme in health data science

We are now at a pivotal stage of growth and are seeking a Strategic Partnership Manager to drive long-term impact and scalability. This role will work closely with programme leads to:

• Secure additional funding through grant collaborations, sponsorship, and strategic partnerships
• Develop new business models to support expansion and sustainability
• Strengthen HDR UK’s position as a leader in health data science training and career development

Key responsibilities

Strategic Partnerships

• Build and nurture partnerships with universities, NHS organisations, research institutes, industry, funders, and community stakeholders.
• Represent HDR UK Capacity Building at external forums, acting as a trusted liaison and negotiator.
• Co-develop funding bids, joint initiatives, and collaborations that expand HDR UK’s training, internships, and career pathways.
• Support international growth by working with HDR UK’s international team to establish global partnerships.

Sustainability and resource development

• Lead the development of a long-term sustainability strategy for capacity building programmes.
• Secure funding, sponsorship, and in-kind contributions from public, private, and philanthropic sources.
• Design scalable and cost-effective delivery models in collaboration with finance and programme teams.

Programme delivery

• Support the design and delivery of capacity building activities, ensuring alignment with HDR UK’s mission and partner priorities.
• Embed sustainability into programme delivery through monitoring, evaluation, and impact reporting.
• Champion equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in partnership and sustainability approaches.

Stakeholder engagement 

• Build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders to ensure relevance, quality, and impact of programmes.
• Promote HDR UK’s training and talent initiatives nationally and internationally, raising visibility and influence.
• Develop compelling communication materials that demonstrate value to funders, policymakers, and partners.
• Explore fund-raising options beyond traditional academic funding sources including industry, philanthropic organisations and other organisations active in the health data science sector

Leadership

• Provide thought leadership on partnership development and sustainability within the team.
• Support colleagues in adopting collaborative approaches and leveraging new external opportunities.

Experience and skills

Essential

• Proven experience in building and managing cross-sector partnerships.
• Strong track record in sustainability planning, fundraising, business development, and grant applications.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders and external organisations.
• Outstanding communication, negotiation, and advocacy skills, including business case development.
• Understanding of the research, higher education, health, or data science landscape.
• Commitment to HDR UK’s values, with a strong focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Desirable

• Knowledge of health data science, digital health, or biomedical research.
• Experience working with funders, sponsors, industry, and government agencies.
• Demonstrated success in securing significant funding or partnership agreements.
• Experience in capacity building, training, or skills development programmes.

Please note: A s we are a UK-based organisation, applicants must be living in, and eligible to work in, the UK. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

We politely request no contact from recruitment agencies or media sales. We do not accept speculative CVs from recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.