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Job requirements
Requirements from the employer’s person specification. These describe the role, not your personal match.
Essential
13 listedRequirements the employer expects applicants to meet.
- Qualifications
Educated to degree level or equivalent experience with evidence of continued learning/development and/or further study
- Personal Qualities
Proactive and delivery-focused: Self-motivated, resilient and comfortable operating with autonomy, ambiguity and competing priorities while maintaining a strong focus on outcomes.
- Personal Qualities
Collaborative and credible: Able to build trust and effective relationships with people from different organisations, professions and levels of seniority, adapting approach appropriately.
- Personal Qualities
Constructive challenge and integrity: Willing to listen, question and appropriately challenge different perspectives while demonstrating openness, honesty, integrity and sound professional judgement.
- Skills and Abilities
Strategic and analytical capability: Demonstrable ability to think strategically and creatively, analyse complex issues, exercise sound judgement and translate ambiguity into practical, deliverable solutions.
- Skills and Abilities
Senior stakeholder influence and political judgement: Highly developed influencing, negotiation and relationship-management skills, with the political awareness and credibility to work with senior leaders and reconcile differing organisational interests.
- Skills and Abilities
Leadership and collaborative delivery: Ability to lead and motivate people across organisational boundaries, create common purpose and deliver through matrix and partnership arrangements where direct authority may be limited.
- Skills and Abilities
Communication and engagement: Excellent written, verbal, presentation and facilitation skills, including the ability to communicate complex or sensitive information clearly to senior and diverse audiences.
- Skills and Abilities
Organisation and delivery: Ability to manage significant and competing workloads, anticipate and resolve problems and maintain high-quality delivery in a complex and changing environment.
- Knowledge and Experience
Senior health and life sciences experience: Considerable senior management experience within health and life sciences, with relevant experience of the NHS, university, commercial, local government and/or charitable sectors.
- Knowledge and Experience
Complex strategy, programme and change leadership: Strong track record of developing strategy and successfully leading complex programmes/change across organisational boundaries, translating strategic priorities into demonstrable delivery.
- Knowledge and Experience
Partnership development and system working: Extensive experience of developing and delivering partnerships in complex, multi-agency environments, working collaboratively across organisational and professional boundaries.
- Knowledge and Experience
Health and life sciences ecosystem: Strong understanding of the health and life sciences environment and the relationships between healthcare, academia, government, communities and commercial organisations.
Desirable
5 listedAdditional qualities the employer would prefer.
- Qualifications
Post graduate management qualification
- Personal Qualities
Influential system leader: Demonstrates the credibility, curiosity and personal influence to engage others around a shared ambition and help create momentum for improvement.
- Skills and Abilities
Innovation and system thinking: Demonstrable ability to look beyond established organisational structures and ways of working to develop innovative approaches to partnerships, programmes or service delivery.
- Knowledge and Experience
London and place-based experience: Knowledge of London’s health and life sciences ecosystem and/or experience of working across local systems and communities, with particular relevance to Lambeth and Southwark.
- Knowledge and Experience
Financial and people management: Evidence of managing budgets/resources and successfully leading, developing and performance-managing staff and/or teams.
Job overview
This is an exciting opportunity to play a leading role in SC1 London – one of London’s major health and life sciences innovation districts.
Working within a small, dynamic team, the Head of Strategy and Partnership Development (Health and Life Sciences) will lead the activation and delivery of SC1 London’s two-year catalyst strategy, working across seven founding partners and the wider health and life sciences ecosystem of London.
You will connect leaders and organisations across the NHS, universities, local government, charities and industry, turning the partnership’s shared ambitions into reality: Strengthening innovation across the district’s three world-class clusters in London Bridge, Waterloo and Denmark Hill, driving inclusive economic and positioning SC1 London as a premier destination for health and life sciences.
We are looking for an experienced strategic leader who can operate confidently across organisational boundaries, navigate complexity of multi-organisation partnerships and translate strategy into impactful delivery. You will bring substantial health and life sciences experience and a strong track record of building partnerships, influencing senior stakeholders and delivering complex programmes.
Main duties of the job
You will lead delivery of SC1 London’s catalyst strategy, working closely with the SC1 London Board, founding partners and wider ecosystem to turn strategic priorities into action and demonstrable impact.
You will develop SC1 London’s health and life sciences partnership model and identify opportunities that bring organisations together around shared priorities, such as strategic partnerships, innovation initiatives and joint funding opportunities.
You will develop the activity plan and impact framework for year two of the catalyst strategy, working with the SC1 London team and presenting to and gaining approval from the SC1 London Board.
You will provide high-quality strategic advice and briefings to senior leaders, contribute to SC1 London and partner Boards, oversee delivery against the strategy’s impact framework, manage relevant resources and budgets, and represent SC1 London with partners locally, nationally and internationally.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
As Head of Strategy and Partnership Development (Health and Life Sciences), you will:
- Lead activation and delivery of SC1 London’s two-year catalyst strategy and oversee progress against its activity plan and impact framework.
- Develop SC1 London’s health and life sciences partnership model, building effective relationships across public, academic, charitable and commercial organisations.
- Work across the seven founding partners and three innovation clusters to identify and mobilise collaborative programmes, strategic partnerships and funding opportunities.
- Provide strategic advice, briefings and recommendations to the SC1 London Board and senior leaders, including for engagement with policymakers, investors and external partners.
- Build strong relationships across London’s health and life sciences ecosystem, including SMEs and other innovation districts.
- Translate national, regional and local policy and growth priorities into opportunities for SC1 London and its partners.
- Lead complex cross-organisational programmes, using influence, negotiation and excellent political judgement to build consensus and deliver results.
- Manage relevant resources and budgets and ensure robust monitoring of delivery and impact.
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Head of Strategy and Partnership Development with Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Administrative and IT role. The advertised salary is £88,250 - £100,355 p.a. inc HCA (pro rata). The contract type is Fixed term: 12 months (Cover for maternity leave for up to 12 months). The application deadline is 15 Sep 2026.
Before you apply, compare the job description with the person specification and mirror the employer's essential criteria in your supporting information. Use the vacancy title, employer, location, salary, contract type, closing date and posted date (07 Sep 2026) to decide whether this role fits your current NHSjob search. If the employer can close applications early, prepare the application before the stated deadline rather than waiting for the final day.
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