Salary: £ 46,700
Closing date: Monday, 2 February 2026
Contract type: Permanent
Interview dates: 1st stage (w/c 23rd February)
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation. We improve health for everyone by funding science, leading policy and advocacy campaigns, and building partnerships.
We plan to spend £16bn over the next ten years, funding new discoveries in life, health, and wellbeing, and taking on three global health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health.
We are looking for a Funding Manager, Directed Activities to join our team.
Where in Wellcome will I be working?
You will play a key role in enabling Wellcome’s Strategic Programmes to deliver their funding ambitions by managing the full lifecycle of discretionary awards and funding call applications, ensuring high‑quality processing, due diligence, peer review and award decisions. Working collaboratively across Wellcome, you will provide clear, expert guidance and support to colleagues and applicants, helping to ensure our directed funding processes are efficient, fair and consistently delivered.
What will I be doing?
To deliver Wellcome’s funding for the strategic programmes of Climate & Health, Infectious Disease and Mental Health, we are looking for a Funding Manager to work in our team. You will be part of the Directed Funding & Planning team within the Research Funding department.
The Directed Funding & Planning team is responsible for the coordinated central planning and delivery of all Directed Funding activity across the organisation. This includes overseeing Discretionary Awards, Funding Calls, and the operation of their associated Advisory Committees, ensuring these processes run smoothly, efficiently, and in line with Wellcome’s governance standards. The team partners closely with Wellcome’s Strategic Programmes—particularly in Mental Health, Climate & Health, Infectious Diseases and Equity—and collaborates with colleagues in Legal and Finance to operationalise strategic funding objectives.
As a Funding Manager, Directed Activities, you will:
Manage a portfolio of discretionary awards and funding call applications, ensuring high‑quality processing, due diligence and smooth progression through each stage of the assessment and award lifecycle.
Work collaboratively with colleagues across Strategic Programmes, Finance and Legal to maintain efficient, compliant and well‑governed directed funding processes.
Coordinate expert review activities by identifying suitable reviewers, managing global communications and ensuring high‑quality assessments are received on time.
Provide clear, constructive feedback to applicants by distilling complex committee discussions and offering expert guidance on processes, policies and funding requirements.
Support the effective management of awarded grants by handling queries, overseeing casework throughout the grant lifecycle and ensuring compliance with Wellcome’s policies.
Contribute to the successful delivery of funding committees and initiatives, including managing committee operations, supporting scheme development and driving continuous improvement in assessment processes.
Is this job for me?
If you have experience in an academic research environment or a strong understanding of research funding and hold a degree in a relevant life science discipline, this role could be a great fit for you. You’ll thrive here if you bring excellent organisation, clear and confident communication, and the ability to manage complex workloads while building strong relationships with colleagues and stakeholders. This role is well‑suited to someone who is analytically minded, attentive to detail, flexible in their approach, and comfortable summarising complex information for different audiences.
To apply for this role please submit an updated CV and answer 2 application questions to demonstrate that you meet the minimum requirements for the role.
Minimum Criteria:
Experience of academic research environment and/or strong understanding of research funding mechanisms
Educated to at least degree level in a relevant life science subject
Excellent organisational skills with the ability to prioritise and manage large workloads, and work to deadlines.
Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to summarise complex information, and tailor it for specific audiences.
Excellent stakeholder management skills - ability to quickly build the trust of internal and external stakeholders.
Applications Questions:
Using examples please provide evidence to demonstrate that you meet the minimum criteria for this role as outlined in the job description? (Up to 500 words)
Using short summaries please provide specific details of up to two different initiatives or projects you have been directly involved in that are relevant to this role. For each initiative or project please use up to 250 words to describe your role (e.g. team leader, team member), the purpose of the activity (i.e. its aims), and the major contributions you personally made.
You can view the full job description on our website
You can read more about the benefits we offer our employees on our website
Our Hybrid Way of Working
We understand that our colleagues have commitments and personal interests outside of work and we strive to build a flexible working environment, in which people can perform at their best.
At Wellcome we have a hybrid way of working which is 3 days in our Euston Road offices (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) with the remaining 2 days working either remotely or in the office.
Diversity and Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do
Diversity and Inclusion is a priority at Wellcome. We are committed to cultivating a fair and inclusive environment, where everyone can be themselves and thrive. We are happy to discuss flexible working options for all roles. We work to ensure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible to everyone. This includes making adjustments for people who have a disability or long-term condition. Please visit our website for more information on adjustments and accessibility, or contact us at [email protected].
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