Business Operations Internship 2022

We are now recruiting for our September 2022 Internship programme!

We are now accepting applications for our September internship intake. We’re excited to be recruiting interns and we have some great internships available across the charity. 

Are you looking for an exciting internship opportunity at one of the UK’s largest health charities?

Why we need you

Cancer Research UK is the world’s largest charity dedicated to beating all types of cancer. We now have an opportunity for you to join us as a Business Operations Intern.   

The Business Operations (BusOps) team carry out various activities for the management of Cancer Research Horizon’s (CRH’s) portfolio of patents, including liaising with colleagues in CRH and with external patent agents to facilitate, and log in the internal data system, patent filings and renewals.

These patent and contract management activities are a vital component of our work towards CRH’s overall goal of taking cutting-edge innovations from the lab bench to patient bedsides, in support of CRUK’s vision to bring forward the day all cancers are cured. 

What will I be doing?

The BusOps team have an opportunity for an intern to support a proposed project to improve the integrity of the patent and contract-related data held in CRH’s internal data system.  You would also support the team on a variety of ongoing daily tasks and projects including assisting the administrative team with the execution of a range and variety of CRH contracts.

This is an exciting opportunity for an intern to play a key role in managing the intellectual property and contracts of CRH, which is the research and innovation “engine room” of Cancer Research UK, including an opportunity to build relationships with the organisation as well as liaise with external stakeholders.

This role will involve:

• Providing administrative support for contract signature processes, including triaging and responding to email request for contract signing support, obtaining copies of relevant documents and inputting data into CRH’s internal data system (Minuet). 
• Assisting with the administrative management of CRH’s patent portfolio, including triaging and responding to emails from internal and external stakeholders about required patent filing actions and support with patent fee-related activities (including working with the business and finance teams in relation to purchase orders and invoices).  
• Supporting the team with maintaining and improving the integrity of data in Minuet, including liaising with internal stakeholders to identify missing relevant documents and information, and updating the agreement and patent records in the system. Maintaining high levels of accuracy in relation to the system data. 
• Assisting with the archiving of original documents, including helping to scope, plan and execute a project to update CRH’s document archive. 
• Managing internal and external stakeholder expectations. 

To read about this role in more detail please see a link to the Information Pack below:

Business Operations Intern Information Pack

If you require an accessible candidate pack, please let us know.

What skills are we looking for?

You’ll be able to bring to the role:

• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to develop effective working relationships with Cancer Research UK staff and external stakeholders  
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills  
• Strong analytical skills  
• Excellent IT skills, including MS Office, Excel and PowerPoint  
• Excellent organisational skills for effective management of a diverse workload  
• Ability to work independently, managing own time and projects  
• Keen interest in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in research careers and interest in the wider research career landscape in the UK 
• Be determined to make a difference and contribute positivity to CRUK’s wider objectives 

We’re always looking for people from a wide range of backgrounds, who can bring different perspectives, so you don’t need to have had previous charity experience to apply. Cancer is something that impacts everyone, and we want our workforce to reflect the diversity of the audience we work with.

What will I gain?

This role will add real value to Cancer Research UK, so we want to ensure you’re getting a lot out of it too. As an intern you’ll go through a structured development programme with skills training in project management, CV writing and interview skills and you’ll have a buddy to help you settle in. You’ll be eligible for many of our benefits, including paid holiday, and you’ll gain key experience to help you launch your career.

How do I apply?

Please apply online by uploading your details and answering an application question.

Application Process

• Stage 1: Online application 

Complete an online application form – you’ll be asked to answer a motivational competency question and upload your CV. 

In our commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, we operate an anonymised shortlisting process. Please therefore ensure you fill out all of the required fields as well as uploading a CV, as they will be collected for use later in the process.

If you experience any problems submitting an application, please email placements@cancer.org.uk 

• Stage 2: Assessment – Approximately w/c 27th June

If your initial application is successful you will then be invited to complete our new situational judgment test. The test poses real life scenarios that a CRUK intern might be met with in their day to day role and asks how you would tackle that scenario. This is un-timed and multiple choice. Please let us know if you think you might require adjustments for this assessment.

• Stage 3: Audio Submission – Approximately w/c 4th July

If you are successful in the previous stage, you will be asked to complete an audio submission, answering competency-based questions. The questions will be emailed to you and you will have a few days to submit a response via an audio recording (no video required). 

• Stage 4: Interviews - Approximately 2nd-12th August

If you are successful in the previous stage, you will then be invited to a face-to-face interview at our head office or online via Teams, with representatives from the team you are applying to. 

At CRUK we value diversity and we're committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone is able to be themselves and to reach their full potential. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures and believe that a diverse workforce will help us to beat cancer sooner. Unfortunately we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks. Should you need any adjustments to the recruitment process, at either application or interview, please contact us on recruitment@cancer.org.uk.