Director of National System Change

Director of National System Change
Fixed Term Contract: 12 months 
Full Time: 34.5 hours, we are open to a conversation about how you work these hours 
Location: Hybrid between home and our London office
Salary Range: £107,500 - £114,500

About us

At Macmillan, you’ll join talented colleagues who work together with one clear purpose: to do whatever it takes to support people living with cancer. We’re committed to finding better ways to reach more people who need us, and our values guide every decision we make.

We are focused on:

• Reaching everyone living with cancer
• Tackling inequities in cancer experiences and outcomes
• Supporting people living with cancer and other long-term conditions
• Reducing variation in cancer treatment and care across the UK, so everyone receives the support they deserve

We’re looking for an exceptional Director of National System Change to lead our external affairs, thought leadership and systems change work across the UK. Macmillan has just achieved landmark success in influencing the National Cancer Plan for England, which offers the potential to transform cancer outcomes and equity. We are positioned to drive cutting-edge shifts in cancer care in Northern Ireland and to play a critical role in post-election influencing in Scotland and Wales. This is a pivotal role that will shape the conditions for transformative change in cancer outcomes and equity, ensuring the voices and experiences of people living with cancer drive national policy and practice.

As a result, this role will take on political relationships at the highest level, lead innovative policy development and build strategic national systems change partnerships.

Macmillan’s new strategy offers an unprecedented opportunity to unite national advocacy with ground-breaking models of investment and partnerships across public, private and community sectors. So you will lead a team of 40 advocates, partnership managers and systems change analysts, integrating powerful influencing with the participation of people living with cancer and Macmillan’s ambitious plans for catalysing change through our network of 11,000 Macmillan Professionals, driving the adoption of innovation, strengthening community organisations and investing £300m in systems change over our strategy period.

About the role

• Lead top-level political and system relationships across all four nations, providing evidence, insight and a platform for people living with cancer to influence change
• Develop cutting-edge external affairs strategies, compelling messaging and expert political and policy
• Build sector-leading, multisector partnerships with governments, clinicians and system leaders
• Drive cross-organisational systems analysis, theories of change and evidence-led influencing
• Work closely with Insight, Performance, Systems & Community Partnerships and Engagement teams to align research, data, communications and campaigns
• Lead the development of outcome-focused impact metrics for systems change
• Position Macmillan as a thought leader and partner of choice across the cancer and wider health ecosystem
• Champion integrated advocacy, evidence and lived experience to shape national propositions and innovation
• Provide strategic insight and briefings to the Executive Team and Board on policy, politics and the external environment
• Build organisational capability in systems thinking, evaluation, data literacy and user
• Lead and develop high-performing teams, fostering collaboration, inclusion and continuous improvement

About you

• Significant experience leading national influencing strategies that deliver systemic change
• A strong track record of political engagement and external affairs leadership at the highest levels
• Deep understanding of complex systems, ideally within healthcare, research or clinical environments
• Experience operating across four nations and navigating different political and policy contexts
• Proven ability to build major external partnerships that shape policy and practice
• Experience leading multi‑disciplinary teams and major organisational initiatives
• Strong people leadership skills, modelling inclusivity, performance and collaboration
• Expertise in integrating advocacy, evidence, insight and lived experience into programmes and partnerships
• Excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills
• Experience managing significant budgets and delivering strategic impact

What you’ll achieve

• Transformative changes in cancer and wider healthcare policy and practice across the UK
• Sector leading partnerships that accelerate innovation and improve outcomes
• A powerful, evidence-led national voice for people living with cancer
• Integrated external affairs and engagement that strengthens Macmillan’s influence and impact

Recruitment Process 

Application deadline: 23:59 on Thursday 5th March
1st round interview dates: 17th and 18th March
2nd round interview dates: 24th, 25th and 26th March

To ensure fairness and consistency to select the best candidate for this role, all our applications are anonymised up until an interview has been confirmed. 

We are an organisation that is committed to setting candidates up for success, so we can support you to be at your best during the application or selection process, please contact Macmillan TA Team TATeam@macmillan.org.uk for advice, or a conversation on reasonable adjustments.  

We welcome applications from everyone who meet the criteria and strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Macmillan. Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy here along with our internal employee representation body, ‘Our Voice’ and 8 Employee Network groups help us promote fairness and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people.