Head of Investments and Commercial Partnerships

*About Young Lives vs Cancer *

When a child or young person is diagnosed with cancer, their whole world can feel like it’s falling apart. Playtime is stopped. Independence is taken. Confidence is stolen. The impact of cancer on young lives is more than medical, and that impact can be felt by entire family.

That’s why we exist. Young Lives vs Cancer is the only charity in the UK with specialist social workers who provide tailored support to children and young people with cancer. And we stop at nothing to make their voices heard and their unique needs understood.

*Why Young Lives vs Cancer is partnering with ventures *

Emerging technologies and innovative business models are changing the health and social care landscape. This shift is an opportunity to improve the outcomes of young cancer patients and make our North Star vision a reality. Young Lives vs Cancer wants to shape this landscape by partnering with impact-driven entrepreneurs and cultivating an investment portfolio of forward-thinking companies that share its mission.

*Overview of the role *

There are three core elements to this role. You will:

Be responsible for the entire investment cycle, from lead generation to investment execution and portfolio management, and delivering this through both a social and financial lens

Shape Young Lives vs Cancer’s strategic approach to impact investing and commercial collaborations, in partnership with a diverse team of expert advisors on the Young Lives vs Cancer Investment Committee and Advisory Group

Foster other opportunities for impactful commercial partnerships with early stage ventures

*Why this is an exciting role *

This is your opportunity to make a profound and lasting impact on the lives of children and young people with cancer. You will witness the tangible results of your work quickly. And, beyond this, you will be at the forefront of pioneering a new way for the UK charity sector to tackle some of society’s most intractable problems. The potential for creativity and innovation in this field is significant, and you have the chance to shape its future.

*What we are looking for *

An investment manager, ideally with experience in impact investment, who has a thorough understanding of private markets investments. Someone with experience of building a pipeline, working with start-ups, and delivering social and financial returns through financial investment. Someone who will promote Young Lives vs Cancer’s values and strategic approach to new audiences.

approach to new audiences.

*Key information *

Reporting to: Executive Director - Innovation & Systemic Design

Location: London or London hybrid with a presence in London 2+ days a week (noting that the post holder will need to attend events etc. in London)

Hours: Can consider full time and part time roles - for the right candidate there is an opportunity to design the role around the skills and experience of the post holder

Salary: c.£65k pa

Duration: Permanent

Direct reports:
1 x support role, with the potential to grow the team in the future

*What you will be doing *

You will be responsible for the entire investment cycle, including:

• Building deep relationships with key ecosystem actors, including VCs, angels, entrepreneurs, and accelerators 
• Ensuring healthy deal flow of investment opportunities, via both inbound and outbound lead generation strategies 
• Screening opportunities to move deals through the funnel, from initial review to final Investment Committee, ensuring that social impact and financial risk are balanced appropriately
• Owning the due diligence process, including carrying out due diligence on potential investment opportunities, market research, market sizing, financial modelling, competitor/comparable analysis and industry deep dives 
• Managing the Advisory Group of venture partners, ensuring the correct skills are present in order to support rigorous due diligence
• Managing the deal closing process and then supporting portfolio companies, engaging with them directly and acting as a bridge to Young Lives vs Cancer resources 
• Actively monitoring the impact investment portfolio, preparing regular performance updates and developing exit strategies 
• Keeping all documentation up to date

You will shape Young Lives vs Cancer’s strategic approach to impact investing, including:

• Evolving Young Lives vs Cancer's investment thesis
  
• Shaping Young Lives vs Cancer's strategic approach to working with early stage ventures, drawing on insights from a diverse team of expert advisors
  
• Working with philanthropy colleagues to support cultivation of donor relationships

You will foster other opportunities for impactful commercial partnerships with early stage ventures, including:

• Understanding Young Lives vs Cancer’s assets and operations and identifying impactful opportunities for collaboration
  
• Developing collaboration proposals that drive value for all parties, and negotiating the terms of collaboration

You will manage and support a small but growing team. You will also challenge and support colleagues to think and act differently, bringing new perspectives and approaches.

*Person specification *

The post holder will have skills, knowledge and experience in:

• Successfully making financial investments, ideally through an impact lens
• Building new relationships across the innovation ecosystem, including with entrepreneurs and co-investors, to create a strong pipeline and to raise the profile of Young Lives vs Cancer in this field
• Building relationships across teams and at all levels in order to achieve goals
• Maintaining high motivation and drive to find the right deals and get them across the line, within an ambiguous and uncertain context
• Delivering confident and credible communications to a range of audiences
• Analytical and critical thinking
• Creative and entrepreneurial thinking
• Maintaining and developing financial models, portfolio governance and controls, and impact investing methodologies
• Actively challenging injustice and inequality and promoting Diversity, Equity, Belonging & Inclusion to create a better, more diverse and inclusive organisation
• Demonstrating that Young Lives vs Cancer’s values are at the heart of everything you do: you are brave; you are confident; you have integrity; and together, across all levels and with our external partners, we are one team

*Diversity declaration *

At Young Lives vs Cancer, we recognise that opportunities for too many people remain a condition of their race, class, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation – or a combination. This has never been acceptable to us as an organisation. 

We are committed to taking anti-oppressive action and removing barriers in our recruitment practices. We particularly welcome applications from members of minoritised communities and creating equitable opportunities for all. We are passionately committed to taking actions and making changes to be a truly diverse, inclusive and equitable organisation, as well as reflective of the diverse children and young people we support. Click here to find out more about our Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Belonging strategy. 

*Accessibility *

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process and we’ll always endeavour to be as accommodating as possible.  Please get in touch with us if you would like to discuss any specific requirements.

How to apply

You can make your application here.

As part of the application, you need to submit answers to the questions outlined below. You can do this by submitting a written answer, or via a video recording. The character limit for the written answers is 170 words per answer. To find out more about how to submit a video recording, please see below.

The three questions are:

1. Why this role, and why Young Lives vs Cancer?
2. How do you build strong relationships and networks?
3. How do you make good investment decisions?
   

The interview will involve a small panel asking you some questions (some of which we will share with you beforehand). There may be a second stage interview too.

Here are the important dates:

• Application deadline is close of play 4th November
  
• If you are shortlisted, you will hear from us by close of play 15th November
• Interviews will be held during the second half of November. Dates will be published on the Young Lives vs Cancer website as soon as they are known. It is likely that the interview will be in person, in London.
  

If you would like to find out more about the role, you can get in touch with Helen McShane, Executive Director at Young Lives vs Cancer. You can contact Helen by emailing [email protected]. Helen is available to meet from now until 23rd October.

*How to submit a video recording *

To record the videos you can either use a smartphone or a computer with a webcam. There is a one minute limit for each answer.

After recording, choose your desired file format and quality settings for the videos, based on your preferences and / or file size considerations.

You can upload and share your videos via YouTube. Remember to set the privacy settings to "unlisted". You can then share your video files by generating a shareable link and including these in the spaces where you would otherwise write your responses.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you are using appropriate privacy settings.