Project in Brief
The Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) is a key organisation representing the UK’s health and medical research charities. Since 1987, AMRC has been supporting its members by offering guidance, sharing best practices, and advocating for a positive environment for research funding.
AMRC is dedicated to helping its member charities make a real impact in medical research. The organisation promotes collaboration, ensures high standards, and works to advance medical knowledge to improve patient care. Whether through expert advice, events, or advocacy, AMRC is committed to supporting its members and driving progress in medical research.
Specialisms
- Membership
The Director of Membership & Operations position was appointed in July 2024.
This was a new role that AMRC was recruiting for and sought to combine its membership services with an operations function. It was it was key for them to understand the different demands of the role and getting the right balance.
”We didn’t want to lose the importance of relationships with our members and so were looking for someone with strong people skills, while also needing a candidate who could improve our processes and help us be more efficient.
Nicola Perrin MBEChief Executive, Association of Medical Research Charities
Following on from the search with Charity People, Nicola states that:
“The shortlist also had both people with many years of experience at a senior level and those who were ready for the next step in their careers. We were impressed both with the number of applications and the quality of candidates, and we are excited to have been able to appoint Karen who brings a new perspective to our team.”
This resulted in the appointment of Karen Hobbs, The Director of Membership & Operations.
”Glen took time to understand the values and culture of AMRC, as well as to understand what we were looking for in the new role, giving us confidence that he understood the different aspects of the role. Charity People’s support at all stages of the recruitment process, including finalizing the long and shortlist, was invaluable. It was reassuring to know that Glen was checking in with individual candidates throughout and to be able to sense-check both the process and our thinking based on his interactions with them.
Nicola Perrin MBEChief Executive, Association of Medical Research Charities
We spoke with Karen Hobbs, who was drawn to AMRC and felt that her background in scientific membership organisations, aligned well with the organisation’s mission.
“AMRC supports more than 150 medical research charities who spent a staggering £1.7bn on medical research in the UK in 2023. AMRC guidance and training help those charities to ensure that only high-quality research will be undertaken, and this in turn helps to develop a clearer understanding of medical conditions and can support patients and those who require treatment and support. AMRC offers an opportunity to make a real positive difference in saving and improving lives – and I wanted to be part of that!”
Additionally, Karen felt that the mission of AMRC spoke to her and looks forward to getting more involved in future projects and playing an active role in the organisation.
“My introduction to AMRC has been fantastic. Just a couple of weeks after I joined, I was able to attend the annual summer social event and to meet lots of members in person. AMRC has a hugely diverse membership representing different medical research areas and funding high-quality research across the UK. I hope to be able to build on previous membership engagement work at AMRC and to ensure that all members, regardless of their area of focus, geographical location or size, can make the most of their AMRC membership and use this to deliver impactful research through their funding schemes. Informed by insights from our recent member survey, I will initially be looking at how we can enable better connection and communication between members by making use of digital tools”.
”Glen from Charity People was great to work with. I’ve never applied for a role with a recruiter before and I had no idea what to expect. Glen surpassed all expectations! He was helpful throughout the journey, he took the time to speak to me and help me to understand key areas of importance in the role, and most importantly he made sure that this was the right fit for me and AMRC. It was a pleasure working with him and I would definitely recommend working with Charity People on the basis of this experience.
Karen HobbsPlaced Candidate - Director of Membership & Operations, Association of Medical Research Charities
Glen comments on working with Nicola and recruiting Karen:
“Roles at this level have been scarce over the last 12 months across the membership space, so it was not surprising to receive such a high level of interest. This meant the long listing process was more challenging. I updated Nicola throughout the process and communicated the high calibre of eligible candidates in consideration. It was refreshing when Nicola expressed an interest in reviewing more applications than I would normally share. Nicola’s curiosity coupled with the relatively open brief allowed a wider pool of 15 to be included in the final review stage. Nicola opted to meet 6 and shared a question in advance for interviewees to prepare in advance. Again, it was refreshing that Nicola didn’t ask for a formal presentation just for the sake of it. This was well received by the interviewees. Nicola invited Karen and one other back for the final stage. Nicola’s open communication and collaborative approach meant working on this project with her was a genuine pleasure”.
With the appointment of Karen and the future of AMRC, Nicola states:
“We want to build on the strong relationship we have with our member charities and ensure that our members are able to make full use of the range of services we offer. The new role allows us to investigate the use of digital tools to connect our charities together more effectively. We will be publishing a new strategic plan next year, so Karen arrives at the perfect time to ensure that our members continue to be at the heart of our new strategy.”
