Working here
Find out what it's like to work here at the Francis Crick Institute.
Pay and benefits
Our people are at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, your talent, commitment and hard work will be recognised and rewarded.
We have developed our own pay and grading structure, benchmarking the institute against the university, charity and pharmaceutical sectors. This ensures our salaries remain fair, competitive and appropriate for a world-class, publicly funded research institute.
Starting salaries are set for certain groups, such as postdoctoral researchers, laboratory research scientists and early-career group leaders. Other roles sit within defined pay ranges and salary scales, which are all reviewed annually to ensure they remain competitive.
We offer opportunities for pay progression through incremental salary scales or through our annual Continuous Impact Recognition Programme, depending on your role.
Our benefits include:
- 28 days of holiday each year, plus three additional days (usually taken over the festive period) and bank holidays
- generous defined contribution pension (5–16% employer contribution depending on your own contribution of 3–10%)
- life assurance at 4x your salary
- season ticket and car park loans to help with travel costs
- childcare support allowance for parents with children under three
- funded sessions of backup/emergency childcare or eldercare
- hundreds of online and in-store discounts on shopping and lifestyle brands
- payroll giving so you can donate to the charities that are important to you directly from your pay
- additional annual leave purchase options
Wellbeing
Working in a high-performing research environment can bring pressures, and people often need support in managing them. At the Crick, we’re committed to working together to protect the safety, health and wellbeing of everyone.
A key part of this is fostering a positive workplace culture built on respectful relationships at all levels. To support this, we offer high-quality training in respectful communication and management, along with clear channels for staff to seek support and raise concerns.
We also provide a comprehensive wellbeing package that proactively supports colleagues across the institute with their emotional, physical and financial wellbeing. This includes access to Mental Health First Aiders, our employee assistance programme, a wellbeing calendar of events, Menopause Café’s and much more.
We also have a dedicated wellbeing provision for PhD students.
Staff also have opportunities to get involved in volunteering activities as part of their personal and professional development.
Wellbeing support
- discounted annual gym/swim membership
- Cycle to Work scheme
- confidential counselling and advice whenever you need support
- access to a free online/telephone GP service
- Headspace access for mental health and mindfulness
- Mental First Aider support from trained colleagues across the Crick
Voluntary benefits
- healthcare plans
- dental cash plans
- in-chair massage
Social opportunities
We encourage colleagues to get together socially, and because our building is designed with collaboration in mind, it’s easy to make social interactions a part of the day to day.
We have collaboration areas for informal conversations, and a subsidised onsite restaurant and café. A few nights a week, the café becomes a bar for a few hours.
Staff groups
Staff groups
We also have a variety of established staff-run groups and networks with new ones starting up regularly. Some of these are purely sporting or social, others combine social activities with discussions around a particular area of science, and some are dedicated to representing the interests of particular groups of people.
These groups sit alongside the research interest groups which every researcher is encouraged to join to keep track of developments in their field.
Cricksters
Cricksters
The Crick’s sport and social club is called Cricksters. It organises a range of free events for staff members to get to know each other outside of work and is open to everyone who works at the Crick.
Cricksters organises a wide selection of regular events for Crick staff, from sports such as tennis, squash, yoga and Pilates to clubs focused on crafting, board games, films and more. It puts on regular quiz nights and ceilidhs, as well as working with other staff groups to organise weekend trips. The network supports Crick staff who have ideas for new events, clubs or sports teams and helps them to get their ideas off the ground.
