Are you an experienced fundraising leader with a track record of securing high level gifts? Are you concerned about the climate and nature crises and keen to do your bit? Then you might be the person we’re looking for.

We’re looking for a permanent Head of Major Giving to lead our passionate and experienced high net worth fundraising team, which covers Philanthropy, Trusts and Foundations and Strategic Partnerships. You’ll be responsible for the success of the overall Major Giving strategy to attract new, long term donors and funders and to inspire existing ones to continue and increase their support.

You’ll have strong leadership skills and a confident strategic approach to support and coach a team of fundraisers to seek new funding and partnership opportunities and enhance the value of existing funding relationships. You will set high ambitions for the programme, setting the direction for the team’s work and helping them to prioritise for the biggest impact. The role requires confidence with budgeting and reforecasting, performance reporting and a robust approach to monitoring and evaluating work to identify improvements.

You’ll work collaboratively with peers across the organisation to create compelling and fundable packages of work, with a solid understanding of the breadth and depth of Friends of the Earth’s approach to creating real world change. An external network will help inspire new ideas and ways of working, and you’ll hold a portfolio of donors to lead your team by example. You’ll build strong relationships with senior colleagues and will play an active role in organisational leadership, modelling positive workplace culture throughout your work, and prioritising your own growth and development. 

The Major Giving team: 

You will directly line-manage 4-5 people who manage the sub-teams of Philanthropy, Trusts and Foundations and Strategic Partnerships. You will lead the overall team of 13. Your team sits within the Income Generation Directorate, but the scope of your work is cross-organisational.

We’ve invested in the Major Giving team over the last few years, increasing the capacity and skills in the team to better identify new prospective donors and funders. The successful candidate will lead the team to delivery on our new, ambitious income strategy that has identified ambitious income growth that will help us increase the impact of our work to tackle the climate and nature crises.

The team works closely with colleagues across the organisation to identify funding and impact opportunities for donors, funders and partners that will help us create a healthier, greener, fairer world for everyone.  

Closing date: 27th November 2023

Interviews: week commencing 11th December 2023

Hours: Full time (30 hours over 4 days)

Location: Hybrid working, flexible location across England, Wales and Northern Ireland 

We offer a competitive range of benefits, good work/life balance including a 4-day working week with no loss of pay, excellent learning and development opportunities and a vibrant organisational culture. 

Our staff body is currently under-representative of People of Colour, LGBTQIA+ people and people with long term conditions or impairments. We are committed to eroding these historic barriers, so as to create a movement in which people from all walks of life see themselves in, and so we particularly encourage you to apply if you belong to one of these groups or sit at multiple intersections of disadvantage. We are committed to the Disability Confident standard and will guarantee an interview to any candidates who declare a disability and who meet the essential criteria for the role.

Friends of the Earth staff who publicly represent Friends of the Earth (including all campaigners) are not allowed to also represent a political party. This is to ensure that there can be no confusion in the minds of the public about Friends of the Earth's party-political independence. Affected staff should also seek permission from the Senior Management Team if they wish to hold a non-public facing official role in a political party. If this is an issue, please do raise this with us as soon as possible.

Friends of the Earth is an international community dedicated to protecting the natural world and the wellbeing of everyone in it. We lead campaigns, provide resources and information, and drive real solutions to the environmental problems facing us all.