Development manager jobs in Aylesbury, buckinghamshire
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Hybrid / High Wycombe (a minimum of one day per week on site)
Band 4: £36,000 – £38,000 + £312 working-from-home allowance
Embrace’s Fundraising & Communications cluster comprises expertise in fundraising, marketing, communication, trading (web shop), supporter engagement and retention. Working collaboratively, we serve our supporters by providing authentic and engaging communications inspiring active social witness, engagement and giving to charity.
Cluster Purpose:
The Fundraising & Communications cluster strengthens Embrace’s communication, education, and fundraising efforts to drive growth, so that more people engage with our content; more donors are attracted to support; and the UK church is more deeply engaged with the cause - enabling us to fund more work in the region and generate a deeper understanding of Christian service in the Middle East.
Role Purpose:
As Retention & Development Manager, you’ll grow sustainable income by keeping individual supporters inspired, informed and engaged - so they give again, stay longer, and deepen their support. You will deliver excellent supporter journey experience, project managing engaging and compelling direct, and digital individual giving activity (including – but not limited to – appeals, regular giving conversion & upgrade, lapsed reactivation) and incorporating legacies marketing, raising more than £1m voluntary income each year.
What success looks like:
- Higher Life-Time Value (LTV): more second gifts, upgrades and cross channel giving; stronger legacy pipeline.
- Lower churn: reduced lapse rates for cash and regular givers.
- Better donor experience: faster thank yous, clearer impact reporting, higher satisfaction with fewer complaints/optouts.
- Sustainable mix: growth in regular giving and mid-value segments; predictable, repeatable income.
Key Responsibilities
Supporter Experience & Journeys:
- Map and continually improve journeys: welcome → second gift; regular giving nurture/upgrade; mid-value; legacy prospecting; lapsed reactivation; complaint recovery.
- Set cadence and channel mix (email, mail, phone, SMS, social, events, digital) for consistent, donor‑first communications in appropriate channels and accessible formats.
- Donor-first approach: clear, inclusive language; accessible formats; low‑friction giving/retention flows and personalisation e.g. name, last gift, interests, location, project etc.
- Collaborate with Content & Communications colleague to deliver content that shares the impact of support i.e. what donors make possible and Embrace’s brand story.
Segmentation, Testing & Insight:
- Track Regular Giving – net growth; diagnose attrition drivers and fix root causes; maintain acceptable Return on Investment (ROIs).
- Lead supporter segmentation (by behaviour & interest) and A/B testing (offer, timing, upgrade prompts).
- Adopt an evidence-based, test and learn approach; analyse appeals, campaign performance and share insights to drive decisions.
- Work with colleagues to build insight dashboard (e.g. churn, LTV, second gift rate, tenure, contactability) and understanding of retention.
Mid‑Value & Legacy Development:
- Steward mid‑value donors with tailored journeys; warm handovers to and from Major Giving Manager.
- Develop and test legacy propositions and routes to market to grow enquiries and pledges.
Acquisition & Cross‑Sell:
- Project manage individual giving product development and testing; identify new audiences and routes to market.
- Collaborate with Webshop team and the Digital Marketing Campaigns Manager to optimise Alternative Gifts and cross-sell opportunities focusing on a digital first approach.
Cross-Team Collaboration:
- Work closely with the Supporter Experience Team to ensure that supporter journeys are being optimised and feedback from supporters is being captured and acted upon.
- Commission and work with the CRM and Systems Manager to develop clear and understandable dashboards, ensuring that the insights are used to develop plans and measure performance.
- Closely liaise with the Legacy administration team, working with them to ensure the packs and information are up to date and legacy marketing information complies with the latest Institue of Legacy Management standards.
- Develop an understanding of the Partner projects and Advocacy agenda, ensure all supporter briefings are aligned to agreed messaging.
Organisation-Wide Contribution:
- Model Embrace’s values of trust, respect, integrity, and compassion.
- Uphold safeguarding responsibilities and compliance with GDPR and charity regulations.
- Actively support cross-team collaboration and organisational goals. Maintain CRM hygiene.
KPIs you will own:
- Retention / churn: 12‑month retention (one off & RG), lapse rate, save‑rate on failed payments. – Value & growth: second gift rate, LTV by segment, average gift, RG net growth and tenure, mid-value upgrades, legacy enquiries. – Experience & quality: thank you – SLA, complaint rate – Data & compliance: growth in contactable base; preference completeness; data hygiene.
3/6/12‑month milestones:
- 3 months: Retention dashboard live; thank‑you refresh delivered; welcome → second‑gift test launched; RG plan drafted.
- 6 months: Lapse/reactivation plan running; retention rates improved; early LTV gains visible in key segments.
- 12 months: Reduced churn; higher second gift and upgrade rates; larger contactable supporter base; legacy pipeline growth.
Person specification
Qualifications, Experience & Knowledge:
- Educated to degree standard or equivalent (E.g. practical experience within fundraising).
- Member of Chartered Institute of Fundraising.
- Proven individual giving or CRM led retention experience in a charity, membership or subscription context.
- Hands‑on journey design and automation.
- Strong data literacy: segmentation, dashboards (CRM/Excel), test and learn.
- Excellent written communication—able to brief compelling, impacted content and clear supporter updates.
- Practical project management; calm under pressure; collaborative and solutions focused.
- Working knowledge of GDPR/PECR and best practice supporter care.
- Experience stewarding mid-value supporters and legacy pipelines. Experience with payment recovery tools. and card update flows. Familiarity with UK charity sector metrics and fundraising codes of practice.
Personal qualities:
- Donor first mindset, inclusive and empathetic.
- Curious, evidence driven, and comfortable iterating.
- High integrity, discretion and good judgment.
Tools & systems:
- CRM Dashboards & analysis.
- Payments: Direct Debit management, card‑updater/failed‑payment recovery.
- Microsoft 365 (Teams, SharePoint, Planner), project boards.
Personal Attributes:
- Highly motivated and results driven.
- Demonstrates integrity, trust, and respect in all interactions.
- Ability to work under pressure and manage competing priorities.
- Passionate about the work of Embrace, with the ability to enthuse and engage others.
- A natural collaborator who enjoys working as part a team to deliver organisation wide objectives.
Role requirements
Committed to the Christian mission, vision and values of the charity, either as a practising Christian or someone with a sympathy for Embrace’s mission with the Christian faith and character.
Company Overview
As a Christian development charity, we partner with Christians in the Middle East as they work to transform lives and restore the dignity of the most excluded and marginalised communities. Where there is a need – for refuge, a home, for health care, for education, for justice and human rights – we, with our partners, respond. Our goal is to contribute to a culture of human flourishing in a troubled region.
For more information and to apply, please visit our careers portal.
Closing date: 5.00pm on Tuesday, 12th May 2026.
About NCT
NCT is a charity with a clear mission: to support people as they become parents, through pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood.
With a 65-year history of transformative change, we are a vibrant community of volunteers, practitioners, peer supporters, members and advocates. We are the largest parenting charity in the country and over the decades we’ve supported millions of people on their unique journey into parenthood.
While many know us for our antenatal classes, we also do much more. We campaign on issues that matter to parents, provide infant feeding support, and run thousands of free community events and activities led by our amazing volunteers. We also support families facing challenges like social isolation, feeding difficulties, and poor mental health. We offer support in communities, in hospitals and online.
About the role
Join our passionate team and contribute to the meaningful work that transforms the lives of parents and families. Your role will include:
- Leading the planning and delivery of integrated marketing campaigns that are audience-led, insight-driven and deliver against organisational objectives.
- Working closely with the Content Studio, managing briefs, priorities and workflows to ensure high-quality and effective content delivery.
- Bringing creative ideas and energy, helping NCT continually improve how its marketing reaches and supports parents.
- Collaborating with internal colleagues across Marketing, Communications and Strategic Partnerships, as well as external agencies to deliver joined-up marketing activity.
About you
You will:
- You have experience delivering integrated marketing campaigns and turning strategy into clear and effective plans.
- You’re confident managing different priorities and working closely with content or creative teams to prioritise briefs.
- You’re collaborative, insight-led and comfortable using data to improve on and report marketing performance.
- You’re proactive, organised and motivated to use marketing to drive growth and change brand perceptions.
Our Benefits – What we offer you
We value our team and offer fantastic benefits to support your well-being and professional growth:
- 30 days annual leave (excluding Bank Holidays)
- Pension matched up to 5%
- Flexible working options to suit your lifestyle
- Employee Assistance Programme, including 24/7 GP access, personalised counselling, legal advice and more
- Cycle to work scheme to support sustainable commuting
- Life Assurance for peace of mind
- Free eye test for all staff, with further discounts
- Blue Light discount card
Why work at NCT?
Whether you’re supporting services, shaping policy, delivering programmes, raising funds, running operations or telling our story, you’ll be contributing to something bigger:
a society where everyone who becomes a parent feels confident, connected and safe.
People join NCT because they want to make a difference - and stay because they believe in how we do it.
How we work
We’re guided by a simple principle: no judgement, no exception. That shows up in how we support parents - and how we work with each other.
At NCT we are:
- Welcoming: We are always welcoming, creating connections and building communities.
- Collaborative: We achieve better outcomes by working together.
- Inclusive: We ensure equity and inclusion are core to who we are and what we do.
- Bold: We are bold, brave, and progressive
- Trusted: We provide trusted, high-quality, evidence-based information, support, and services.
We deal with complex issues, make tough decisions, and work in environments that can be challenging. But we do it with honesty, care and a shared sense of purpose.
Join us
At NCT, we’re committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce. If you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process or within your role, please let us know - we’re here to support you. If you want your work to contribute to lasting change - for generations of parents to come - we’d love to hear from you.
Together, we are NCT.
Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion
At NCT, we believe everyone should be able to shape their own journey - as parents, and as colleagues.
We are taking positive action to increase diversity across our organisation, at all levels, and to nurture a culture of inclusion and belonging for all our people and for the parents and families we support. You can read more about our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion action.
We are committed to zero discrimination, both internally and externally. This commitment applies regardless of visible or invisible difference, including (but not limited to): sex, sexual orientation, age, race, ethnicity, disability, impairment, learning difference or long‑term condition, religion or belief, gender identity, economic class, marital or civil partnership status, family status (including single parents), socio‑economic background, pregnancy and maternity.
We actively welcome applications from people from communities who are under‑represented in our organisation and the charity sector more widely.
We are the charity supporting people as they become parents. Here through pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood.



The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Together for Short Lives is looking for a driven and creative Business Development Manager to develop and secure high‑value corporate partnerships that will help transform the lives of children living with serious illness and their families. You’ll lead our business development strategy, build a strong pipeline of opportunities, and develop lasting relationships with prospective and existing supporters.
If you’re collaborative, tenacious and passionate about making a real impact in children’s palliative care, we’d love to hear from you.
Together for Short Lives is the leading UK-wide charity for children living with serious illness, their families and the services that provide them with palliative care.
Every child deserves many moments of happiness together with their loved ones. But it's hard for them to thrive when services don't fully meet their needs, leaving parents and siblings feeling isolated and alone.
That’s why we’re here. To make sure that every family can thrive as they navigate their child's life, death, bereavement and beyond.
Together we support families to live their lives, through the ups and downs, offering practical, emotional and financial help.
Together we unite our sector by prioritising and sharing crucial research, leading guidance and standards, connecting professionals and raising vital funds for children’s hospice and palliative care services.
Together we campaign to make sure that children with serious illness and their families get the care and support they need, when and where they need it.
Supporting, uniting, campaigning, together.
We are Together for Short Lives.
Purpose of role
The Business Development Manager will lead our efforts to secure high-profile, high-value partnerships with corporate organisations that will generate vital income for children's palliative care. Securing new partnerships and growing our income requires exceptional collaboration skills; a driven, tenacious and resourceful nature; innovation and creativity; and a passionate determination to make a difference to the lives of children and families across the UK.
The main objectives are as follows:
- Secure new corporate partnerships raising funds to support Together for Short Lives’ direct work, and our National Fundraising Scheme (raising funds on behalf of the UK’s children’s hospices).
- Develop and deliver a business development strategy, including prospect research, managing a robust pipeline of opportunities, and developing a diverse range of business development products.
- Manage and develop relationships with a portfolio of individual contacts and organisations, including prospective and existing supporters.
Follow the link to our website to apply and find out more about the role.
Together for Short Lives is the leading UK-wide charity for children living with serious illness, their families and the people who support them.



The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.