Executive director of brand and communications jobs in bristol

Hours: Full-Time, 37.5 hours per week, flexible hours

Location: Primarily office based in central Bristol, with use of other partner locations for ad hoc use. This role will involve travel across the Western Forest region and occasionally within England, with a travel expenses budget. Hybrid arrangement by agreement.

Closing Date: 17th May 2025, submissions will be accepted up to 26th May on other job boards such as Indeed, Total Jobs, and Environment Job.

The Western Forest is a brand-new programme having been launched with national and Ministerial profile in March 2025. The Forest will support over 2.5 million people, cultivating a greener, more connected future by creating a landscape with trees and woodlands at its heart.

The Western Forest will deliver landscape scale change and real green investment, connecting people and nature across three regions – Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and the West of England (including North Somerset).

The Western Forest Director will drive, direct and manage the delivery and strategic direction of this new national forest. The Director will inspire and work alongside partners and the core Western Forest team to achieve the goals and targets set for the forest, ensuring it develops sustainable income streams and models of delivery by 2030.

The Western Forest Director will head up the core team in supporting and directing resource and expertise throughout the region. Some key duties include:

• Lead on strategic development and impact.
• Support the shaping and organisational effectiveness of the Western Forest team and partnership, with a focus on collaboration, learning and knowledge sharing.
• Be responsible for the creation and management of relationships with partners and funding bodies working to build and develop existing partnerships and encouraging new ones.
• Develop open, trusting and respectful relationships throughout the governance structure and between the team and Boards.
• Manage and ensure delivery of the programme KPI’s and partnership delivery model.

This list is not exhaustive but highlights the key duties of this role. A full job application pack can be found attached to this advertisement.

To meet the needs of this role you will need:

• Demonstrable experience of impactful leadership, working across organisations and a wide range of sectors and stakeholders.
• Experience of advocacy, engaging with external stakeholders to influence social change or public policy.
• Proven track record of securing significant financial resource for an organisation through large funding bids or other sources of income generation, ideally with a good knowledge of the tree and woodland funding sector.
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to engage effectively with senior leaders, community groups, and the public.
• Excellent leadership skills with the ability to inspire and lead diverse teams and stakeholders.
• Proven ability to plan resources appropriately and understand financial reports including budgets/cashflow management, risk management and forecasting models.

Forest of Avon are an equal opportunity employer and applications will be considered without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, veteran status or age. The Forest of Avon is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable people and expects all members of staff to share this commitment. We seek to challenge the status quo with the power of diversity, inclusion, and collaboration. We encourage different perspectives and seek to support our team and partners to share and implement new ideas, to continue improving and to realise our full potential.

This is a rare, unique and exciting opportunity to take a lead role in developing the programme and setting the strategic path for the Western Forest – the first new national forest in over 30 years.

To apply for this role please submit your CV detailing your relevant experience and a covering letter of no more than 4 A4 pages to the recruitment team.

With the end of bear bile farming in Vietnam now within reach, Animals Asia is entering an exciting new phase – expanding sanctuary capacity, entering new markets, and securing long-term care for every rescued bear.

Animals Asia has spent over 25 years working to end cruelty and restore respect for animals across Asia. With teams in Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, the UK, and beyond, they combine advocacy, direct rescue, and sanctuary care to create systemic change. Their mission to end bear bile farming – arguably the world’s cruelest form of animal abuse – is almost complete. In November 2023, they opened their third bear sanctuary which will enable them to bring home every last bear and achieve their founding goal in Vietnam by the end of 2026.

Their global fundraising and communications team is driven, well-structured, and rooted in the charity’s deeply held values. Income has been steadily rising since 2017 and they have the people, plans and investment to maintain this growth.

The Trusts and Foundations function has grown substantially since being unified globally in 2020. Income has more than doubled, donor relationships are well-managed, and new business is actively developed. With a 2024 target of $1.3m and strong pipeline visibility, this role focuses on securing and stewarding 5- and 6-figure multi-year partnerships, with particular scope for growth in the US and unrestricted giving.

This is an excellent opportunity for an early career, skilled fundraiser to join a highly collaborative team and benefit from a structured, mature function where ambitious fundraising is supported and celebrated.

As Trusts and Foundations Manager, you will:

• Manage and grow a global portfolio of 5- and 6-figure funders, including multi-year partnerships
• Develop compelling, tailored funding proposals and impact reports, often for donors with limited direct project access
• Deliver high-quality stewardship, with regular updates and relationship-building through video, email, and occasional travel
• Collaborate with colleagues across the organisation to develop powerful cases for support
• Lead on identifying and cultivating new prospective donors through research, network mapping, and strategy input
• Use CRM systems to manage pipelines and track communications effectively
• Support the Global Director of Partnerships and work closely with a peer Trusts and Foundations Manager
• Contribute to delivering the team’s $1.3m target and future growth ambitions

Ideal skills and experience:

• Proven success securing 5-figure+ grants from global trusts and foundations
• Strong written skills, with experience tailoring proposals to global funders and funder motivations
• A confident relationship-builder, who is able to do so remotely and across time zones and cultures
• Highly self-organised, independent, and comfortable managing deadlines and priorities
• Strong understanding of CRM systems and income tracking
• Familiar with the complexities of fundraising for work in Asia or global programme delivery
• Alignment with the mission and values of Animals Asia; sector experience in animal welfare, conservation, or international development is welcome.

Winston’s Wish is a digital first organisation leading the way in Digital Transformation across the Bereavement sector. We have an exciting opportunity to join our ambitious Mass participation team as our Individual Giving Manager.  This role plays a vital part in helping Winston’s Wish turn up the dial across our Individual Giving Fundraising. The Individual Giving Manager is responsible for creating, developing and delivering a fundraising plan to grow existing and new support for Winston’s Wish across our online and offline channels. This includes Direct Mails, Regular Giving, our Lottery, Legacies and In Memory giving income streams.

As the driving force behind our individual giving activity, you will help us to engage individuals across the country by bringing them closer to our work, encouraging them to stay longer, give more and become true ambassadors for our vital work with grieving children, young people and families. We’re looking for a highly creative individual who can help us to stay one-step ahead of the curve and excite new and existing audiences to get behind our vision of a society in which every child can get the help they need when someone close to them has died.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategy

• Lead on the development and implementation of our Individual Giving strategy, supported by the Head of Mass Participation and the Director of Fundraising & Marketing.
• Ensure all opportunities and future plans are in line with Winston’s Wish’s over-arching fundraising strategy to meet financial targets, organisational objectives and KPIs.
• Maintain an awareness of philanthropy trends, news, events and legislation in the UK to ensure that Winston’s Wish remains up to date on key changes which are likely to impact on individual giving.

Generating Individual Giving Income

• Lead on and deliver a plan to increase individual giving income from streams including, but not exclusive to, direct mail, regular giving, legacies, in-mem and our charity lottery
• Effective use of KPIs to ensure decisions are driven by evidence and real-time data.
• Continuously analyse our income and supporter data to measure effectiveness of activities and return on investment.
• Work alongside our design agencies and in-house marketing team to develop and manage direct mail campaigns, including segmentation to ensure campaigns will be carefully targeted and designed to maximise income.
• Explore and test new methods for donor recruitment and increasing donations.
• Seek every opportunity to increase awareness of legacy giving to Winston’s Wish and monitor the effectiveness of these activities over time.
• Manage a growing portfolio of legacy enquirers with appropriate contact and timely solicitation of prospective legators including hosting events and tailored stewardship.
• Manage the stewardship and development of our regular giving programme including uplift campaigns and solicitation of new donors to agreed targets.
• Work alongside the wider fundraising team to ensure effective cross-selling of individual giving products and vice-versa identify opportunities to introduce other fundraising products to our individual givers.
• Identify supporters who could provide compelling content which could be used by the wider Fundraising & Marketing team to inspire further support including suggesting key individuals who could feature in online and offline publications.
• Work with the Philanthropy & Partnerships Manager to ensure that potential major donors are identified and included in relevant activities.

Administration

• Diligently maintain records of all interactions with supporters on Salesforce.
• Ensure all activities comply with appropriate legal, regulatory and fundraising good practice and with Winston’s Wish policies and standards.
• Keep a close eye on incoming donations to ensure they are coded correctly and that supporter data is accurately recorded in accordance with GDPR.
• Effective management and control of expenditure across all projects and campaigns in line with agreed expenditure budgets.

All Staff

• Contribute to the vision and mission of Winston's Wish; working with colleagues in all teams to meet the objectives of Winston’s Wish.
• Work to objectives, targets and work plans agreed with your line manager.
• Undertake specific projects and other ad hoc duties agreed with your line manager, fulfilling any deadlines, reviews and reporting procedures required.
• Take an active part in the one-to-one process and participate in training agreed with your line manager.
• Contribute to the wider charity sector and childhood bereavement sector by getting to know those working in the same space and actively contributing to sector-wide events.
• Ensure the health and safety of all colleagues, volunteers and visitors in accordance with Winston’s Wish policy.
• Promote equality of opportunity and diversity in accordance with Winston’s Wish policy.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

• A sound understanding of the principles of fundraising across individual giving, in-memory fundraising, and legacies.
• Proven track record of preparing successful programmes of activity and business plans to recruit, engage, inspire, and retain supporters in a not-for-profit organisation, or similar transferable experience gained in the commercial sector.
• Specific experience of delivering an individual giving programme.
• Experience of budgets, including planning, forecasting, and analysing performance.
• Experience of high-level use of a customer relationship management system.
• Experience of managing direct mail campaigns.
• Strong organisational skills and keen attention to detail to plan and schedule multiple activities, respond flexibly to opportunities, handle conflicting demands and meet tight deadlines.

Desirable

• Understanding of childhood bereavement.
• Experience of using Salesforce CRM.

Recruitment Timetable

Application deadline: Wednesday 28th May 2025

Interview date: Friday 13th June 2025

Interview location: MS Teams

Winston’s Wish reserves the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications for the role before the closing date.

Please identify your notice period and salary expectation in your cover letter.

Note: Unfortunately we cannot support applications from international candidates at this time

As one of the largest federated charities in the UK, with arguably greater reach into the lives of families and educational settings than any other non-Government organisation, Parentkind is on a bold and urgent mission: to support, champion, and empower parents to be partners in their children’s education and wellbeing. To help deliver this, Parentkind's fundraising efforts helped grow Parentkind's income from £1.5m to £10m (including in-kind donations) between 2022 and 2024.

Although best known for our support of almost 24,000 Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), Parent Councils, and Schools, helping them build strong school communities whilst they raise over £130 million each year to enhance children’s education, our work stretches far beyond the school gates. Parentkind is building a powerful movement that recognises parental engagement not as a nicety, but a necessity.

In recent years, families have faced a series of compounding challenges: the cost-of-living crisis, rising child poverty, and deepening educational inequality. These pressures have left many parents struggling to meet basic needs—let alone feel confident engaging in their child’s learning journey.  Parentkind has responded to this moment with compassion, agility and purpose, through a series of transformative campaigns, resources, and partnerships. Our recent transformational journey has seen Parentkind’s network grow by more than 70% of schools, and the income Parentkind has delivered both for itself and for its members by more than 550%. 

Our No Cold Child initiative, launched with FatFace, stepped in to address a stark statistic: over 150,000 children in the UK do not own a winter coat due to poverty. Through our trusted relationships with schools, we distributed 10,000 warm, high-quality coats worth £600,000 to the children who needed them most. Shortlisted for two Business Charity Awards, the campaign has been praised not just for providing warmth, but for restoring dignity, inclusion, and school readiness to thousands of children.

Our collaboration with Asda on Cashpot for Schools is another example of unlocking support at scale. This innovative community-led funding model allows shoppers to nominate and fund their local schools simply through everyday spending. In just the last year, this campaign has generated £5.78 million for schools—supporting everything from basic classroom supplies to vital extracurricular programmes and pupil wellbeing initiatives. Also shortlisted for a Business Charity Award, it is already a model for community-driven philanthropy.

Meanwhile, our All Dressed Up campaign—developed with World Book Day and Rubies Masquerade—confronted the often-overlooked issue of financial exclusion on key celebration days. More than 100,000 free dressing up costumes worth £1.34 million were delivered to children from low-income families. By enabling participation in events like World Book Day, we helped spark imagination, joy, and belonging for children who might otherwise feel left out—boosting self-esteem and supporting a positive connection to learning.

Alongside these national campaigns, Parentkind supports families year-round through a growing suite of programmes designed to inform, prepare and empower parents. Our Be School Ready programme offers crucial guidance and confidence to parents preparing their children for the leap into primary education. With a mix of practical advice, developmental tips, and reassurance, through the distribution of 135,000 copies of Be School Ready and an online campaign, it supports families at one of the most formative moments in their child’s life.

We also deliver a wide-ranging series of live expert webinars and parent-friendly resources, covering topics such as managing anxiety, supporting special educational needs, navigating school transitions, and building home-school partnerships. These resources—developed in consultation with experts and rooted in lived parent experience—equip families to feel informed and empowered, no matter what challenges arise.

This month, we launched our Parent-Friendly Schools Accreditation Programme, designed to formally recognise schools that go above and beyond in fostering positive, inclusive relationships with parents. The accreditation celebrates schools that actively listen to parent voices, make engagement easy and accessible, and embed family partnership in their culture. It is a practical and inspiring tool to drive long-term change in the sector and offers a roadmap for schools wanting to strengthen their community.

Our work is grounded in evidence. Every year, we conduct the UK’s largest parental engagement study: the National Parent Survey. In 2024, over five thousand parents participated, providing invaluable insight into what families think about the education system. The findings are fed directly into government consultations and have already influenced national debates on school funding, attendance, mental health support, SEND provision, and curriculum reform. We believe passionately that parents must not be the missing voice in education policy—and we work tirelessly to ensure their views shape the decisions that affect their children’s lives.

Today, through Parentkind’s federated network of more than 130,000 parent and teacher volunteers, our work impacts the lives of millions of parents, carers, teachers and children throughout the UK through our membership, programmes, advocacy and campaigns. But we know we can—and must—do more.

We’re looking for someone with passion, purpose, and creativity—someone who understands that a warm coat, a World Book Day costume, or a parent’s voice at the table can all be catalysts for lifelong change.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our growing Fundraising Team and play a leading role in shaping a brand-new trust fundraising programme from the ground up. We’re looking for someone with experience in securing income from trusts and foundations—someone who’s a confident communicator, both in writing and in person, and who brings a curious and strategic mindset to prospect research.

You’ll help craft compelling cases for support and develop a portfolio of proposals and reports that showcase the impact of our work—amplifying the voices of parents and schools and demonstrating how Parentkind is driving positive change. Strong attention to detail is essential, along with the ability to manage multiple priorities and work independently.

If you believe, like we do, that when parents matter, children succeed, we’d love to hear from you.

You’ll have:

• Proven experience in trust and statutory fundraising, securing five- and six-figure grants.
• Demonstrable success in developing compelling proposals and reports for funders.
• Strong relationship management skills with a track record of stewarding long-term partnerships.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to convey impact effectively.
• Highly organised with the ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines.
• Knowledge of the education, family support, or community development sectors.

You’ll get:

• To join a fast-moving charity with an exciting future
• To build your own team, playing a key role in driving forward the charity’s strategy and shaping our fundraising activity
• Remote working full-time with a great online team culture
• 25 days holiday in addition to UK public holidays.

How to apply

A full candidate pack is attached on this listing. To apply, please submit a CV and covering letter outlining your motivations for applying for the role and how you meet the Person Specification.

Interviews will be held on a rolling basis via video conference.

Parentkind is committed to a policy of equal opportunities and we ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and equally.  We would be grateful if you would complete the equal opportunities monitoring questions when applying online to help us check that we are carrying out our policy of equal opportunities for all people.  The information will be kept confidential and will be separate from your application.  It will have no bearing on your application.

Parentkind is committed to meeting the needs of applicants with disabilities.  Please let us know if you require any adjustments to your application or interview process.