Fellowship director jobs

Closing date: 28 November 2025 at 00:00

Development Manager

Purpose of the Role 

The Development Manager will play a vital role in expanding The Churchill Fellowship’s income from Trusts, Foundations, and other institutional funders. Working closely with the Development Director, the post holder will identify, cultivate and secure new funding partnerships that support our core Fellowship programme, unrestricted income, and the Activate Programme in line with our organisational priorities. 

The postholder will manage the full funder journey, from initial engagement to long-term stewardship, ensuring all relationships are grown and managed professionally and effectively. They will work closely with relevant departments to coordinate proposals, reports, and communications, helping maintain strong connections with funders.

Key responsibilities 

Prospecting and Pipeline Development 

• Research and identify new potential supporters, primarily from the Trusts & Foundations sector, with some engagement of aligned individuals or family-foundation prospects in conjunction with the wider Development Team.

• Support the Development Director in delivering targeted cultivation and engagement strategies to grow new income streams.

• Build and maintain a healthy, dynamic pipeline of qualified new business opportunities. 

• Monitor sector trends to identify emerging supporters and new partnership opportunities 

Approaches and Proposal Development 

• Prepare tailored, persuasive funding proposals, applications, and cases for support, drawing on internal expertise and materials. 

• Lead on initial engagement with new prospects, coordinating meetings, briefings and follow-up communications. 

• Manage the cultivation process ensuring prospects receive timely and professional engagement throughout. 

• Collaborate with internal teams to ensure proposals are accurate, evidence-based and aligned with organisational objectives.

Relationship Management 

• Act as the key contact for donors and funders secured through this role, managing relationships and ensuring continuity of communication. 

• Work closely with the Development Director, Appeal Director and CEO to coordinate senior-level involvement in funder engagement where appropriate. 

• Ensure accurate monitoring, evaluation and reporting for all grants, providing timely updates and impact information to funders. Liaise with colleagues across the organisation to identify when and how internal contacts or senior volunteers can support prospect engagement, ensuring this complements any existing relationships or approaches. 

Internal Collaboration and Systems 

• Record all activity in Salesforce, ensuring accurate data capture on all prospect and funder activity. 

• Contribute to income forecasting and team reporting

• Collaborate with colleagues across departments to align fundraising approaches with strategic initiatives, ensuring consistent messaging and shared priorities. 

General 

• Ensure fundraising activity complies with relevant regulations, GDPR, and due diligence processes and ethical fundraising policies 

• Support Development team events and activities as required, occasionally outside normal working hours. 

• Undertake any other duties as reasonably required by the Development Director to support the success of the team and organisation. 

Person Specification

Qualification: 

• Degree level or equivalent transferable skills - Desirable

Skills and Experience 

• 3 - 5 years’ experience in a fundraising, grants or donor facing role, particularly prospecting new funders 
• Proven success in securing funding from Trusts & Foundations or HNWIs, particularly new business (one-off or multiyear grants and repeat grants) 
• Strong experience in research & prospect identification for trusts/foundations or major donors 
• Excellent proposal/application writing, with ability to tailor cases to funder priorities 
• Good interpersonal and communication skills — able to engage funders at senior levels and with colleagues internally 
• Strong organisational skills, managing multiple proposals and deadlines simultaneously 
• Proficiency with CRM systems (preferably Salesforce) and using it to manage pipeline / prospect data 
• Ability to interpret and present information (budgets, impact data, reports) clearly to funders and internal stakeholders 
• Ability to work both independently and in collaboration with senior staff, trustees and senior volunteers 
• Knowledge of fundraising regulations, due diligence and GDPR 

Personality Characteristics

• Proactive, self-starter with a solution focused approach
• Resilient, adaptable, and comfortable working in a dynamic environment 
• High attention to detail and commitment to accuracy (important in proposals, budgets, follow-up) 
• Strongly committed to the values, mission and ethos of The Churchill Fellowship 
• Comfort meeting face‑to‑face and representing TCF externally 
• Ability to meet deadlines under pressure and prioritise work effectively 
• Collaborative, dependable and able to work with integrity 
• Willingness to travel occasionally and work flexibly to meet funders. 

Other

• Some UK based travel required for meetings, presentations etc 
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, Word and Outlook 

About our charity

Join us to support people-led change across the UK 

We run the Churchill Fellowships, a unique programme that supports UK citizens to find new solutions worldwide for today’s most pressing challenges.

Every year we fund over 100 new Fellows to discover the latest ideas and best practice in any practical issue they care passionately about, anywhere in the world. The topics they explore cover every aspect of society and are often informed by their own lived experience. They meet leading practitioners, encounter cutting-edge projects and gather their findings in a published report. We help share their findings to inspire change in communities, sectors, and fields across the UK.

Fellows tell us that their Fellowship is life-changing, for themselves and for those who benefit from their global learning. These are dedicated and practical individuals with a strong vision of the change they want to see, the knowledge to progress it and the drive to make it happen. As a result, their impact is felt throughout the UK and many go on to be leaders in their fields.

Our unique approach has created a community of thousands of highly effective changemakers working on the frontlines of today’s key issues. At the heart of all this is a simple but enduring concept: we are empowering individuals to learn from the world and transform lives across the UK.

Working for The Churchill Fellowship

Detailed package, benefits and wellbeing package:

• Salary £45,000 per annum 
• Hybrid working policy (minimum of 1-2 days per week in the office)
• 5 weeks holiday a year, with additional paid leave when the office closes over the Christmas Break 
• 1 weeks paid leave for volunteering 
• Non-contributory pension scheme with 10% employer contribution
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave and pay
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Life Assurance
• Bike purchase salary sacrifice scheme (Cycle2Work)

We have embraced the benefits of working from home and at the same time, we value the contribution of face-to-face contact in building teamwork, collaborating with your colleagues, exchanging ideas and know-how, and for work efficiency. We therefore operate a hybrid working policy, where staff can work from home if they wish, however everyone is required to work in the office a minimum of 1 to 2 days a week with Tuesdays as the core day for regular whole team meetings.

Note: unfortunately, we are not currently in a position to offer sponsorship for visas and all applicants will need to have, and be able to prove, the right to work in the UK.

How to apply 

Please submit your CV, along with a cover letter using this as an opportunity to tell us a bit more about who you are as a person. As a people centred, relational organisation, we want to understand how you as an individual are going to be a great fit for this role. 

Recruitment Process

We hope to meet initially with as many candidates as possible, however where demand is unusually high, we may not be able to meet everyone.

If your skills and experience are relevant to the role, you will likely meet with a member of the HR Team to talk through any questions you may have, and for us to find out a bit more about you.

Once the advertising has closed, we will invite the shortlisted candidates to a formal in-person interview with the view to appointing the Finance Assistant as soon as possible after that.

Equity, diversity and inclusion are core to the values and ethos of the charity’s work across all activities. The Churchill Fellowship is committed to being an inclusive employer with a diverse workforce. We encourage applications from people from the widest possible diversity of backgrounds, cultures and experiences.  Our office accommodation is accessible throughout.