Finance and commercial director jobs

Thames Valley Air Ambulance

The role: Philanthropy Manager (Major Gifts)

Location: We offer a well‑established hybrid working pattern, with at least two days each week spent at HQ to stay connected and collaborate.

Salary:  £38,900 - £43,561
Contract: Full-time, Permanent

About us

Thames Valley Air Ambulance exists to give everybody within our community the best chance of surviving and recovering from an emergency. We are here for you and your loved ones. In Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire. Whoever you are. Wherever and whenever you need us.

What we are looking for:

We are seeking an exceptional major donor fundraising professional to lead and grow our high-value giving programme. This is a senior, strategic, and hands-on role focused on developing meaningful, long-term relationships with high-net-worth individuals and securing transformational income to support our lifesaving work.

At Thames Valley Air Ambulance, we’re committed to giving everyone in our community the best chance when the worst happens. Every day, we’re called to life-threatening emergencies across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire. But we can’t do it without the generosity of our supporters and that’s where you come in.

Your role

As the Philanthropy Manager you will lead our major gifts programme, taking ownership of key initiatives including our Chair’s Circle and Philanthropy Board. Working closely with the Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships, you will shape strategy while personally driving significant income through strong relationships and compelling fundraising proposals

You’ll be responsible for:

• Managing a portfolio of high-net-worth donors and delivering significant income targets
• Personally securing five- and six-figure gifts through tailored cultivation, proposals, and stewardship
• Developing tailored cultivation and stewardship plans aligned to each supporter’s interests and motivations 
• Making complex, high-value funding asks, preparing compelling proposals and growing the Chair’s Circle and Philanthropy Board programmes
• Building strong relationships with senior stakeholders, including Trustees and the CEO
• Contributing to strategy, pipeline development, and identifying new funding opportunities
• Identifying new opportunities for restricted and unrestricted funding
• Ensuring compliance with fundraising regulations, GDPR, and internal policies
• Acting as an ambassador for Thames Valley Air Ambulance and ensuring compliance with fundraising best practice

About you

You are an experienced major donor fundraiser with a proven track record of securing five and six figure high-value gifts and managing senior relationships. You are strategic yet hands-on, with excellent communication, influencing, and relationship-building skills.

We’re looking for someone who:

• Has proven experience in major donor or high-value fundraising with strong results
• Is confident engaging and influencing high-net-worth individuals and senior stakeholders
• Can balance strategic thinking with delivery of income targets
• Communicates effectively, both written and verbally, including proposal development
• Is proactive, organised, and able to manage competing priorities independently
• Brings a flexible and collaborative approach to work

Why join us?

At Thames Valley Air Ambulance, you’ll be part of a dynamic, compassionate, and forward-thinking organisation. We’re proud of our culture, collaborative, inclusive, and committed to personal development. We care deeply about the wellbeing of our team and offer flexible working arrangements to support a healthy work-life balance.

If this role sounds like it’s for you, we would love you to apply!

In return we offer a competitive salary and great staff benefits such as.

• 25 Days holiday / 267 Hours Holiday
• Hybrid Working (minimum 2 days in office)
• Holiday Trading
• Free annual Flu Vaccination
• Blue Light Card (Option to purchase)
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Company Pension Scheme
• Simply Health – Medical cash back scheme
• Disability Confident Employer

Our values

We live by our values every day:

• We care no matter what – for our patients, their families, and each other.
• We go above and beyond– in the care we provide and the work we do.
• We do the right thing – in how we act and the decisions we make.
• Together we are TVAA – because together, we save lives.

Diversity and inclusion

We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and are especially keen to hear from candidates who feel underrepresented in the charity sector.

Safeguarding

We follow robust recruitment and safeguarding practices to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our staff, volunteers, and the people we support. Relevant checks (e.g. DBS) will be carried out where appropriate.

How to apply

To apply, please complete our online application form and tell us why you’re excited about this opportunity and how your experience aligns with the role. You must have the right to work in the UK, as we are unable to offer sponsorship.

Vacancy Closing Date:  Friday 7th August 2026

This post may close early due to high numbers of applications, so you are advised to apply promptly

Interviews will be held: w/c 17th August 2026

TVAA is a Disability Confident employer. We are committed to discussing and implementing adjustments to support you during your application process and beyond.

Impact on Urban Health is part of Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation. Our collective mission is to build the foundations of a healthier society.

As a member of the team, you have a real opportunity to shape our work and the impact we can have. This is fuelled by our desire to be more than the sum of our parts. We’re curious, we think big and we’re not afraid to take risks.

As part of our team, you will work alongside talented people from a mix of personal and professional backgrounds. We are a Living Wage employer and support flexible working, part-time roles and job shares.

Though our ambitions are serious, this is a friendly place to work with lots of opportunities to meet and socialise with colleagues. We believe there is immense power in diversity and aim to recruit and nurture talent who think and act differently.

There is more information about working with us on our website where you can find out:

• How we approach recruitment
• Our team, culture and values
• The benefits of working with us
• Our approach to diversity, equity & inclusion, health & wellbeing, and learning & development

The Innovation Manager supports the Director of Innovation to execute core parts of the innovation strategy by embedding improved delivery practices and test-and-learn capabilities across Impact on Urban Health and, where relevant, the wider Foundation, overseeing a priority set of cross-IoUH and within-programme innovation projects.

At Impact on Urban Health, we are building a portfolio of programmes that demonstrate the power of long-term approaches to complex health issues in urban environments. We focus our efforts on the London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark, working in partnership with residents, local and national government, and community and private sector partners to improve the health of local residents. By doing this, we aim to influence others in the UK and internationally to create better health. The programmes focus on children’s health and food, financial foundations for adult health, the health effects of air pollution, and children’s mental health; and are all at different stages of development.

A Portfolio Manager builds part of a programme strategy, co-develops projects with partners, makes recommendations for funding these projects, and proactively manages the end-to-end partnership and funding lifecycle. This is a supported process, with lots of input and ideas shared across the team as the Portfolio Managers shape their projects. We build partnerships with a wide range of partners, from local communities, businesses, charities, the public sector and any other person or organisation that we think can have an impact on health equity.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy and Programme Development:

• Build a deep understanding of the health issues your programme focuses on and the relevant systems that need to change to achieve greater equity.
• Collaborate with our Data, Evaluation & Learning team to understand different forms of evidence and lived experience relevant to your programme.
• Lead on strategy development for part of one or more of our urban health programmes.
• Identify organisations with whom to collaborate.

Partnership and Funding Lifecycle:

Lead the funding partnership life cycle. This includes:

Developing ideas and partnerships

• Approach relevant organisations and their teams, engaging them and co-developing projects and partnerships that support the delivery of our impact goals and programmatic strategies.
• Apply equitable funding principles in practice, including transparency, fairness, trust-building and power-sharing with partners.

Bringing partnerships through our decision-making process and contracting.

• Drive an inclusive/non-extractive due diligence process.
• Detail clear specifications and deliverables for projects which align with the relevant urban health programme.
• Deliver presentations at Executive Investment Committee meeting.
• Draft funding (grant giving) contracts using templates.

Managing and exiting partnerships

• Guide, advise and learn from existing project partners as they deliver to achieve our mutual goals.
• Utilise effective programme management techniques to monitor effective delivery against contracts and specifications.
• Ensure project partners report against agreed deliverables as required within contracts, and scrutinise to ensure that contracts are being fulfilled.
• Proactively address any areas where contracts are not being delivered upon, escalating where necessary.
• Work with our Data, Evaluation & Learning team and external evaluation experts to develop and deliver evaluation plans for projects and partnerships.
• Assist organisational development of partners, through commissioning grants plus support.

Scaling Impact, Influence and Thought Leadership:
Plan and deliver ways to scale solutions and grow impact through influencing, in collaboration with partners and internal teams across the organisation, such as Policy, Influencing & Communications, and Data, Evaluation & Learning. 

This includes:

• Building diverse, cross-sector partnerships
• Formulating plans to scale the impact of your portfolio
• Convening and supporting partners to work together to influence policy and decision-makers
• Delivering thought leadership for your area of focus to influence relevant stakeholders, e.g. blog writing, attending and speaking at events.
• Contribute to strategic communications, campaigning and influencing activity where relevant.

Role responsibilities are not exhaustive, and you would be reasonably expected to take on wider tasks that are commensurate with the level of your role

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise 

Skills, abilities and attributes: 

• Demonstrable commitment to equity and good health for all, in particular those affected by poverty and racism
• Ability to draft robust contracts from templates.
• Inclusive and high-quality communication and influencing skills, including strong presentation skills.
• Strategic thinking and problem-solving skills – able to come up with solutions to complex problems.
• Strong relationship building skills and ability to engage a wide range of audiences including effective community engagement. 
• Ability to manage uncertainty, navigate complexity, seek clarity and actively ensure roles and responsibilities are clear.
• Commercial acumen (though we will support you to develop this).

Knowledge, experience, and qualifications:

• Experience / proven ability in programme / project management. 
• Demonstrable understanding of philanthropy, grant giving processes and practice.
• An understanding or experience of a range of different entities and organisations, for example local, national, international organisations, voluntary or community organisations, social enterprises, government, policy makers, businesses, statutory bodies.
• An understanding of what makes funded / grass roots organisations effective in the work they lead.
• Experience in community organising, asset ownership or asset stewardship (desirable) 
• An understanding of community wealth building principles in the context of place regeneration (desirable)
• Experience in blended finance capital stacks (desirable) 

Experience in or knowledge of one or more of the following areas will be desirable:

• Experience of working or living in diverse urban areas.
• The healthcare system and how it affects local communities.
• Public policy and regulations.
• Private sector advocacy and lobbying.
• Innovation

Benefits

• Contributory pension
• Annual personal development budget
• Annual health and wellbeing personal allowance
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, and parental leave pay accessible without length of service requirements.
• Health and wellbeing programme that offers optional free yearly health check-ups.
• Support for healthy eating via fruit bowls and onsite lunch facilities. 
• Agile working, flexible hours, and supportive IT kit. 
• Shower facilities and bike lock area. 
• Generous annual leave (27 days + bank holidays)
• Subsidies for glasses
• Employee Assistance Programme

About Starlight

No one enjoys medical procedures, least of all children. From facing everyday vaccinations to the most serious of surgeries and chronic conditions, all children experience varying degrees of apprehension and fear. Feeling scared, powerless, or anxious in healthcare settings doesn’t just trigger a child’s emotions; it can create traumas that impact treatment success and that can have a life-long impact. Starlight’s aim is to transform children’s health through better experiences, by putting play at the heart of every child’s healthcare.

Evidence shows that play in healthcare can reduce anxiety, fear and even pain; it helps children engage and prepare for their treatment and cope better with procedures; it minimises trauma and contributes to a better experience; and supports children to have some sense of agency and control in an environment where these opportunities are limited. Play can also reduce the number of attempts to deliver treatment, the need for sedation and the need for repeat appointments. Prioritising children’s right to play in healthcare results in healthier, happier children who are involved in their own healing and recovery as well as more efficient treatment and care.

We work in over 900 healthcare settings across the UK with an ultimate vision to ensure that no child endures trauma in healthcare.

Role Overview

Starlight has a long and successful track record of delivering high-profile, high-value special events, including the prestigious Blenheim Ball, Newbury Race Day, and until recently, the Highclere Clay Pigeon Shoot. These events are supported by influential committees and have played a critical role in raising income, stewarding donors and connecting supporters with our purpose.

With a gap in our Philanthropy team and maternity cover needed until around May next year, this 9-month fixed-term role exists to lead, develop and deliver Starlight’s flagship events at a senior level. Immediate responsibilities are for the Starlight Health Play Awards a key stewardship event in October; and the development of a Royal Palace Event to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Starlight likely to be in November. There is also the opportunity to shape the Starlight Event Strategy, with the development of a new event building on the success of our Newbury Race Days and the development of our biennial activity with the Blenheim Ball Committee.

This is a senior, delivery-focused role designed for an experienced events professional who can hit the ground running. Working closely with the Starlight Team and Committees, you will bring leadership, strategic judgement and outstanding project management to ensure Starlight events continue to excel in reputation, income and supporter experience. 

About the roles

Last year we launched our most ambitious strategy yet - Change Happens Now. To deliver on its promise, we have identified a phased and prioritised pipeline of cross-cutting strategic programmes that will move us closer to a future where, by 2050, everyone diagnosed with breast cancer lives - and is supported to live well.

We’re now looking for 2 Strategic Programme Leads to help deliver our strategy. You’ll work in our Strategy, Planning & Innovation (SPI) team, which is responsible for strategic change programmes, planning, innovation and involvement.

Both posts share the same job description and grade and will work flexibly across SPI’s full portfolio. However, each role has a distinct focus area and differs in contract type:

• Role 1 - Health Systems and Improvement – Permanent: This role focus is in health systems and improvement, which will include leading place-based programmes, stewarding UK-wide health-improvement standards, and building the external relationships needed to deliver system-level change.
• Role 2 - Engagement at Scale – 2 year fixed term. This role focus is in ‘engagement at scale’ programmes, in its first year, it will include programme leadership of our universal offer, an organisation-wide programme aimed at delivering an accessible support offer for everyone affected by breast cancer. It will also include providing strategic partnership for other large-scale programmes, such as healthcare professional engagement initiatives and behaviour change.

While each role has a primary focus area, we expect both post-holders to be flexible and adaptable. Priorities change, and you'll need to be equally comfortable working across specialisms, seeing the focus areas as a starting point which will evolve with organisational priorities.

About you

Whilst both roles are the same, given the specialisms, for role 1, we're particularly interested in candidates with experience of external connectivity across the UK health system landscape and a working knowledge of NHS structures, integrated care systems, clinical pathways and health inequalities. For role 2, we're particularly interested in candidates with experience of scaled engagement work, such as leading public engagement, support or community programmes.

For both roles, you’ll be able to get into the detail when it matters, including the design and sequencing of the programme itself. On some programmes you'll be the strategic lead, owning the work from start to finish and being the trusted strategic advisor to expert leaders. On others you'll partner an expert team, bringing the wider organisation in behind their delivery and working through the barriers that hold progress back.

You'll be confident leading, designing and running pilots and prototypes, with clear measures of success and an evidence-led approach to learning and improvement, ensuring you keep lived experience of breast cancer at the heart of your work. You'll be comfortable with ambiguity, making progress at pace without losing rigour, and you'll bring an innovation mindset, creating the conditions, methods and permission for teams to test, scale and embed new ways of working.

Most importantly, you'll be able to be flexible in your workload, and motivated by the chance to lead change in an organisation that wants to be brave, determined and ambitious - one that backs innovation, challenges the status quo when it needs to, and is willing to commit to the big, multi-year work that real impact requires.

Job description and benefits

The job descriptions and our attractive benefits are available for you to download.

Primary location of role and hybrid working

These roles can be based in our London, Sheffield or Cardiff offices. Our hybrid working model allows you to work up to 3 days per week at home.   

The salary range is:

£49,000 to £53,000 per annum if Cardiff or Sheffield based

£53,000 to £57,000 per annum if London based

How to apply

We hope you choose to apply for this role. To support your application, you’ll be asked to submit your anonymised CV and a supporting statement online.

As there are 2 roles, you can either submit your application for 1 or both roles. To do this, please confirm in your application the role you’re applying for: Role 1, Role 2 or Both.

To help with your application, please refer to the essential criteria on the person specification of the job description/s and clearly provide as much information as you can with examples, to demonstrate how and where you meet the criteria.

Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion

We’re committed to promoting equity, valuing diversity and creating an inclusive environment – for everyone who works for us, works with us, supports us and who
we support.

Closing date Thursday 30 July 2026 at 11:59pm

We reserve the right to close this advert early. Therefore, to avoid disappointment please submit your application as soon as possible, if you’re interested in this opportunity.

Interview date: Friday 14 August and Monday 17 August 2026

Saïd Business School is entering an exciting new chapter. As we prepare to celebrate our 30th anniversary and deliver an ambitious new five-year strategy, we are expanding our Development and Alumni team and seeking two exceptional Senior Philanthropy Officers to help drive a transformational step change in philanthropic support. Working closely with senior academics, School leadership, alumni and supporters, you will build meaningful relationships with philanthropists whose generosity can help tackle some of the world's most pressing challenges through business, entrepreneurship, innovation and social impact.

You will manage a portfolio of high-potential prospects, developing tailored engagement strategies that connect donors' passions with Oxford Saïd's strategic priorities. From identifying opportunities and cultivating relationships through to securing significant gifts and delivering outstanding stewardship, you will play a leading role in growing philanthropic income and impact across the School.

Key responsibilities:

• Managing and developing a portfolio of high-net-worth individuals and selected philanthropic organisations.
• Securing gifts typically ranging from £50,000 to £1 million+.
• Building trusted relationships with senior academics, School leadership, alumni volunteers and University colleagues.
• Translating world-class academic research and thought leadership into inspiring donor propositions.
• Supporting cultivation events, donor visits and stewardship activities that deepen engagement and demonstrate impact.

You will be an experienced and strategic fundraising professional with a proven track record of securing major gifts and building successful donor relationships within complex organisations. You will have experience engaging high-net-worth individuals and philanthropic organisations, consistently achieving ambitious income targets and managing prospects through the full fundraising cycle. Additionally, you will possess the ability to translate complex ideas into compelling philanthropic opportunities. A strong understanding of fundraising best practice, ethics and data governance is essential, alongside experience using fundraising CRM systems.

Further information on this role can be found in the job description.

At Saïd Business School we believe in fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment where everyone can thrive. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and communities to bring their unique perspectives and experiences to our team. Join us to build a brighter, more equitable future, where we celebrate diversity, advance equity, and nurture inclusion across everything we do.

We offer very generous benefits, some of which are:

• Generous holiday allowance of 38 days including bank holidays
• Hybrid working
• Membership of the Oxford staff pension scheme
• Discounted bus travel
• Subsidised onsite catering
• Cycle loan scheme
• Plus, many other University benefits

All applications must include a CV, Supporting Statement/Cover Letter and Current Salary.

The closing date for applications is Friday 7 August 2026 at 12.00 noon. Please note, this vacancy may close earlier than advertised if we receive a high number of suitable applications.