Fundraising director jobs in Birmingham, west midlands

Who we are

Sabre Education is an international NGO which, since 2004, has been providing children in Ghana with the best possible early childhood education by partnering with government to implement play-based learning at scale. Sabre focuses on:

Influencing early childhood education (ECE) policy & practice.
Training teachers and school officials in quality early childhood education.
Transforming learning environments to facilitate positive play-based learning.
Sabre has directly trained more than 6,000 teachers and over 700 Ghana Education Service officials, transforming the early years education of more than 361,000 children through high-quality play-based learning. Our teacher training model has been successfully piloted and replicated across 17 districts in Ghana, with partners extending its reach to a further 48 districts.

Building on this success, the Ghana Government is now scaling play-based learning to every public kindergarten in the country, with Sabre as a technical assistance partner, training around 29,000 teachers and reaching an estimated 1.2 million children each year.

Sabre’s new 2026–2029 strategy builds on these achievements by expanding its impact to other countries across sub-Saharan Africa, sharing Ghana’s experience of successfully scaling play-based learning nationwide. Alongside this expansion, Sabre will continue its work in Ghana, implementing a bold early childhood education system-strengthening strategy in close partnership with the government and wider sector stakeholders.

About the role

This is a senior strategic position within the organisation, sitting on the senior leadership team, reporting to the CEO and working closely with colleagues across the UK and Ghana.

As the Director of Fundraising and Communications, you will lead on strengthening and building relationships with Sabre’s growing portfolio of key funders, including trusts, foundations, institutional and corporate donors. Working with leadership and the team, you will also deepen the charity’s profile, reputation and brand.

Key responsibilities include:

• Nurture excellent relationships with Sabre’s current donor community.
• Work with the fundraising team proactively to attract, cultivate, secure and steward grant funders.

• Work with the Senior Fundraising Manager to identify, cultivate and secure new institutional multi-year grants.
• Work closely with the CEO and SLT to develop other income streams when strategically beneficial.
• Provide strategic leadership for all of Sabre’s communications, profile-building and marketing agendas.
• Lead, develop and manage the fundraising and communications team of four.
• Contribute to the organisation’s overall strategic mission as a member of the SLT.

Who we are looking for

This is a leadership role for someone with a proven track record as a senior fundraiser with considerable experience in trusts, foundations and institutional funding and team management. Crucially, you will be passionate about our work in early years education and motivated by the opportunity to shape our fundraising and communications work.

We are also seeking someone with:

• Experience developing and implementing a growth fundraising strategy.
• Strong experience writing technical proposals.
• Outstanding leadership, mentoring and team-building abilities.
• Personal qualities of integrity, credibility and dedication.

Sabre Education is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community – a place where individual differences and contributions are truly recognised and valued.

We offer a range of inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement opportunities and other methods to support staff from different backgrounds.

Sabre is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or disability status.