Head of volunteer transformation jobs in nottingham, nottinghamshire
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Over the last four years, the current Head of Funding & Partnerships has secured over £10m from trusts, foundations and housing associations to help HACT deliver its charitable purpose. In the next three years, our objective is to increase this amount. We want to hear from you if you believe you can support HACT deliver on our ambition.
ROLE DESCRIPTION
The Head of Funding and Partnershipsis a key member of HACT’s Leadership Team and leads the organisation’s business development, tendering and fundraising function. As part of the management tier, the role is responsible for scaling HACT’s impact across and beyond the housing sector through innovative commercial approaches, strategic fundraising, and exceptional customer relationships.
This position combines fundraising expertise, partnership building, developing and maintaining high-value relationships with funders, partners, and clients, as well as market intelligence. It identifies new opportunities for R&D development, pipeline growth, product sales and tender submissions while managing core business development activities that support HACT’s strategy.
The Head of Funding and Partnerships creates and executes annual fundraising and commercial plans, fosters collaborative relationships across the organisation, and embodies HACT’s values through transparent, supportive leadership. From time to time, the role presents to the Trustee Board and provides strategic advice and leadership to the executive team.
JOB PURPOSE
To lead HACT's fundraising, tendering and business development function, delivering ambitious fundraising targets while providing strategic market insights that drive organisational growth and innovation.
Responsibilities
Strategic fundraising leadership
- Create and deliver a fundraising strategy aligned with HACT's business strategy and ambitious growth target, with annual and multi-year targets
- ·Identify new funding opportunities through market research, relationship building, and strategic intelligence
- Lead the development of high-quality tender responses and proposals
- Maintain a register of frameworks and procurement opportunities aligned to HACT’s strategic priorities
- Oversee the production of high-quality client proposals within agreed deadlines, ensuring compelling cases for support
Partnership building:
- Develop and maintain relationships with corporate sponsors, foundations, and other organisations to create mutually beneficial partnerships.
- Manage existing funder relationships to ensure satisfaction, retention, and growth of funding commitments
- Support cross-sector collaborations, innovation pilots and consortium funding bids.
Market intelligence & business development
- Contribute to organisational strategy development through participation in Leadership Team activities
- Proactively identify collaboration and innovation opportunities, supporting business growth and diversification
- Provide market insights that enable R&D development, supporting innovation and new service creation and market analysis to support pipeline growth in new markets and enhance existing product sales
- Collaborate with colleagues to identify emerging trends and opportunities in the housing and social value sectors
- Contribute to strategic decision-making through robust market intelligence and competitive analysis
Cross-functional collaboration
- Work closely with the Head of Communities and Projects to ensure project delivery meets funder expectations, leading on managing key grant funding relationships
- Work closely with the Head of Marketing to align fundraising and marketing strategies for maximum impact
- Work closely with the Head of Services to create proposals that maximise income opportunities
- Work closely with Head of Customer to identify commercial opportunities and enhance service delivery, using insights form Social Value Insight to strengthen funding propositions.
- Work with the Head of Business Functions to develop commercial pricing and funding models and ensure compliance with due diligence and funder requests.
- Support colleagues across the organisation by providing proposal support, market insights and funding intelligence
Team leadership & operational excellence
- Line manage and develop the Funding and Insights Officer, providing coaching, guidance, and performance management
- Develop and implement Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for proposals and grant applications to ensure consistency and quality
- Establish accessible, reliable management information systems to track performance and inform decision-making
- Ensure efficient processes and systems that support high-quality proposal development, tender submissions and relationship management
- Leverage AI tools and platforms to enhance business development processes
- Champion the adoption of AI-enabled solutions to improve productivity, personalise engagement strategies, and uncover new opportunities for innovation and collaboration.
Strategic leadership & culture
- Actively model HACT's values and behaviours by consistently demonstrating supportive, transparent and collaborative leadership
- Contribute to an inclusive and respectful organisational culture through positive leadership and team engagement
- Lead by example as a key member of HACT's Leadership Team, embodying our values across all internal and external relationships
- Champion cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing to maximise organisational effectiveness
REQUIRED SKILLS
Experience & skills
- Proven track record in senior fundraising roles, with demonstrated success in securing and managing significant grants from charitable foundations, government, and other funding bodies
- Demonstrated success in proposal writing, developing tenders and commercial bids
- Strong background in business development and market research, ideally within the charitable or public sector
- Experience in relationship management with high-value stakeholders and complex funding organisations
- Strong communication, influencing and project management capabilities
- Demonstrated ability to create and deliver strategic fundraising plans aligned with organisational objectives
- Strategic thinking ability combined with practical execution and attention to detail
- Resilience and adaptability in a dynamic funding environment.
- Knowledge of the social housing sector (desirable).
- Ability to identify and apply AI-driven tools to enhance business development activities and using AI to streamline workflows, personalise engagement strategies and uncover new growth opportunities.
Knowledge & understanding
- Deep understanding of the UK funding landscape, including charitable foundations, government funding streams, public procurement frameworks and social investment
- Knowledge of the housing sector, social value, or community development preferred
- Understanding of R&D funding mechanisms and innovation support programmes
- Familiarity with grant management processes and funder compliance requirements
- Knowledge of market research methodologies and competitive intelligence gathering
Personal qualities
- Exceptional relationship-building and networking skills with ability to engage stakeholders at all levels
- Strategic mindset with ability to identify opportunities and translate them into actionable plans
- Strong communication and influencing skills, both written and verbal
- Collaborative leadership style that embodies transparency, respect, and inclusivity
- Excellent project management and prioritisation skills with ability to manage multiple complex workstreams
- Resilience and adaptability in a dynamic funding environment
- Passion for HACT's mission and commitment to social impact in the housing sector
Technical competencies
- Proficiency in CRM systems and database management for relationship tracking (ideally HubSpot or Salesforce)
- Advanced skills in proposal writing, bid development, and presentation creation
- Experience with project management tools and budget management systems
- Understanding of due diligence processes and compliance requirements
- Knowledge of social impact measurement and evaluation frameworks
Desirable requirements
- Professional qualifications in fundraising (IoF membership) or business development
- Experience working in or with housing associations, local authorities, or social housing sector
- Knowledge of social value frameworks and impact investment principles
- Experience in managing EU or international funding programmes
- Understanding of research and development processes in policy or practice areas
JOB ACCOUNTABILITIES
- Leads the successful delivery of strategic fundraising and business development projects, ensuring high-quality outputs, stakeholder engagement, and funder satisfaction.
- Secures project funding through strategic relationship-building, proposal development, and targeted fundraising activities.
- Develops and maintains accessible management information systems to support .
- Implements service level agreements (SLAs) for proposals to ensure consistent quality and timely delivery across grant applications and business development outputs.
- Builds new relationships with charitable funders while sustaining and growing existing partnerships to diversify income streams.
- Embeds HACT’s values through inclusive leadership, fostering a collaborative culture and modelling best practice across the organisation.
Employees are also expected to be flexible in undertaking the duties and responsibilities attached to their post and may be asked to perform other duties that are consistent with the grade, responsibilities, and typical scope of the role. Any additional tasks should remain appropriate to the nature of the post and not extend into unrelated functions or specialisms.
All employees are expected to work in accordance with the organisation’s values and behavioural standards, which include being supportive, transparent, respectful, kind, honest, and collaborative. This means fostering a culture of empathy, openness, integrity, and teamwork in all interactions, and contributing positively to the organisation’s mission and strategic objectives.
ABOUT HACT
Innovation. Collaboration. Insights.
It’s what we’ve always done.
As the charity of the social housing sector, these are the core values that have driven the transformation and development of housing providers for over 60 years.
We believe the provision of housing is about more than just bricks and mortar – it’s about enhancing peoples’ lives.
By partnering with organisations across the housing sector, we drive value for residents and communities through insight-led products and services which encourage innovation and foster collaboration.
This position is currently based remotely with the occasional day in the London office and travel to UK based events as required.
To apply for this role, please share your CV with a one-page cover letter setting out why this role appeals to you and how your skills and experiences meet the key skills points in the job description.
Interviews expected to take place on week commencing the 15th December.
To apply for this role, please share your CV with a one-page cover letter setting out why this role appeals to you and how your skills and experiences meet the key skills points in the job description.
Interviews expected to take place week commencing 15th December.
Registered Charity
21 - 50
To support the social housing sector to unlock the full potential of its social purpose, for the benefit of residents & local communities
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
About the role
We are recruiting for a Head of Supporter Experience and Optimisation to join on a permanent contract. This is newly created role and will be home-based, working full-time, 35 hours per week, with occasional travel required for team and stakeholder meetings and events.
The last few years have seen unprecedented growth in the public profile of dementia, driven in part by the growing size, impact and ambition of Alzheimer’s Society - the UK’s leading dementia charity. We now need to ensure that everyone who needs dementia support today can access it, while improving our ability to attract, engage and retain the donors, volunteers and campaigners who so generously give money, time and voice to deliver enduring change.
As Head of Supporter Experience and Optimisation you will lead the strategic alignment and continuous improvement of how we deliver for our supporters (donors, campaigners, volunteers), transforming how we work across the Income and Engagement directorate. You will bring together our critical enabling functions focused on performance, planning and reporting; supporter experience delivery and improvement; administration and people development. We are looking for you to drive a joined-up approach to transformation that enhances both internal effectiveness and external impact.
You’ll champion a seamless, meaningful supporter journey, ensuring every interaction reflects our values and strengthens engagement, with a clear focus on improving the end-to-end supporter experience. You’ll embed a culture of insight-led decision making, collaboration, accountability, operational excellence and learning, ensuring our people are empowered to thrive and deliver their best to help end the devastation of dementia.
At all times, you’ll act as a passionate, articulate champion of the importance of our supporter’s experience. You will be a key stakeholder and build strong relationships across the Society, ensuring processes, systems and tools are developed with the ultimate goal of always improving the experience of all our supporters.
We have provisionally scheduled the first stage of interviews for this role to take place on Thursday 11th and Friday 12th December.
There will be a Q&A webinar for this role taking place on 18th November 4pm - 5pm where you will be able to anonymously ask questions about the role and team. To request an invitation to the webinar, please email [email protected]
About you
We are looking for a dynamic leader with exceptional people skills and a proven ability to inspire, motivate, and develop high performing teams.
Joining us, you’ll have experience in developing and implementing strategies spanning a variety of functions with variable short and long-term goals. You’ll have a deep understanding of the drivers behind supporter / customer loyalty to an organisation or cause with experience using data, insight, and experimentation to test and refine supporter / customer experiences.
Crucially, you’ll be able to adopt a holistic and collaborative approach, and you’ll have the project management and planning experience required to drive change, optimise processes and assess their impact across our directorate. You’ll embody our value of being ‘determined to make a difference’ with a proactive, adaptable and pragmatic, solutions-focused approach to making improvements. You’ll be able to build positive relationships, influence key stakeholders and use your communication and leadership skills to manage and motivate cross-functional teams.
You don’t need to have a background in the charity sector, and you may or may not have a connection to dementia. We welcome applications from anyone who feels they have relevant, transferrable skills that will enable you to succeed in this role. We hope the Society’s purpose and ambition resonates with you, and you’ll be motivated to help develop and optimise our processes and systems to ensure a brilliant experience for all our supporters.
What you’ll focus on:
- Developing and delivering a transformation roadmap for the Income and Engagement directorate that aligns with directorate and Society priorities, with a clear focus on improving all touch points of a supporter experience.
- Championing a supporter-first mindset across all teams, ensuring that every process and interaction is designed to enhance supporter satisfaction and loyalty.
- Using insight and feedback to identify opportunities for continuous improvement and innovation, driving a culture of marginal gains and agility across Income and Engagement.
- Overseeing the ongoing development, improvement and implementation of robust performance frameworks, enabling clear planning, tracking, and reporting of impact of activity across Income and Engagement.
- Building and fostering strong relationships across the Society to ensure alignment and buy-in for transformation initiatives that improve the supporters experience and our operational excellence.
- Fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team culture that supports innovation and growth.
About Alzheimer's Society - who are we and what’s our mission?
Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer. One in three people born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime.
At Alzheimer’s Society, we’re the UK’s leading dementia charity and the only one to tackle all aspects of dementia by giving help and hope to people living with dementia today and in the future. We give vital support to people facing the most frightening times of their lives, while also funding ground-breaking research and campaigning to make dementia the priority it should be.
Together with our supporters, we’re working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives. Our values make sure that our focus is clear for the challenges and opportunities ahead and remind us of what we all stand for.
Our commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
We need to ensure the voices around our table better reflect and understand the communities we exist to serve. We strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as part of a minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Alzheimer's Society.
Our hiring process
We want you to bring your whole self to the process. Applications are anonymised until interview stage, and we’re happy to support any adjustments. Share your feedback via our candidate survey when applying to help us improve. We may close early if we receive high interest (with 48 hours’ notice). Some roles may require a DBS check as part of our safer recruitment commitment. Thinking about using AI during the recruitment process? we know this can be helpful in many ways but remember to include your personal and authentic self too. Your voice and experience are what really set you apart.
Giving back to you
At Alzheimer’s Society, we value our people and take a total reward approach to pay and benefits. You’ll enjoy a generous double-matched pension scheme, 27 days’ annual leave (plus bank holidays and wellbeing days), and access to a free Health Shield Cash Plan, 24/7 EAP, Thrive mental wellbeing support, and virtual GP services. Our Society Plus platform offers exclusive discounts, wellbeing resources, and recognition schemes, while our flexible working, family-friendly policies, and life assurance provide peace of mind and work/life balance. We also offer a free Will-writing service and long service awards to recognise your ongoing commitment.