5 Initial response team leader jobs in Bristol

Who we are

IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice) is a national charity working to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the educational support they are legally entitled to. Since we were formed in 1983, we have helped to improve the education experience of thousands of children and young people across England. We do this by providing free and independent legal advice and casework support for families, undertaking policy work and delivering training on the SEND legal framework.

What you’ll do

Reports to: Fundraising Manager

Location: Remote, with occasional travel for funder and staff meetings 4-5 times a year

We are looking for an experienced and motivated Trusts and Philanthropy Officer to join our small, ambitious fundraising team. IPSEA has a proven track record of successfully securing grants for core costs and projects. You will be responsible for researching new funding opportunities, preparing and submitting tailored applications and reports, and managing relationships with funders through thoughtful and timely stewardship. You will also have the opportunity to shape the early development of our strategies in major gifts and wider philanthropy and contribute to this work into the future.

This is a key role in IPSEA’s fundraising strategy and will help secure long-term financial sustainability for our services. 

If you share our commitment to protecting, promoting and upholding the rights of children and young people with SEND and would like to use your fundraising skills at IPSEA, we would love to hear from you. 

What we can offer you

• 5% employer pension contributions
• Healthcare cash plan
• Flexible working arrangements
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays plus an additional day off for your birthday (pro-rata if part-time).

To apply

Visit our website to download a recruitment pack and application form.

Deadline for applications: 9am on 5 October 2026.

First-round interviews: on 16 October in London, with second-round interviews (online) in the week commencing 19 October 2026.

NO AGENCIES PLEASE.

About Us
Young Life International is a fast-growing Christian charitable organisation. Our aim is to share the message of Jesus with young people all over the UK. We do this through building relationships with them and earning the right to be heard.

Our Operations team strives to help our staff and volunteers to thrive by anticipating, developing and delivering excellent operational services and our Finance team focuses specifically on providing excellent financial services in a Christ-centred way.

About the Role
As the Finance Co-ordinator you will build good relationships with the wider staff team and be a friendly and knowledgeable source of advice for all queries relating to finance. As a key member of the team, you will be the primary user of many existing processes, and will be the key person in implementing new systems we are planning to enable us to be more efficient. You thrive on knowing you are using both your numerical and organisational skills and your relational skills to support others.

More Details and How to Apply
Download the Application Pack for the following information:

• Welcome from the Operations Director

• How this role fits into the wider YLI and Operations Team

• Full Job Description and Person Specification

• Details of how to apply online (application form)

• Deadline and interview dates

• YLI Faith and Conduct Policies - check we're in alignment with one another's beliefs

Accessibility & Support 

We want to ensure our recruitment process is accessible to everyone. If you require any reasonable adjustments or accommodations at any stage of the application or interview process, please let us know. You can reach out to us in confidence at the email in our application pack, and we will be happy to support you.

We care about your data privacy -  to find out more please visit our website to view our Privacy Policy.

This is a unique opportunity to lead fundraising for a charity at the cusp of substantial growth, with an exceptional track record of recent fundraising success, an engaged base of supporters and significant untapped potential across multiple channels.

Overview
As Director of Fundraising and Development for Plum Village UK, you will provide strategic leadership of the charity’s fundraising at this critical juncture. Building on the successful campaigns that brought our new Being Peace Practice Centre into being, you will lead the development of a sustainable, diversified fundraising operation across donor stewardship, trusts and foundations, regular giving, legacies, and partnerships, to deepen relationships of trust and gratitude with our supporters.

This role is ideal for a fundraising leader, whether from a career fundraising background or another field, who brings strategic capability alongside deep alignment with the Plum Village tradition, where fundraising itself becomes a form of engaged practice in service of mindfulness and community transformation.

Fundraising in the Plum Village tradition is fundamentally relational. It is not a matter of extracting income from a base of supporters, but of deepening the relationships of trust, gratitude and shared purpose with those who make our work possible, in ways that embody the values of the tradition. Done well, fundraising is itself a form of engaged practice. The Director will be expected to lead the function in this spirit.

The role comes with a high level of strategic ownership. An initial fundraising strategy has been developed and shared with trustees, providing a framework of priority channels, governance arrangements and resourcing for the next phase. The new Director will inherit this as a starting frame, and will then be empowered and expected to develop, refine and bring forward a fundraising strategy on their own authority, working closely with the Lead Trustee for Fundraising and presenting proposals to the board as appropriate. The role also carries operational ownership of the fundraising mechanics, including the choice and management of supporting systems, databases and tools.
 

Key Responsibilities

Strategic leadership of fundraising

• Lead PVUK's fundraising strategy, developing and refining the strategic direction, and presenting proposals to the Board for approval and resourcing.

• Set, monitor, and report on fundraising targets across all income channels, in agreement with the Lead Trustee for Fundraising and the Board.

• Provide regular substantive updates on fundraising at quarterly board meetings, working with the Lead Trustee on the preparation of board-level reporting.

• Bring forward analysis and proposals to support the Board in setting wider strategic priorities, including realistic income potential by channel and the investment required to secure it.

• Identify and manage risk in the fundraising portfolio, including channel concentration, donor over-reliance, and the sustainability of resourcing.

Donor stewardship and relationship development

• Lead the stewardship of PVUK’s existing donors, lenders, and supporters with the depth of care that this base deserves, recognising it as the most precious resource of the fundraising function.

• Cultivate and deepen relationships with major donors, including through personal contact, site visits, and tailored communication of impact.

• Work with the Chair of Trustees, the Centre Director, and other senior figures on key relationships that require their involvement.

• Steward the friendly lender base throughout the lifetime of their loans, maintaining trust and keeping them informed of the charity’s progress.

• Build and maintain a culture of gratitude and recognition that appropriately honours the contributions of all supporters.

Income channel development

• Lead delivery and growth across PVUK’s priority fundraising channels: donor stewardship, trust and foundation fundraising, regular giving, legacies and Gifts in Wills, and partnerships with values-aligned organisations and networks.

• Develop trust and foundation fundraising as a substantial new income stream, including scoping aligned funders, building peer-to-peer introductions, constructing tailored funding propositions, and overseeing high-quality application writing and reporting.

• Design and grow a regular giving programme that converts members, retreatants and supporters into ongoing monthly donors.

• Develop a structured legacy and Gifts in Wills programme that normalises legacy giving across PVUK’s communications and supports those who wish to leave a Gift in their Will.

• Develop partnerships with values-aligned organisations and networks where these support both income generation and the wider reach of PVUK’s work, in close consultation with monastics and trustees.

Operations, systems and budget ownership

• Own the operational mechanics of fundraising for PVUK, including the choice, configuration and ongoing management of databases, donor management systems, online giving platforms, and integration with communications tools.

• Manage the fundraising budget, including a discretionary supplementary budget for consultancy, training, materials creation, contracted support and light administrative resource, deployed at the Director’s judgement to develop the function effectively.

• Maintain accurate, GDPR-compliant supporter records and ensure sound data practices throughout the fundraising operation.

• Provide accurate financial reporting on fundraising performance, working with PVUK’s finance function and external accountants as required.

• Make the case for additional resourcing where evidence of need supports it, including the possible recruitment of a Fundraising Officer in due course.

Communications and storytelling

• Lead the development of compelling fundraising narratives that authentically convey the work of PVUK and the Being Peace Centre to multiple audiences, including major donors, institutional funders, individual supporters and the wider public.

• Work closely with the PVUK Communications team on the integration of fundraising communications with the wider communications strategy.

• Commission and oversee the production of fundraising materials, including written content, graphic design, video and digital assets, drawing on contracted specialists where appropriate.

• Ensure that all fundraising messaging about the Being Peace Practice Centre is agreed with the Centre Director before publication.

Working partnerships across PVUK

• Work in close partnership with the Centre Director on all matters relating to Being Peace, with agreed ways of working on messaging, external representation, and any programming commitments made to funders.

• Work with the Lead Trustee for Fundraising as primary day-to-day point of contact at board level, supporting the Lead Trustee to hold strategic oversight of fundraising on behalf of the Board.

• Work with colleagues across PVUK’s communications, dharma programming, sangha-building and partnership functions, with these working relationships developing naturally in the first months of the role.

• Draw on external advisors and specialists as needed for support and assurance, both in technical fundraising disciplines and in sector-specific knowledge.

• Engage volunteer capacity from within the community where this can valuably supplement the fundraising operation.

Just Finance Foundation (JFF) is looking for an experienced Governance and Operations Manager to join us at an important point in our development.

We are a national charity working to change how children grow up with money. Every day, children are learning about money - through what they see, hear, and experience - but not all of it builds confidence or choice. By supporting parents, carers, and educators to teach money in ways that are simple, practical, and engaging, we make financial learning part of everyday life. This means children can grow up confident in making choices and equipped with skills that support their wellbeing now and into the future.

JFF currently operates within the Church Urban Fund (CUF) group, which has supported our development and provides a number of shared services. We are now preparing to become an independent charity and this new role will play a central part in making that transition work.

Working closely with our Director and trustees, you will help coordinate the move to independence while building the governance, systems and ways of working we need as a small, well-run charity.

This is a broad, hands-on role for someone who enjoys making organisations work better. You might be keeping a complex transition plan moving, supporting effective Board governance, improving an operational process, working through an issue with a supplier or adviser, or helping the Director make sense of a complex organisational question.

You won’t need to be an expert in everything. What matters is that you have strong operational judgement, can bring clarity to complexity, know when to involve specialist expertise, and are comfortable taking responsibility for getting things done.

We are particularly interested in people with significant experience in governance, operations or organisational management who can work confidently with senior leaders, trustees, advisers and external partners. Experience in a charity or purpose-led organisation, or of organisational change or separation, would be an advantage.

For full details of the role, responsibilities and person specification, please read the accompanying Job Description.

The role is home-based for three days per week, with occasional travel and approximately six evening Board meetings each year.

How to apply

Please submit a CV and supporting statement explaining how your experience meets the role requirements to email address provided by 11.59 on 13th September 2026. If your experience covers most, rather than every, point in the person specification, we still encourage you to apply.

JFF is an inclusive organisation and we welcome all applications. We want our workforce to be truly representative of the communities we serve. Diversity is an asset to our organisation and helps us create an inclusive, welcoming environment for all.