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Little Village makes a big difference to families with babies and young children living in poverty across London. Through a network of baby banks and partners, including Family Hubs, community organisations and all of London’s maternity units, it passes on pre-loved clothes, toys and equipment from one family to another, so that many more babies and young children have the essentials they need to thrive. 

Little Village is at a pivotal moment. Having grown from its founder’s living room into a pan-London organisation and co-founded the national Baby Bank Alliance, it is approaching its 10-year milestone and preparing to launch a new organisational strategy in 2027. 

Little Village has built a diverse and successful income base of c.£3m, with particular strength in high-value philanthropy and partnerships. The next phase is about building on this success with a more structured, sustainable fundraising model, growing income across multiple streams and increasing multi-year and repeat funding. 

Reporting to the newly appointed Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications, and sitting on Little Village’s cross-organisational Leadership Team, the Head of Fundraising will work with the Director to shape and deliver the fundraising strategy, and lead its day-to-day delivery and the development of a fundraising team of six. This is a hands-on leadership role with real scope: a team with genuine potential to develop, strong high-value relationships to build on, and clear opportunities to grow. To begin with, your time will be split roughly equally between leading the team and your own fundraising, moving towards around 70% team leadership as the team strengthens.

Key priorities include: 

• Working with the Director to set and deliver an integrated fundraising strategy, and turning it into plans the team can deliver 
• Line managing and developing the team with a supportive, accountable approach, setting clear expectations and creating the space for people to grow
• Building a bigger, more resilient pipeline of major donors, alongside the great supporters Little Village already has
• Leading an increasingly strategic, relationship-focused approach to trusts and foundations, and developing corporate relationships into long-term strategic partnerships 
• Growing statutory income in support of the Head of Families and Communities, and leading Little Village’s existing and emerging statutory and statutory-aligned funding relationships yourself, alongside senior cultivation and stewardship of major supporters 
• Embedding the pipeline, forecasting and income reporting disciplines that underpin a more structured fundraising model 

See applicant pack for full person specification, an overview can be found below: 

Essential:

• High-value, relationship-led fundraising expertise across major donors, trusts and foundations, and corporate partnerships – able to build and hold your own pipeline of big-ticket supporters, and to coach others to do the same 
• Proximity to statutory funding – strategic knowledge and awareness as a minimum, and ideally direct statutory experience
• Complex grant management and budgeting experience, working with Operations and Finance teams
• Significant experience of managing and developing a team with a range of experience – setting clear expectations, building accountability and supporting people to grow, while keeping delivery on track
• Multi-channel fundraising leadership experience is preferred. Without it, including if this would be your first overall fundraising leadership role, you will need solid, demonstrable and significant team management experience 

Desirable:

• Direct, hands-on statutory fundraising experience 
• Wider portfolio experience, for example community fundraising and events 
• Experience of reporting to committees and trustee boards 
• Experience of leading a fundraising team at a frontline charity 
• Experience of using Beacon CRM 
• Lived or wider personal experience of the issues faced by the families Little Village supports 

Diversity and Inclusion

Little Village operates in London, one of the most diverse cities in the world. The charity are working towards a goal where their team fully reflects that diversity and difference in lived experiences and strongly encourage applications from under-represented groups including: people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, people with lived experience of poverty either personally or through family, experience of the care system, non-graduates and first-in-family graduates. As part of their commitment to fairer recruitment, all applications will be assessed without names and any protected characteristics.

As part of Little Village's commitment to increasing representation of people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, they are piloting a Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS) for this role, as a new approach to make their recruitment more equitable. If you identify as Black, Asian or other Minority Ethnic backgrounds and meet the essential criteria for the role, you can choose to opt in to the GIS. We will be aiming to offer everyone who opts into the scheme and meets the essential criteria a first stage interview/ assessment. See the applicant pack for further details.

Employee benefits

Employee benefits include:

• 25 days per year annual leave plus bank holidays (pro rata for those working fewer than 35 hours per week)
• Team members are usually given time off between Christmas and New Year, which doesn’t come off your allowance
• Pension contributions matched by 3%
• A period of sick leave at full pay regardless of length of service
• Enhanced family friendly policies including Maternity, Paternity, Shared Parental Leave and Adoption pay, with a Fertility Policy designed to support employees during fertility investigations and treatment
• Death in Service benefit (x3 annual salary)
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Rewards Gateway and Tickets for Good