Senior researcher global jobs

Major Donor Manager

Salary: £42,000 - £45,000 per annum (DOE)
Location: Stevenage, Hertfordshire (Hybrid – minimum 2 days per week in the office)
Contract: Permanent, Full-time (37.5 hours per week)
Closing Date: Applications reviewed on a rolling basis
Occupational Requirement: Practising Christian (Equality Act 2010 Schedule 9 applies)

Build transformational relationships. Change lives.

At Mercy Ships UK, we're on an exciting journey of growth. With ambitious plans for the next five years, a growing supporter base and a renewed focus on philanthropy, we're looking for an experienced and passionate Major Donor Manager to help secure transformational support for one of the world's most impactful healthcare charities.

This is a unique opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with high-net-worth individuals and major donors, connecting them to a mission that brings hope, healing and lasting change to communities across Africa.

About Mercy Ships

Mercy Ships is a global Christian charity that uses hospital ships to deliver free, life-changing surgeries and healthcare services to people who would otherwise have little or no access to safe medical care. For more than 40 years, Mercy Ships has worked alongside governments and local healthcare professionals to strengthen health systems and create sustainable change.

Since 1978, Mercy Ships has:

• Impacted more than 2.88 million people
• Performed over 122,000 surgical procedures
• Delivered more than 556,000 dental procedures
• Trained over 55,000 healthcare professionals
• Worked in more than 55 countries around the world

Our mission is simple yet profound:

Following the 2,000-year-old model of Jesus, we bring hope and healing to the world's forgotten poor.

The Opportunity

As Major Donor Manager, you will play a key role in developing and growing Mercy Ships UK's major donor programme. Working closely with the Director of Philanthropy and Partnerships, you will build relationships with individuals capable of making five-figure gifts and develop tailored stewardship journeys that inspire long-term philanthropic support.

This is a highly relational fundraising role, ideal for someone who enjoys connecting with people, understanding their motivations and creating opportunities for transformational giving.

Key Responsibilities

You will:

• Develop and manage a pipeline of approximately 100 major donor prospects.
• Identify, research and cultivate new major donor opportunities.
• Build strong relationships with current and prospective supporters.
• Secure and steward five-figure gifts in support of Mercy Ships' programmes.
• Create personalised donor engagement and cultivation plans.
• Prepare compelling proposals, reports and impact updates.
• Represent Mercy Ships at donor meetings, events and networking opportunities.
• Collaborate with colleagues across philanthropy, marketing and communications.
• Use CRM data and insight to manage donor relationships and track progress.
• Support the delivery of ambitious fundraising and income targets.

About You

We're looking for a skilled relationship fundraiser who can demonstrate:

Essential Experience

• Proven experience securing and managing major gifts or high-value relationships.
• Experience securing four or five-figure gifts from individual donors.
• A track record of achieving income targets through relationship-based fundraising.
• Experience identifying and cultivating high-net-worth individuals.
• Experience building relationships with senior stakeholders or philanthropists.
• Strong experience using CRM systems to manage supporter engagement.

Essential Skills

• Outstanding relationship-building and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent written communication skills, including proposal writing.
• Strong presentation and influencing abilities.
• Excellent networking skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and relationships effectively.
• High attention to detail and strong organisational skills.

Personal Qualities

You will be:

• A committed Christian who supports the mission, vision and values of Mercy Ships.
• Passionate about seeing lives transformed.
• Self-motivated, proactive and results-focused.
• Professional, credible and confident when engaging external stakeholders.
• Collaborative, positive and adaptable.

Why Join Mercy Ships?

This is a rare opportunity to join a growing philanthropy team at a pivotal moment in our development. You'll have the chance to build meaningful relationships, secure transformational gifts and directly contribute to life-changing healthcare programmes across Africa.

Benefits Include:

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Additional annual leave for length of service (up to 30 days)
• Up to 7% employer pension contribution
• £1,000 annual learning and development budget
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Free onsite parking
• Travel and training loan schemes
• Hybrid and flexible working arrangements

Additional Information

This role will involve regular travel for donor meetings and occasional evening and weekend events. There may also be opportunities for international travel.

Due to the nature of the role and the need to represent Mercy Ships authentically within Christian supporter communities and networks, there is an occupational requirement for the successful candidate to be a practising Christian.

Apply Now

If you are an experienced relationship fundraiser who is passionate about building meaningful donor partnerships and helping transform lives through healthcare, we'd love to hear from you.

Please submit your CV and a covering letter outlining your suitability for the role and your motivation for joining Mercy Ships UK.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a suitable candidate is identified.

Hope. Healing. Transforming Lives.

Location: London, UK (hybrid working – from Albert House, Old Street)

Team: Resource Mobilisation

Contract: Permanent 

Salary range:  £37,590 - £39,402 per annum

Closing date: 10 July 2026 (midnight UK time)

ABOUT THE ROLE

Start Network has an exciting opportunity for a Partnerships Engagement Officer to join our growing Resource Mobilisation team. The role supports donor engagement and income growth, working with trusts, foundations and corporate funders to build strong, long term relationships through high quality stewardship, communications and engagement.

You will support the management of existing and new donor relationships, contribute to proposals and reporting, research and cultivate new funding opportunities, and work closely with colleagues across the organisation to deliver clear and compelling donor communications. The role also leads on the coordination of Start Network’s annual donor visit, taking the full range of our donors to a priority Start Network country of operation to see our work in action.

WHAT IS START NETWORK?

Our purpose is to be a catalyst for system-level change that improves the efficiency, effectiveness and ethics of humanitarian action. We do this by working as a network to develop, test & spread new ways of collaborating and resourcing locally-led crisis response and anticipation.

Our current membership is made up of nearly 100 local, national and international NGOs based all around the world. We also support 10 national and regional hubs made up of civil society organisations and NGOs as our vehicle for devolving power, resources and accountability.

OUR VALUES

WE PUT PEOPLE FIRST: Communities come first in our decision-making and programming.

WE ARE BRAVE: We have great ambition and are willing to explore new things and take risks to achieve it

WE OPERATE COLLECTIVELY: We leverage the value of working as a network, sharing risk and resources, and learning together.

WE ARE INCLUSIVE: We see the value in diverse perspectives and work to remove the barriers that prevent voices from being heard.

WE ARE OPEN: We work transparently and with integrity, building mutual trust in all levels of our work, from governance to programming.

WE ARE ETHICAL: We behave and operate based on key principles of anti-racism, non-discrimination, and anti-colonialism. This is a work in progress.

OUR OFFER TO YOU

• Being a part of a network involved in bringing change to the humanitarian sector.
• Hybrid working with options to work from home and remotely to support your work/life balance
• Employee Assistance Programme through Smart Health (depends on the country based)
• Family friendly policies, e.g., flexible working, maternity policy, parental leave and more!
• 25 days’ holiday (if UK based) plus 2 company days over the End of Year period for all staff (depends on the country based)

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

Our roles are open to discussion about flexible working. For part-time working and job-shares, please get in touch with us before putting in an application.

Start Network is committed to protecting people, particularly children, at-risk adults and affected populations from any harm. We are also committed to safeguarding staff from any forms of bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and abuse of power as outlined in the Dignity at Work policy. Start Network embraces diversity, promotes equality of opportunity and eliminates unlawful discrimination. We are an equal opportunities employer and treat every application on merit alone. We particularly encourage applications from disabled, BAME, LGBTQ+ and non-binary candidates. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet our essential selection criteria set out in the Person Profile.

APPLICATION

Please contact the People and Culture Team if you have any questions or need support with your application. Please email us.

We use Be Applied, our online recruitment platform which uses anonymised applications and predictive, skill-based assessments which are blind- reviewed to reduce bias.

Closing date: 1st February 2026

Date for 1st Interview: 15th /16th July  (Subject to change)

Date for 2nd Interview: 20th July (Subject to change)

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications and we may review candidates on an ongoing basis, so please apply early where possible to avoid disappointment.

Any offer of employment will be conditional subject to relevant checks. Please refer to our privacy candidate privacy notice regarding treatment of your data. Start Network also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. The core of the scheme is that participating organisations share information about safeguarding-related misconduct (i.e., sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment) that a candidate has been found to have committed during employment, or incidents under investigation when the candidate left employment. For more information regarding this scheme, please visit their website.

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