Director of Income Generation & Business Development
Salary - £55,000 - £60,000 dependent on experience
Location: Leeds (hybrid working)
For over 50 years, Leeds Women’s Aid has been a lifeline for women and children experiencing domestic violence and abuse. The organisation has grown significantly, from a c.£600–700k income charity 10 years ago, to one now approaching £5m annual income. With this growth comes bold, renewed ambition to diversify income, strengthen influence and ensure LWA’s voice, values and impact are communicated with clarity and confidence to reach those who need them most.
It’s an exciting time in LWA’s development. With a growing footprint, deeper community roots, expanding services and renewed ambition to influence systemic change for women. This newly established Director of Income Generation & Business Development role is designed to bring together income generation, marketing and communications, and retail under one strategic umbrella to shape the next chapter of LWA’s development and impact.
As Director of Income Generation & Business Development you will set the strategic direction for all income related activity across the charity, ensuring LWA develops a sustainable, diversified income portfolio that is aligned with the charity’s purpose and values. This is an opportunity to shape a sustainable future for LWA – ensuring it can continue to grow its impact and that its work remains rooted in the voices and experiences of women and children.
You’ll play a key role in the Senior Leadership Team, contributing to collective leadership, organisational governance and the long-term resilience and strategic direction of the charity.
As Director of Income Generation & Business Development you will:
- Strategically lead a multi-year income generation and business development strategy, setting key objectives and enabling diversification that aligns with LWA’s values and new organisational strategy.
- Provide strategic leadership for marketing and communications, ensuring organisational-wide narrative building that reflects the values and impact of LWA, while championing the voices of women and children.
- Ensure strategic leadership for LWA’s retail function, developing growth strategies that balance community impact alongside financial performance.
- Develop compelling, adaptable cases for support that reflect LWA’s impact and ambitions, ethically and meaningfully embedding survivors’ voices.
- Strengthen organisational resilience through income diversification beyond statutory funding, establishing strong communities of support and identifying opportunities for growth.
- Work collaboratively with the Director of Services & Engagement and Director of Strategy, Partnerships & Influence to identify and develop new commissioning and business development opportunities, ensuring viability and strategic alignment.
- Represent LWA with authenticity, integrity and sensitivity to ensure the values of the organisation are upheld and that organisational decision making reflects women-centred principles.
The role would best suit:
- A senior income generation leader, with broad multi-stream experience and a proven track record of strategically driving growth and diversification of fundraised income.
- A strategic leader with the ability to develop a team across income generation, marketing and communications and retail.
- An individual with experience of developing income generation strategies that intersect with organisational strategies and ambitions.
- Someone with the ability to balance income generation with ethical storytelling/responsibility, public accountability and regulatory considerations.
- An individual who demonstrates commitment to LWA’s values and the Nolan Principles: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.
- Someone with demonstrated commitment to, and understanding of, women-led and women-centred support services, including the importance of trauma-informed, inclusive, and empowering practice for women and girls.
Please get in touch as soon as possible to express an initial interest, the deadline for applications (CV and Application Questions) is Tuesday 24th February with first stage interviews scheduled to take place Thursday 5th/Monday 9th of March.
Due to the nature of the services provided and the population supported, this post is subject to an Occupational Requirement under Schedule 9 (Part 1) of the Equality Act 2010, and therefore the postholder must be female. This requirement is applied lawfully and proportionately, reflecting the organisation’s provision of specialist women-centred services and the need to maintain safety, trust, and authenticity in leadership and external representation.
Appointment to this role will be subject to safer recruitment checks, including satisfactory references, right to work verification, and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at the appropriate level.
Thank you!
Working closely with the Fundraising Manager and Head of Philanthropy, you will support a range of fundraising activities, most predominantly researching new avenues for funding within trusts, foundations and corporate partners, completing grant applications, carrying out communications and reporting to existing funders and raising the profile of the charity through representing Action Tutoring at funder or networking events. This is a fantastic opportunity to gain experience in the world of fundraising activities, working with a passionate, committed and driven team.
Closing date: Sunday, 15th February 2026
Interviews: Wednesday, 25th and Thursday 26th February 2026
Start date: Tuesday 7th April 2026
Contract and hours: Full time permanent contract. We offer flexible hours with 9.30-4 as core hours. A full working week is 37.5 hours.
Location: This role is remote. The candidate can be based anywhere in the England. Our London office address is: x+why, 8-10, Fivefields, Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0DH. Occasional travel may be required for this role.
Duties and responsibilities
- Research new opportunities for Action Tutoring to explore for fundraising and carry out initial enquiries to determine suitability to apply to trusts and foundations.
- Prepare and submit grant applications to suitable trusts, foundations and corporates, carrying out careful research to ensure the applications are as strong as possible and include relevant data and case studies.
- Work alongside the Corporate Partnerships Team to encourage corporate support through donations or grants.
- Identify and lead on local fundraising opportunities in Action Tutoring’s nine key regions, for example researching and submitting applications for local grants and to local businesses.
- Research and determine suitability of profile raising opportunities or awards for Action Tutoring to apply to, such as corporate Charity of the Year opportunities, the Third Sector Awards and Charity Awards.
A full list of duties and responsibilities can be found in the job description attached to the BreatheHR advert.
Person specification
Qualifications criteria:
- Previous experience in fundraising, or transferable experience that shows strong writing skills.
- Right to work in the UK.
We are looking for some of the following attributes, though you might be more experienced in some areas than others:
- Outstanding communicator; strong written and verbal communication skills; able to make an exciting and compelling case for support.
- Creative and ambitious.
- Proactive and tenacious personality; willing to seek out and pursue opportunities.
- Highly organised; able to prioritise, multi-task and manage work to deadlines.
- High computer literacy.
- Adaptable and open to learning and feedback.
- Committed to equality, diversity and inclusion.
- Committed to promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children.
You will likely be more successful in this role if you have:
- Prior experience of fundraising work, particularly if it is within trusts and foundations. This could be in a paid role, or on a voluntary basis or as part of work experience.
- Experience of building relationships with stakeholders.
How to apply:
To apply for this position you will need to complete and attach an application form to your application. To do this, please download the attached application form, complete the sections in full and save the new file, and then click the 'apply' button.
You will be able to upload the completed application form on the next page.
Applications without an attached application form will automatically be discounted. We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability and potential; please contact us if you require any assistance or adjustment so that we can help you with making the application process work for you.
Registered Charity
51 - 100
Award-winning national education charity working towards a world in which no child’s life chances are limited by their socio-economic background.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.