Head of Trusts and Foundations

Who we are

Nature is in crisis. People are destroying and consuming the natural world at a devastating rate, threatening the ecosystems on which all life depends. Birds are our early warning system, revealing the health of our planet and helping us understand the urgent action needed to protect it.

BirdLife International is the world’s largest partnership for nature conservation, bringing together 125 national organisations across six continents to protect birds, biodiversity and the natural systems that sustain life. Through our unique local-to-global approach, we work at the intersection of science, policy and community action to tackle the global nature and climate crises.

Using world-leading bird science, we collect and analyse data from across continents, landscapes and seascapes to identify the most effective and innovative conservation solutions. Our work conserves species, safeguards critical habitats and empowers communities to create lasting change for nature and people.

At the heart of BirdLife is a powerful global movement. More than two million birders, scientists and local volunteers help track, study and protect birdlife around the world, generating the knowledge and action needed to drive conservation impact at scale. Together, we are giving nature a voice and building a future in which birds, wildlife and people can thrive.

BirdLife International’s Development Team is in an exciting new phase of recruitment and growth and will be hiring for a number of roles to support growth and sustainability across the organisation – including this newly created role.

About the role

Reporting to the Chief Development Officer and working closely with colleagues globally, the Head of Trusts and Foundations will lead the organisation’s largest income-generation area. Much of this support comes through relationship-led, long-term, multi-year partnerships that underpin the organisation’s global conservation work. Seeking to grow, develop and diversify this area, the Head of Trusts and Foundations will play both an operational and strategic role – personally winning and managing larger accounts, as well as developing the team and the strategy. The successful candidate will inherit a committed and experienced international team, a strong portfolio of existing funders and an organisation with a globally respected conservation mission. They will also play a critical role in shaping the next phase of growth and helping BirdLife expand its reach among major funders globally.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive trusts & foundations strategy to grow restricted and lightly restricted multi-year income globally.
• Lead, coach and develop the 3-person Trusts & Foundations team.
• Represent Trusts & Foundations on the Development Management Team to steward the Development programme at BirdLife and collectively lead transformational change, especially the shared delivery of the Development strategy.
• Represent Trusts & Foundations on the Principal Gifts Working Group to progress transformational trust and foundation opportunities alongside principal gifts.
• Identify opportunities to grow BirdLife’s global trusts and foundations donor base.
• Personally develop and manage BirdLife’s largest and most complex trust and foundation relationships and lead cultivation of transformational trust and foundation prospects.
• Set and monitor trusts & foundations income targets and performance goals; track progress, pipeline health and compliance status and provide regular reports to leadership on revenue generation, taking corrective action as needed.
• Manage the Trusts & Foundations team budget, recruitment and resource allocation.

Who we are looking for

This role would suit a seasoned trusts and foundations leader, ideally with experience in the conservation and/or international NGO space. We are looking for someone who enjoys being a player-coach, both hands-on and strategic, with experience securing and managing transformative (6- and 7-figure) grants – and coaching others to do the same.

• Experience personally raising six- and seven-figure grants from trusts and foundation donors and managing ongoing relationships with them.
• Experience of successfully developing and delivering a trusts & foundations fundraising strategy.
• Experience working in an international, complex, not-for-profit environment.
• Experience managing a small trusts & foundations team, including budgetary responsibility.
• Expert knowledge of current and evolving trusts & foundations fundraising practice.
• Good understanding of climate, biodiversity, civil society and nature conservation issues, or willingness to learn.
• Solid knowledge of restricted funding compliance, reporting and grant management.

Location: Remote, UK, with travel to the David Attenborough Building in Cambridge
Closing date: 9 a.m. Monday 5th October