Senior Philanthropy Manager

About us

Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement (P&A) raises philanthropic funds in support of King’s College London and engages with the university’s worldwide alumni community. We are proud to enable the work of colleagues across the university and its health partners, helping them serve society through world-leading education, research and healthcare. Our activity includes a partnership with the Maudsley Charity in support of children’s mental health and initiatives between the university’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and the South London & Maudsley NHS Trust. 

We are entering an exciting period as a team. Our work is identified as a key enabler of the new King’s Strategy 2030, with associated ambitions that include preparing for our next major philanthropic and engagement campaign. This will accelerate and energise our work in support of the University’s mission to be ‘in service to society through academic excellence’ – be that through exceptional, impact-led research; ensuring our students are supported to thrive during their time at King’s and beyond; or by helping the university to invest over the long-term into its people, ideas and infrastructure. We plan to deepen and scale engagement with our global alumni community, donors and other supporters, mobilising them behind these shared priorities. We are strongly values-driven with a focus on sustaining a strong and supportive culture, which we see as key to creating a successful team that can realise these ambitions.

More on King’s College London 

For almost 200 years, King’s has been a place where ideas turn into action. From revealing the structure of DNA to reimagining nursing, from advances in medicine, law and the study of war and peace to shaping culture and public debate, our work has always been guided by a belief that knowledge should serve society. Over our history, King’s has been home to 14 Nobel Prize winners, and to scholars whose ideas and leadership have shaped thinking, policy and practice around the world. King’s has always been a place where knowledge is put to work for the benefit of others. King’s College London is a world-renowned university that delivers exceptional education and world-leading research. We're committed to creating positive and sustainable change in our local and global communities through outstanding education, impactful research, and genuine service to society.

King’s Strategy 2030 sets out how we take that purpose forward, with four key priorities including student success in and beyond university, investment in research and education excellence that responds to the changing world, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, and delivering sustainable finances for a secure future.

More information on King’s, its purpose and strategy can be found at our website.

About the role

We are looking for an exceptional individual fundraiser to join the Philanthropy team at King’s College London, leading on fundraising for The Dickson Poon School of Law.

This role will be responsible for managing a portfolio of major gift prospects, securing and stewarding significant philanthropic gifts at the £50k to £5 million gift level, supporting senior stakeholders with their fundraising efforts, and championing the work and priorities of King’s and the Dickson Poon School of Law.

The team will play a crucial role in the delivery of the University’s ambition to significantly scale philanthropic income for faculties, as we prepare to launch our next major fundraising campaign in 2027 and mark the university’s bicentenary in 2029.

We will build on our already successful fundraising to achieve ambitious new goals for philanthropy – creating strong partnerships across campus and with donors, to realise shared priorities and deliver strategic impact.

The successful candidate will work collaboratively with academic and professional service colleagues across King’s to secure significant philanthropic income to support student outcomes and drive world-leading teaching and research.

We are strongly values-driven with a focus on sustaining an excellent and supportive culture, which we see as key to creating a successful team that can support the university and its partners in making a real and positive difference to the world we live in.

The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London is one of the oldest law schools in England. The School’s research and teaching address some of the most pressing questions of our time relating to equality and human rights, the legal implications of climate change, globalisation, international relations, trade, competition and global finance, to name but a few. Members of The Dickson Poon School of Law advise governments, serve on commissions and public bodies and are seconded to national and international organisations, helping to shape policy and practice nationally and internationally.

This is a full time (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract. P&A has a hybrid working approach, with a minimum of 40% of time in the office. Typically, this equates to two days per week, but we’re very happy for colleagues to be in more frequently if they so wish.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1.      A proven track-record of cultivating, securing, and stewarding five- and ideally six-figure gifts

2.      Experience of qualifying and cultivating new philanthropic relationships.

3.      Ability to develop and maintain key relationships with senior internal stakeholders.

4.      Proven interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal).

5.      Ability to plan strategically and implement those plans.

6.      The ability to negotiate throughout a large, complex environment with multi-dimensional points of view.

7.      Ability to manage multiple projects, identifying conflicting demands and establishing clear priorities in order to meet agreed objectives and income.

8.      An understanding of the philanthropic landscape and what would motivate a prospect to give to King’s.

9.      Desirable criteria

10.  Major gifts fundraising experience in law

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

At King’s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King’s guidance.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.

We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

In P&A we want to build a diverse team, which represents the communities served by the organisations we support. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented.

We are open to discussing flexible working arrangements, including part-time, compressed hours and/or job shares, as appropriate and in the context of the business needs associated with the role. 

We offer the opportunity of an “Ask Us Anything” Teams call on Tuesday 30th June 4-5pm. During this call you will be able to ask any questions you might have about the role, the selection process, our department, our core values and work culture, our current hybrid work policy, or simply listen to others’ questions.

Closing date: 12 July 2026.

This roles with have two interview stages, a standard skills-based interview followed (for up to two appointable candidates) by a Core Values interview. 

First stage interviews are due to be held on the 20th of July.

Core Values interviews are due to be held on the 23rd of July.