Trusts and Foundations Officer

About Orbis UK

Orbis UK is an affiliate of Orbis International, an eye care charity that transforms lives through the prevention and treatment of avoidable blindness and visual impairment.

Over 1.1 billion people live with vision loss in the world today. Yet for a staggering 90% of these people, visual impairment is treatable or could have been prevented.

At Orbis we work to change this injustice by providing treatment to thousands of people each year, training new generations of eye health-workers, and leading cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs that restore sight. Our vision is a world where communities strive together in the fight to save sight, and no-one is needlessly blind.

Orbis UK (Orbis Charitable Trust) is a registered charity in the UK and raises income from funders across the UK, Europe and the Middle East, towards our global commitment to eliminate avoidable blindness. In 2024, the UK team raised £5.1m.  These funds supported 18 projects across 8 countries. With these funds we delivered 9,908 training sessions for health workers, enabled 469,287 eye screenings, 37,378 treatments and delivered 2.5m doses of antibiotics to tackle trachoma.

Our ambition is to grow our income to £10 million per year within the next five years.

Overall purpose of the role

The Trusts and Foundations Officer role will be responsible for securing five-figure funding from Trusts and Foundations and management of existing donor relationships to ensure effective stewardship. The role will also manage small Trust mailings and provide wider support to the team by maintaining funder records in Raisers Edge, developing case for support and supporting internal reporting on Trust fundraising activity.  

We’re looking for an experienced Trust Fundraiser who can drive forward our income growth from both our existing and new supporters with skills in researching Trusts, writing compelling funding proposals and reports and in particular growing the medium Trust fundraising programme.

There are four key areas of responsibility for the role:

i) Identifying and researching Trusts that have the ability to give at the five-figure level, maintaining a pipeline of planned applications.

ii) Preparing high quality, written applications and reports to funders.   

iii) Reviewing and growing a small Trust mailing programme (under 10K)

iv) Provision of support to the team in Raisers Edge data management and internal reporting.

Full details of the job description are attached below.

Benefits of working for Orbis UK

Before completion of probation:

· Competitive Salary benchmarked annually

· Minimum 25 days holiday pro-rated increasing with length of service

· Life Assurance Policy (4 x salary)

· Employee Assistance Programme

· E-learning Courses

· Social Activities

· Flexi-time

· Free Sight Test

After completion of probation:

· Matched employer pension contribution up to a maximum of 10% of basic salary

· Interest free season ticket loan

· Cycle to work scheme

· Contribution to cost of new prescription glasses

· Possibility of an overseas project visit after 3 years’ service

Application and interviews

Closing Date: Friday, 5th December 2025

Interviews: W/C 8th December 2025

Start Date: January/February 2026

All applicants must have the legal right to live and work in the UK.

Orbis UK is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from any suitably qualified persons. We operate an anonymised recruitment procedure so that no job applicant receives less favourable treatment either directly or indirectly, on the grounds of age, gender reassignment, being married or in a civil partnership, being pregnant or on maternity leave, disability, race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. This will ensure all applicants are assessed solely on the strength of their application and not be affected by unconscious bias or confirmation bias

Orbis UK acknowledges and recognises the disadvantages and barriers people from underrepresented and socially diverse groups face in the workforce. Orbis UK is committed to addressing this issue and we strongly encourage those from underrepresented and socially diverse groups (Black and Ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ and candidates with disabilities) to apply.

Safeguarding: Orbis UK is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and applicants must be willing to undergo safeguarding screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and criminal records checks. Orbis UK is also a member of the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (MDS)