Natural history museum jobs

Role Summary

This senior leadership role will oversee the strategic planning, management and reporting of the Natural History Museum’s major fundraising campaign NHM150, the campaign to raise £150m to revitalise our South Kensington home ahead of our 150th anniversary.  The successful candidate will combine exceptional relationship-building skills with proven campaign management expertise to support the Development team’s fundraising objectives.  Reporting to the Director of Development the post-holder will lead a team of development professionals to deliver insightful prospect research, manage systems for donor journeys and lead on excellent donor stewardship for the Development team.  They will also manage the continuous improvement of the Development CRM and ensure that excellent income processing and reporting systems are in place.  A key member of the Development Group’s Senior Leadership Team, the post-holder will work with colleague across the Museum to ensure that the NHM150 Campaign and major funding bids are aligned with the Museum’s wider strategy and operating plan.

Main tasks and responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Planning

• Support the development of campaign strategies aligned with organisational priorities and timelines
• Work with the Director of Development and the heads of fundraising to establish fundraising goals, metrics, and benchmarks for campaign success
• Create detailed campaign plans including case statements, prospect identification, solicitation strategies, and timeline management
• Collaborate with executive leadership and NHM150 Fellows to continue to refine campaign objectives and messaging 

Campaign Execution & Management

• Manage campaign logistics including, communications, materials development, and donor cultivation activities
• Liaise closely with the Head of Special Events to ensure that NHM150 projects and donors are at the heart of NHM hosted events
• Coordinate cross-functional teams including development staff, communications, finance, and external consultants
• Monitor campaign progress against established metrics and adjust strategies as needed
• Ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements and organisational policies

Prospect Research and Stewardship

• Lead the prospect research function responsible for identifying major gift and partnerships prospects including individuals, foundations, corporations, and government entities
• Develop and lead prospect tracking and management systems ensuring excellent cultivation and solicitation plans are in place across the Development function
• With the support of the Director of Development’s Executive Assistant coordinate volunteer engagement and peer-to-peer fundraising activities
• Lead the stewardship function, ensuring that Development wide policies are developed and implemented and that these are coordinated with colleagues across the Museum, and that donors are recognised and stewarded to the highest standards.

Development Operations

• Ensure the accurate and timely processing off all Development income, liaising closely with colleagues in Finance to improve and maintain accurate and insightful reporting to improve planning.
• Manage the smooth and effective running of Development Group’s CRM (Raisers Edge) ensuring compliant, accurate and effective systems
• Ensure the Database and Reporting Manager oversees a pipeline of donor data screening, cleaning and segmentation in order to ensure accuracy, consistency and functionality of data, and that clear and accessible training and procedures are in place for and delivered to database users
• Ensure accurate and timely management of the Development Group’s corporate expenditure, including CRM supplier, membership bodies and regulatory costs.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead and mentor a team of development professionals, providing guidance on campaign strategies and donor management
• Recruit, train, and supervise campaign staff and consultants as needed
• Foster a collaborative team environment focused on achieving campaign objectives
• Provide professional development opportunities and performance management for direct reports

What we’re looking for

Essential

• Experience of working strategically and contributing to the development and implementation of organisational strategy and business planning within a not-for-profit/fundraising environment
• Experience of analysing, interpreting and communicating complex management information to senior stakeholders, including developing and monitoring effective KPIs
• Experience of developing and managing fundraising plans and income and expenditure budgets
• Experience of financial processes relating to fundraising, such as Gift Aid, target setting and monitoring
• Experience of delivering excellent stewardship to diverse donor constituencies
• Experience of working with fundraising databases such as Raiser’s Edge and Microsoft Dynamics
• Experience of leading multi-functional and high achieving teams to deliver excellent results, including motivating and coaching staff and dealing effectively with any performance issues
• Educated to degree level or equivalent

Desirable

• Experience working with diverse donor constituencies including individual major donors, foundations, and corporate partners
• Experience of working with international fundraising communities and mechanisms
• Experience of contributing to and implementing corporate governance policies and procedures, including risk management and information and records management
• Experience of managing supplier relationships effectively
• Experience working collaboratively with board members, volunteers, and senior leadership

Skills and abilities

• Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills, persuasion and influencing skills and the ability to build good relations both internally and externally
• Strong project management capabilities with experience managing complex, multi-year initiatives
• Proven ability to develop compelling cases for support and fundraising materials
• Experience with fundraising database management and prospect research tools
• Strategic thinking and analytical skills with ability to interpret data and adjust strategies accordingly
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills for diverse audiences
• High level of computer literacy, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Demonstrated ability to lead and motivate teams toward ambitious goals
• Strong organizational and time management skills with ability to manage multiple priorities
• Resilience and persistence in pursuit of fundraising objectives

Key information

Salary: £55,000 per annum, grade 3

Hours: Full time, 36 per week

Contract: Permanent

This role operates on a hybrid model, and it requires at least 2 days of working on-site at South Kensington.

All positions at the Natural History Museum are conditional subject to
receipt of:

• Proof that you are legally entitled to work in the UK
• A Basic Disclosure Check from the Disclosures and Barring Service (DBS) 
• Satisfactory references covering the last 3 years of your employment or education 
• Health clearance 

The Museum supports flexible working.

Our benefits

In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a wide range of benefits to help you thrive both personally and professionally.

Wellbeing and work-life balance

• Generous annual leave allowance of 27.5 days holiday plus public holidays
• Enhanced sickness pay to support you through periods of illness
• Wellbeing provision including Mental Health First Aider support and regular learning sessions on wellbeing topics
• Flexible working and hybrid working arrangements where the role allows
• A 24/7 employee assistance programme including face to face counselling sessions
• Occupational health advice and support
• Eye care vouchers for display screen users
• Supportive policies to help you manage life events, for example becoming a carer, menopause, transitioning at work

Financial

• Generous defined contribution pension scheme with employer contribution up to 10% of salary
• Life insurance that will pay 4 times your salary to a beneficiary in the event of your death in service
• Season ticket and cycle loans to help you spread the cost of cycling to work
• Rental deposit loan scheme – to help you spread the cost of a deposit on a rental property
• 20% discount in our NHM shops both online and in store
• Discounts in our on site restaurants and coffee shops, and use of our staff canteen at South Kensington
• Discounts at local shops and restaurants within the South Kensington area

Cultural and lifestyle

• Free entry with your NHM staff pass to a wide range of museums and galleries across London and around the UK
• Every staff member is entitled to 10 complimentary tickets each year to give to friends and family
• Access to the Civil Service Sports and Social Club for a small monthly fee, offering a range of benefits such as discounted tickets to visitor attractions and gym membership discounts
• Access to the NHM Sports and Social Association for a small fee which provides access to our fitness centre at South Kensington and a range of activities and clubs including football and yoga

Family friendly

• Enhanced pay for maternity, paternity and adoption leave
• Flexible working and hybrid working arrangements where the role allows
• Supportive policies to help you manage fertility treatment
• Paid special leave to help you manage unexpected life events or to make caring arrangements

How to apply

To apply, please complete an online application through our recruitment portal.

The closing date for applications is 29 July 2025.

First stage assessment for this role is likely to take place in week commencing 04 July 2025.

How we hire

We want everyone to be able to perform at their best throughout our hiring process. We’ve put together some information about how we hire as well as tips for completing your application and taking part in our assessment process. You can find this information on our careers site here.

Reasonable adjustments

We welcome applications from disabled candidates, and are committed to adapting our recruitment processes to make sure all candidates can perform at their best. If you require adjustments to our application process or require materials in a different format, contact us.

If you need adjustments to the assessment stage of our hiring process, indicate this on your application form and we’ll contact you before the assessment to put these in place.

We’re part of the Disability Confident Scheme and guarantee an interview to all disabled candidates who meet the minimum shortlisting criteria for the role.