People team administrator jobs in West byfleet, surrey

About Degrees

The Degrees Initiative is a UK-based NGO that builds the capacity of the Global South to evaluate solar radiation modification (SRM) geoengineering, a controversial proposal for reducing some impacts of climate change by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth. Degrees is neutral on whether SRM should ever be used, but we believe that the Global South should be empowered to conduct its own research and to play a central role in SRM discussions. The initiative has been working in different forms for fifteen years, and our work receives worldwide coverage and widespread acclaim. 

We seek a Fundraising / Development Manager to manage relationships with our existing funders and to help bring in new donors and partners to diversify our funding base. This position offers a fantastic opportunity for the right candidate to increase the capacity of a field-leading charity, help empower the Global South, and contribute to one of the world’s most important climate-change debates. If you are an ambitious, relationship-driven fundraising leader with an interest in climate policy, science or global development, this is an opportunity to step into a role with purpose, international influence, and real impact.  

The charity is rapidly scaling up, recently doubling its annual budget to £6 million. Degrees has partnered with leading climate change funders and research partners including the Quadrature Climate Foundation, Open Philanthropy, Crankstart, Navigation Fund, Outlier Projects, LAD Climate Fund and UK Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA). Transparency of funding is essential to our work. We do not accept support from anonymous donors or funding from the fossil fuel industry.

Role

We now seek a full-time team member to build on this base. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and working closely with the Founder & CEO and the Chair of the Trustees, the Fundraising / Development Manager will support and coordinate fundraising efforts aimed at securing multi‑year, diversified funding. He / she will also introduce robust processes for pipeline management and donor stewardship, and will support and coordinate the complete donor lifecycle (from identification to cultivation to solicitation and stewardship) of a portfolio of top prospects. The post holder will receive initial onboarding support from the Senior Philanthropy Advisor. As fundraising grows, the team may expand in the future.

Initial priorities include expansion beyond the current donor pool, with a strong push to engage new funders, and putting in place the systems (CRM, reporting cadence, key performance indicators) to support growth at scale.

As this is a new role, responsibilities are expected to evolve but some key items will include: 

Strategy & planning

• Work with the CEO, COO, Senior Philanthropy Advisor, the Chair of the Trustees, and other senior staff to support the development and implementation of a multi-year fundraising strategy aligned with organisational objectives; 

Pipeline development & new opportunities 

• Maintain and coordinate the fundraising pipeline, supporting the fundraising activities of senior staff and the Chair; 

• Support the identification and development of new funding opportunities from trusts and foundations, government funders, and multilateral donors in the development and climate sectors on an ongoing basis; 

• Reach out to networks of climate philanthropy advisors for referrals; 

• Manage contact with funding opportunities; 

Grant writing 

• Draft and coordinate the preparation and submission of grant proposals; 

Donor stewardship & reporting 

• Maintain excellent relations with existing funders by keeping them informed on charity and sector updates, inviting them to events, and ensuring the delivery of annual reports and notices; 

• Ensure and manage ongoing reporting; 

Events & engagement 

• Working with the Events Manager, help design and deliver fundraising events for existing and potential funders, particularly in the UK and US; 

• Manage invitation lists, track attendance and ensure bespoke follow-up to attendees; 

• Assist in the design of events that will inspire and engage funders while involving Southern experts in the Degrees research community; 

• Coordinate all fundraising outreach and related programming for the Degrees Global Forum (a conference to be held in 2027); 

Processes, systems & administration 

• Support the development and implementation of structured processes across the entire fundraising and donor lifecycle; 

• Develop and track KPIs, providing regular reports to senior staff and the Trustees; 

• Be responsible for fundraising data, contacts and administrative records. 

Qualifications 

Essential 

• At least ten years’ experience in fundraising or transferrable relevant experience;

• Track record of helping secure six- and seven-figure grants income from foundations, major individual donors, and/or public agencies; 

• Strong organisational and project management skills; 

• Experience and comfort with Microsoft 365, fundraising CRMs and other common software tools; 

• Experience organising events; 

• Ability to write clearly and communicate effectively in English with a keen attention to detail; 

• Strong interpersonal and relationship building skills, including an ability to work with people of all levels and backgrounds; 

• Experience creating and maintaining fundraising processes; 

• Ability to adapt and remain comfortable in a dynamic, remote start-up environment in a small organisation; 

• Ability to travel internationally; 

• Legal right to work in the UK. 

Desired

• Experience successfully fundraising from climate donors; 

• Experience with a strong network of international funders; 

• Experience building and scaling a fundraising effort; 

• Experience supervising staff (as we expect the team to grow in future); 

• Tech savvy and eager to work with new software solutions; 

• Knowledge of climate science, policy and SRM. 

Benefits of working at Degrees 

• You will join a growing and dynamic charity operating at the intersection of climate change and global development.

• You will have the opportunity to contribute to a potentially high-impact issue by helping shape global conversations on climate science, empowering researchers in the Global South, and collaborating with some of the world’s leading SRM experts.

• The role is fully remote, allowing you to live anywhere within the United Kingdom. The charity has no central office and offers each employee up to £250 per month (including VAT) to cover co-working space costs. The team meets face-to-face at quarterly ‘awaydays’ in the UK, which are organised and paid for by the charity.

• Degrees provides an 8% employer pension contribution with no required employee contribution, which is generous by the standards of the UK third sector.

• The role includes opportunities for international travel.

• You will receive 36 days of annual leave per year, including UK public holidays.

• Personal development budget of £1,000 per year.

Martingale Postgraduate Foundation (Martingale) exists to fund and support the next generation of talented researchers. We believe that family income should not be a barrier to the pursuit of excellence, and our mission is to enable and nurture talented individuals from low-socioeconomic backgrounds to thrive within world-leading postgraduate research.

Martingale’s flagship programme is the Martingale Postgraduate Scholarship, which supports students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds to pursue and excel in postgraduate degrees, by providing:

• A fully-funded Living Wage Scholarship to pursue a one-year Masters degree or a four-year PhD.
• All tuition fees and research expenses, including a tax-free stipend for living costs.
• Tailored support to apply for Martingale courses at our partner universities.
• Access to Martingale programmes, including leadership training and connections with top academic and industry professionals.
• Membership of a pioneering community of talented researchers.

In the three years since Martingale launched, we have supported over 100 Scholars to undertake postgraduate degrees across our ten partner universities and have committed over £7.7m in Scholarships. We are continuing to expand our offer, bringing on new partners each year.

As Operations Manager, you would ensure the smooth running of day-to-day operations and to lead special projects that tackle big organisational questions. Working closely with the Director of Operations, you will support the development and improvement of Martingale’s systems and processes. You will also have the opportunity to lead standalone projects that require structured problem-solving and strong judgement including preparing Martingale for spin out. You will bring clarity and traction across multiple workstreams, working closely with senior colleagues and external partners.

We are looking for a strategic thinker with a proactive approach to their work, who can identify and help resolve issues, and recognise opportunities. You will bring excellent organisational skills, strong attention to detail, a proactive mindset, and a strong alignment with Martingale’s mission. We welcome applicants from a range of career paths who are excited to be part of a growing, fast-paced charity delivering meaningful impact.

Martingale Foundation is incubated by Purposeful Ventures who provide operational and strategic support. The Operations Manager will be employed by Purposeful Ventures.

About Purposeful Ventures

Purposeful Ventures partners with social entrepreneurs and philanthropists to improve the education and well-being of young people from their earliest years.

We define and diagnose the issues affecting children and young people, analyse evidence and explore the most promising solutions. We then select, accelerate and, where we find a gap, incubate organisations which tackle those issues. We offer more than just funding to our charitable organisations. Our expertise, operational experience and networks enable us to deliver tailored, hands-on support with a relentless commitment to system change.

We are working with a wide range of organisations across the following portfolio areas to build and strengthen outstanding organisations that deliver systemic impact.

Key Responsibilities:

Special Projects

A significant and distinctive part of this role involves leading standalone analytical and operational projects that tackle substantive, open-ended questions. These will vary over time and will require intellectual curiosity, the ability to work with ambiguity, and the capacity to produce clear, high-quality outputs such as reports or proposals. Current and anticipated examples include: 

• Designing a model for calculating discounts or adjusted contribution rates for funders committing significant multi-year funding, balancing financial sustainability with funder relationship management.
• Preparing for spin-out: contributing to Martingale’s readiness for independence from Purposeful Ventures by scoping and delivering specific workstreams across governance, operations, finance, legal, and data.
• Leading other ad-hoc analytical or operational projects as they arise, including research into sector practice, policy analysis, or internal process design.

Operational infrastructure and continuous improvement

Liaise with colleagues across the organisation to understand business needs and issues, and develop and implement appropriate solutions to drive efficiency and impact, including: 

• Strengthening systems and processes: leading a structured review of Martingale’s operational infrastructure – including CRM, finance systems, HR processes, and information management – and implementing improvements that will support a larger, more complex organisation.
• Identify and codify operational processes and ways of working and proactively propose improvements where relevant, including ensuring that individual roles and responsibilities are clear.
• Manage cross-functional initiatives that require coordination across our departments.
• Identify and implement tools, technologies, and processes that can improve our ways of working.
• Lead exploratory projects, such as assessing how AI can be integrated into our work to enhance impact and efficiency.
• Provide project management support across different teams to drive key organisational goals.
• Manage the rollout of new processes and tools, supporting colleagues to adopt changes effectively.

Generalist Support and Cross-Functional Contribution

The Operations Manager will be a flexible and collaborative colleague, capable of contributing across different parts of the organisation’s work where needed:

• Provide high-quality analytical and operational support to the Director of Operations and CEO on a range of organisational questions.
• Contribute to the preparation of materials for the Advisory Board, governance bodies, and key external stakeholders, including papers, briefings, and data summaries.
• Support the Programme and External Relations departments on operational aspects of delivery, including events logistics, supplier management, and cross-team coordination.
• Represent the organisation professionally in communications with external stakeholders, including partner universities, suppliers, and service providers.
• Support Director of Operations with financial processes including preparing management accounts, building and refining financial forecasts and for growth, and onwards grants.
• With Director of Operations, liaise with outsourced providers including Purposeful Ventures to ensure effective working relationships and back-office support.

Other

• As duties and responsibilities change, the job description will be reviewed and amended in consultation with the post holder.
• The post holder will carry out any other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the role as requested by the line manager

Key Requirements:

Essential Criteria

• Right to work in the UK

Experience and skills

Essential

• Strong operations and project delivery experience in a fast-paced environment (e.g., charity, start-up, university, public sector, or professional services).
• Demonstrable experience leading projects end-to-end, including creating plans, managing stakeholders, and delivering outcomes.
• Experience leading or making a significant contribution to complex, standalone projects or pieces of analysis, including analysing ambiguous problems and turning them into clear outputs (e.g. reports, presentations) and actionable recommendations.
• Experience improving systems/processes (e.g., designing workflows, implementing tools, documenting processes, driving adoption).
• Experience of contracting, invoicing, and other operational finance processes, as well as procurement and supplier management.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to produce clear documentation for internal and external audiences (experience drafting papers, briefings, or analytical reports is desirable).
• Experience working with CRM systems, project management tools, or other operational platforms, and a track record of improving or implementing systems and processes

Desirable

• Experience working with universities (partnerships, funding arrangements, research administration, or related).
• Experience supporting governance processes (papers, decision logs, approvals) or preparing materials for senior stakeholders.
• Experience working in a start-up, scale-up, or fast-growing charity. 

Personal Characteristics

• Highly organised, proactive, and able to prioritise effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent interpersonal skills: able to build rapport and trusting relationships, able to work co-operatively in a multidisciplinary setting.
• Strong judgement, discretion and professionalism, including ability to handle confidential information appropriately.
• A commitment to Martingale’s mission to support postgraduate students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Comfortable working in a rapidly growing and changing organisation with a degree of ambiguity – confident to create processes and ways forward where they might not yet exist.
• Intellectually curious and analytical – someone who enjoys getting into the detail of a complex question and working out a clear, defensible answer.
• Proactive and self-starting: able to identify what needs doing and take ownership without needing to be directed at every step.
• Resourceful, able to act on initiative, hardworking, detail-oriented, and systematic.