Programme development and funding support officer jobs in Leicester

Corporate Partnerships (Fundraising) Senior Lead 

Salary: £47,463 to £51,090 FTE (offer dependent on experience) pro rated at 0.6 FTE, plus £312 p.a working from home allowance (see below for more details on remuneration)

Contract: Part-time (0.6 FTE), permanent, remote first/home-based. 

Location: Remote, but with the expectation of flexibility to travel regularly to London and occasionally to other locations in the UK. (Applicants residing outside mainland UK will not be considered.)

About Voice 21 

Oracy is our ability to articulate our ideas, develop understanding, and engage with others through speaking, listening and communication. Like reading, writing and maths, oracy is fundamental for learning and life. Every child should be taught how to use their voice to thrive in education and beyond. Voice 21 is the national charity on a mission to secure high quality oracy education for every child. We know that teaching oracy skills improves children’s confidence, wellbeing, engagement and attainment. We support teachers and school leaders to weave oracy into everyday teaching and whole-school culture, to transform learning and outcomes for their pupils. We focus where we can make the most difference, in state schools that serve economically disadvantaged pupils. We also work to influence national policy and champion oracy across the education system. Follow the links to find out more about why oracy is so vital and the impact Voice 21 has. 

About this role 

Voice 21 is a rapidly growing national charity with a bold new strategy to 2030 and ambitious plans to double its fundraised income over the strategic period. We see significant potential for the corporate sector to engage with our work and support our mission to transform education and outcomes for young people. We are looking for an experienced corporate fundraising specialist to drive growth of our burgeoning Corporate Partnerships programme, unlock exciting new opportunities for support, and lead on developing new voluntary income from corporate partnerships. 

In this role, you will champion creative, insight-driven new business development and account management, ensuring partnerships are meaningful, mutually beneficial, and aligned with our mission. The role will encompass research and qualification, engagement of potential corporate partners, developing propositions and proposals, pitching and securing new partners, and relationship building and stewardship. This opportunity will suit someone proactive and self-motivated, with demonstrable experience of developing new corporate partnerships income from scratch, who is comfortable working independently, skilled in building relationships at all levels, and driven by Voice 21’s mission.

Main responsibilities 

• Working collaboratively across the organisation to build trusted relationships internally, maximise opportunities, and ensure corporate partnerships support our strategic objectives.

• Identifying and delivering opportunities to develop new partnerships, securing and onboarding new corporate partners through targeted engagement.

• Building and maintaining sustainable relationships with corporate contacts, ensuring excellent engagement and stewardship.

• Building and managing a robust pipeline of prospective partners, ensuring a strategic and targeted approach to new business.

• Collaborating across teams to shape and deliver high-value, mutually beneficial partnership proposals that align with organisational priorities. 

• Providing strategic support to the Head of Fundraising and Senior Leadership Team, ensuring where appropriate that senior colleagues are fully briefed and prepared.

• Contributing your sector knowledge, expertise and specialist insights to inform strategy and innovation and assist decision-making.

Your progression 

 Within 1 month, you’ll:

• Learn about the organisation, our mission, impact and case for support; understand our supporters, our fundraising strategy and activities; connect with colleagues and start to build key relationships. 

Within 3 months, you’ll:

• Review corporate partnerships strategy; build targeted list of new corporate prospects; develop partnerships propositions with colleagues. 

 Within 6 months, you’ll:

• own and start to execute corporate partnership strategy; drive pipeline development and prospect engagement; set longer term objectives and KPIs for the programme. 

Person specification 

• Demonstrable experience of setting up a corporate fundraising programme, with a track record of securing five-figure+ relationships and raising income to target.

• Knowledge and/or experience of a wide range of corporate income streams, from strategic partnerships and sponsorships, to cause-related marketing, employee engagement, gifts in kind, etc.

• Strong commercial awareness, with ability to identify and prioritise high-value opportunities. 

• Proactivity and assertiveness, with the ability to recognise and act on new opportunities, along with the tenacity to secure meetings. 

• Experience of building a portfolio of corporate sector prospects and managing a pipeline of opportunities. Ideally with experience of using Salesforce (or another CRM system) to manage pipelines, track performance, and report on outcomes.

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build and maintain relationships at all levels, negotiating and influencing to achieve successful outcomes. 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with confident and engaging presentation abilities.

• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities effectively.

• Knowledge of fundraising legislation, ethics, compliance, and data protection requirements.

• Self-motivated, comfortable working autonomously, and able to take ownership of own performance. Comfortable in a fast-paced, iterative culture.

Who you’ll work with: Your line manager will be the Head of Fundraising. There is also a full-time Fundraising Officer in the team who will provide some support for this role. The postholder should expect to work regularly with the CEO and wider leadership team. Fundraising sits within Voice 21’s Operations Directorate.

Where you’ll work: All Voice 21 staff work remotely and this is a home-based role, with some travel expected to our London office (near Victoria station) and elsewhere for meetings. Occasional overnight stays may be required. Voice 21 pays all travel and accommodation expenses.

Why work for Voice 21?

Tackle a vital challenge, with great people. Voice 21 exists to transform children's learning and life chances through talk and we are aiming to be working with 2000 schools a year by 2025. To reach this goal we recruit great people and give them real responsibility, training and support. 

Output focused culture, with flexible working opportunities. We have an agile and flexible approach; our team can work when and wherever works best to deliver the requirements of their role. For staff working at home, we support them to create a workspace and provide technology that enables them to work effectively. 

Real development opportunities. We believe in supporting people to develop the skills they need to be excellent - whether this means funding external training, finding a mentor to support them or giving them the time to learn from others in the organisations through our regular CPD sessions. We also offer paid study leave for team members taking part in formal studies outside of work.

Great benefits. 36 days holiday (inclusive of bank holidays and a 3 day Christmas closure period). Holiday entitlement increases linked to length of service, 5% employer contribution to pension, interest-free season ticket, cycle and technology loans, employee assistance scheme. 

Remuneration. Our pay is a band and spine point approach, whereby up to 7 years (depending on starting point) annual pay progression is automatically available.

How to apply

Please submit your C.V. clearly summarising your work experience and achievements, along with a written statement (max. length 1,000 words / 2 sides of A4) that addresses these three questions: 

1. Please tell us about the highest value corporate partnership you have personally secured and which you developed from start to finish:

• How did you go about identifying the prospect and opportunity?

• How did you go about developing the relationship before you secured the partnership?

• What were the features of the partnership and what was the value for the charity and the company?

• What was your role in developing the pitch and how did you go about landing the deal?

• What was the outcome and/or impact of securing this partnership?

1. Reflecting on the example you have shared, what did you learn from this experience? And how does that learning show up in your approach to corporate partnerships fundraising? 

1. What interests you about Voice 21, and about undertaking this role specifically? What do you anticipate will be the challenges and opportunities in this role? 

Closing date:  9am Monday 24th August. (We reserve the right to close applications before the stated closing date if a sufficient number of suitable applications is received.)

Interview dates: 1st stage virtual interviews (via Zoom) expected to be held on Thursday 27th August. Candidates progressing to 2nd stage will be invited to interview in person at our central London office, expected to be on Wednesday 2nd September.

Valuing every voice

Voice 21 believes that every voice should be heard and valued. We are committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and do not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership. 

Voice 21 is a diverse and inclusive workplace and we strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join us. By offering a salary range, we demonstrate our commitment to considering a wide range of applicants who may bring different perspectives and levels of experience.