Membership acquisition team leader jobs in Manchester
How's your job search on our site?
Purpose of the Role
The Director of External Affairs and Growth is an SLT role responsible for leveraging the voice and power of the eoa's network to influence and accelerate the growth of the employee owned sector.
The role leads the eoa’s external affairs, policy and insights, marcomms and events, shaping the external environment for employee ownership and securing the funding and commercial income needed to support sustainable sector growth.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead external affairs strategy, building the relationships and influence needed to shape policy, remove barriers and expand EO.
- Build strategic relationships and secure grant funding and commercial partnerships, generating income to support advocacy, events and sector growth initiatives, including the UK EO Growth Strategy.
- Oversee our policy and insights work, engaging key stakeholders to co-produce content that influences EO practice and policy and strengthens the eoa’s voice in public affairs.
- Oversee the delivery of a mar-comms strategy that delivers commercial objectives and positions the eoa as the leading authority on EO.
- Oversee our events programmes, ensuring they drive knowledge-sharing, sector development
- and commercial sustainability.
- Represent the eoa at industry forums, policy roundtables and public affairs events,
- championing the employee ownership model.
- Collaborate with the Director of Membership and Operations to align advocacy and external
- engagement with member needs and priorities.
- Lead and develop high-performing teams, fostering innovation and delivering measurable impact across income generation, advocacy, policy, events and mar-comms activities
Knowledge, Experience, and Attributes
- Proven expertise in external affairs, advocacy, or policy leadership, ideally within a business, trade body, or membership association.
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with experience influencing government, media, and corporate partners.
- Demonstrated ability to drive sectoral or policy change, leading successful advocacy initiatives.
- Strong commercial acumen, with experience in sponsorship acquisition, revenue generation, grant funding and developing financially sustainable initiatives.
- Exceptional strategic communication and storytelling skills, able to engage and mobilise diverse audiences.
- Experience in event programming, ensuring high engagement and sector impact.
- Passion for employee ownership and economic models that promote shared prosperity.
- Innovative, creative, and proactive in problem-solving and strategy execution.
- A confident and transparent leader who fosters collaboration and inclusivity.
- Self-aware with emotional intelligence, resilience, and integrity.
What Constitutes Success in This Role?
Success in this role means having a positive impact on the growth of the employee-owned sector, strengthening the eoa’s influence and increasing the adoption of “great EO”. Stronger stakeholder relationships, greater advocacy impact and improved commercial sustainability through a diverse mix of grant funding, sponsorships and strategic partnerships will also be key indicators of success.
Key outcomes for the role
- Outcome - Growth of the employee ownership sector
- Measure - Increased number of EO businesses, heightened sector awareness
- Outcome - Strengthened corporate engagement
- Measure - Growth in strategic partnerships, corporate and government engagement
- Outcome - Strong Commercial Sustainability
- Measure - Increased sponsorship revenue, secured long-term commercial partnerships
- Outcome -Increased policy influence
- Measure - Policy recommendations adopted, increased government engagement
- Outcome - Enhanced sector insight and intelligence
- Measure - Utilisation of high quality data and insights for regular sector related content outputs
- Outcome - Development and adoption of best practice
- Measure - Creation, adoption and promotion of best practice across the EO network.
- Outcome - Successful events programmes
- Measure - Increased participation, sponsorship growth, positive feedback.
How to Apply
To apply, please submit:
- A two-page CV
- And one of either:
- Cover letter setting out your motivation, approach, and what you will bring to the role
- Video (maximum 10 minutes) setting out your motivation, approach, and what you will bring to the role
Applications should be submitted before 9:00am 17 August 2026. We will close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. If you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
Interviews will be in two stages. The first stage will be a virtual interview via teams on
26 August. For those who successfully move to stage 2 there will be an in-person
discussion w.c. 31 August.
The eoa welcomes applications from people of all backgrounds, particularly those
who are under-represented. We recruit based on values, skills, and contribution to our
purpose.
Non Charity Employer
11 - 20
We exist to grow and strengthen employee ownership as a force for powering fairer livelihoods, stronger businesses, and a more resilient economy.
Thank you!
Company Description
Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end-of-life charity. We are the largest non-NHS provider of end-of-life care in the UK, the only provider across all 4 nations, delivering community nursing and hospice care across the country, while providing information and support on all aspects of dying, death, and bereavement. Our leading research pushes the boundaries of what we know about good end-of-life, and our campaigns fight for a world where everyone gets to have the best possible quality of life while living with an illness, they’re likely to die from.
Job Description
This is an exciting leadership opportunity for an experienced people manager who is passionate about developing high-performing teams and delivering sustainable income growth. Working alongside the Head of Fundraising, who provides regional strategic leadership, you'll take the lead on the day-to-day management, coaching and development of a team of Community Fundraisers, creating an environment where people can thrive, perform at their best and deliver exceptional supporter experiences.
You'll play a key role in translating strategy into action, empowering your team to grow income, deepen supporter engagement and maximise opportunities across communities throughout Scotland. Combining strong people leadership with commercial awareness and relationship-building skills, you'll help drive performance while ensuring supporters, volunteers and partners receive an outstanding experience.
In this role, you'll:
- Lead, coach and develop a team of five Community Fundraisers, providing clear direction, support and motivation to help them achieve their goals.
- Embed a high-performance, collaborative and supporter-focused culture across the team.
- Support the Head of Fundraising in delivering regional fundraising plans and priorities across Scotland.
- Monitor team performance against targets, using data and insight to identify opportunities and address challenges.
- Drive income growth by supporting your team to maximise fundraising opportunities and build strong supporter pipelines.
- Manage budgets, resources and workloads effectively to ensure activity delivers strong return on investment.
- Support the delivery of fundraising campaigns, events and community fundraising activity.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with donors, volunteers, community groups, schools, faith organisations, corporate partners and internal stakeholders.
- Work collaboratively with colleagues across Philanthropy, Partnerships, Legacy and In Memory to maximise fundraising opportunities and supporter engagement.
What we're looking for
- Proven experience leading, coaching and developing teams to achieve ambitious goals.
- A passion for people leadership, with the ability to inspire, motivate and bring out the best in others.
- Experience of driving income growth, sales performance or commercial results through a team.
- Strong performance management skills, with confidence using data, KPIs and insight to inform decisions.
- Excellent relationship-building and stakeholder management skills.
- Experience managing budgets, resources and competing priorities.
- Strong communication and influencing skills.
- A supporter, customer or donor-focused mindset with a commitment to delivering excellent experiences.
This version makes it very clear that the Head is the strategic leader, while this role is the operational people leader responsible for leading and developing the team.
Please see full job description here
Application & Interview Process
As part of your online application, you will be asked for a CV. Please review both the advert and job description and outline your most relevant skills, experience and knowledge for the role.
Close date for applications: Sunday 16th August 2026
Salary:£38,007 - £42,230
Contract: Permanent, Full time
Based: Homebased role in Scotland with occasional travel for team meetings.
Benefits you’ll LOVE:
- Flexible working. We’re happy to discuss flexible working at the interview stage.
- 25 days annual leave (exclusive of Bank Holidays)
- Marie Curie Group Personal Pension Scheme (we will match your contribution up to 7.5%)
- Loan schemes for bikes; computers and season tickets
- Continuous professional development opportunities.
- Industry-leading training programmes
- Wellbeing and Employee Assistance Programmes
- Enhanced bereavement, family friendly and sickness benefits
- Access to Blue Light Card membership
- Subsidised Eye Care
Additional Information
At Marie Curie, our values are central to everything we do. They guide how we care for people, how we work together, and how we make decisions every day. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe for everyone — staff and volunteers alike — supportive, inclusive and rewarding. We take stringent steps to ensure that anyone who joins our organisation are suitable for their roles and are committed to safeguarding all our people from harm. We actively consider our impact on the planet, embedding sustainability into everyday decisions to create a lasting, positive difference for the individuals we care for and the world we share.
We believe everyone should have the opportunity to thrive and fulfil their potential. Marie Curie is deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, recognising both the social justice imperative and the strength a diverse workforce brings. We actively encourage applications from people of all cultures, perspectives and lived experiences.
We are happy to make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process. If you require any support, please contact us
Every application we receive is personally reviewed by a member of our Talent Acquisition team, and in return, we ask that your application authentically reflects you — your experience, perspective and voice.
Registered Charity
101 - 500
Marie Curie provides a better end of life for more people, whatever the illness.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.