Barnardo's is seeking an experienced and collaborative leader to join our Fundraising & Marketing Directorate as Interim Head of Individual Giving. This is a pivotal senior management role, responsible for leading a team delivering a supporter and data focused fundraising programme, inspiring the public to donate, do more and build loyalty through authentic and compelling communications aligned to Barnardo's strategy. It is a critical income stream—raising over £13 million annually.
About the Role
As Head of Individual Giving, you will lead a high-performing team of fundraising specialists across regular giving, cash, raffle, lottery, and legacy marketing. You will support in the development of the long term growth plan, work in inter disciplinary teams on campaign development and delivery supporting your team in this new way of working and be responsible for executing the plan so that it drives growth in acquisition, retention, and lifetime value of supporters.
You will play a key role in the Fundraising & Marketing Leadership Team, contributing to the development of the charity's overarching fundraising & marketing strategic plan and embedding a culture that strives for excellence, focuses on continual improvement, and delivers in collaboration with others.
This is a role for a experience professional who can translate insight into action, lead complex programmes with agility, and inspire teams to deliver outstanding results.
Key Responsibilities
- Strategic Leadership: Support the development of a Fundraising & Marketing growth plan and deliver a multi-year Individual Giving programme that supports sustainable income growth and deepens supporter engagement.
- Programme Oversight: Lead the planning, delivery, and optimisation of multi-channel fundraising campaigns, ensuring they are data-driven, audience-centric, and aligned with Barnardo's brand values.
- Financial Stewardship: Manage a multi-million-pound income and expenditure budget, with responsibility for forecasting, contingency planning, and risk mitigation.
- Cross-Organisational Collaboration: Work closely with colleagues across Digital, Brand & Marketing, Supporter Care, Services and Compliance, Supporter Data & Insight, Communications and Children's Services to deliver integrated campaigns and a seamless supporter experience.
- Insight led continual improvement: Embed a culture of test-and-learn, using market intelligence, segmentation, and performance data to inform strategic decisions and drive continuous improvement.
- Leadership & People Development: Lead and develop a large team of direct and indirect reports, fostering a high-performance culture and supporting professional growth.
About You
You are a senior fundraising professional with:
- A proven track record in strategic planning and delivery within a large, complex organisation.
- Extensive experience in direct marketing and individual giving, with demonstrable success in income growth and supporter engagement.
- Strong financial acumen and experience managing substantial budgets.
- Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
- A collaborative mindset and the ability to influence at all levels.
- A commitment to Barnardo's values and a passion for making a difference in the lives of children and young people.
Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.
Pay & Reward Framework
We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.
For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.
Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Battersea is entering an exciting phase of innovation and transformation as we embark on the first year of our new five-year strategy. With increased investment in income generation starting in 2025, we are expanding our team to drive the growth necessary to achieve our organisational goals. Our fundraising team bridges the journey of the animals in our care with the wider public, demonstrating how their contributions enable us to support every dog and cat. We now have several new roles within this team to further our mission.
This new role will oversee the development and delivery of engaging supporter journeys across a range of channels for Battersea’s Challenge and Public events, as well as our Supporter-Led Fundraising audiences. It will play a pivotal role in maximising event and supporter-led fundraising income, ensuring every supporter has a positive experience and feels inspired to continue supporting Battersea.
What we can offer you:
In return for your commitment to our cause and to recognise the value of our employees, Battersea offers a range of benefits to support the wellbeing of our employees. These include:
- 28 days of annual leave (plus 8 days paid public holidays) per year.
- Discounted gym memberships and cycle to work schemes.
- Employee Assistance Programme and access to Wellbeing Resources.
- Generous pension contributions - up to 10% employer contribution.
- Free healthcare cash plan, where you can claim for a range of treatment including dental, optical, physiotherapy, chiropody and acupuncture every year.
- Annual interest-free season ticket loans.
We are also committed to providing learning and development to our employees. During your time with us, we provide support for your professional and career development, including access to digital and in-person training programmes, leadership and management training, mentoring and much more.
Our hybrid working model:
We operate a 50% onsite hybrid working model, with our office-based staff splitting their time between site based and home working. This enables our office-based staff to balance the benefits of home working with onsite collaboration and maintaining a connection to our cause.
Diversity and inclusion:
We are committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive experience for all staff, volunteers and trustees and those hoping to join us. We operate an anonymised shortlisting process and actively seek to ensure our process is fair and equitable for all.
We understand the value of diverse voices, perspectives, and experiences to help us deliver even more for our dogs and cats, and we welcome applicants from all sections of the community.
As a Disability Confident Committed Employer we will ask about any adjustments you may need at application and/or interview stage, and if you are offered a role with us, we’ll talk to you about any workplace adjustments you may need to help you perform at your best.
More about us:
At Battersea, we aim to never turn away a dog or cat in need of help. We give each one lots of love, expert care and get to know their characters and quirks so we can find them a new home that’s just right for them. Join us and help us be here for every dog and cat, wherever they are, for as long as they need us.
Acceptable use of AI:
At Battersea, we value expertise. We recognise each candidate that applies to us will have a range of expertise they can offer us, so we want to hear about this in your own words. We understand the support that generative artificial intelligence (AI) software can offer but it can also lead to numerous applications presenting as generic and impersonal. This makes it difficult to gain understanding of your unique experience.
To best showcase yourself, we encourage you to write your responses without the assistance of AI. If you require the use of AI software to aid in completing your application, we ask you use the generative responses as a prompt for writing your answers and avoid copying and pasting. You must also ensure the information presented in your application accurately reflects your experience.
Closing date: 9th November 2025
All applications must be submitted before the closing date advertised. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a high volume of applications is received.
Interview date(s):
First interview: w/c 17th November 2025
Second interview (if required): w/c 24th November 2025
For full details on the role, please download the recruitment pack from our Careers website.
Registered Charity
501 - 1000
Battersea is here for every dog and cat, and has been since 1860. We believe that every dog and cat deserves the best.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.