Director of Development and Alumnae Relations
Cheltenham Ladies’ College
Based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire - with potential for flexible/hybrid working
A highly attractive renumeration package including a salary in the region of £95,000pa
Cheltenham Ladies’ College (CLC) is one of the world’s leading schools, located on a beautiful 36-acre dispersed estate in the historic spa town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. It is one of the largest school communities of boarding and day girls in Europe, with a warm and inclusive pupil body of approximately 820 (aged 11-18), representing over 40 countries worldwide. Founded in 1853 to redefine what girls’ education could be, CLC has been a pioneer in girls' education for nearly 175 years.
We are seeking to appoint an experienced Director of Development and Alumnae Relations to provide strategic direction and inspired leadership for College’s fundraising and alumnae engagement activities. College has recently undertaken an external review of philanthropy, identifying clear opportunities to grow fundraising and engagement outcomes. Reporting directly to the Executive Principal, this is a pivotal leadership role which, as a member of the Leadership Team, will be instrumental in driving a step change in philanthropic giving to College. With the full backing of the Executive Principal, Council and the broader CLC community, the new Director will be ideally placed to shape and implement a strategic roadmap for the next decade.
This is an exceptional opportunity for an outstanding development professional whose experience has been gained within the education sector or a transferable context. The successful candidate will have a strong track record of working closely with senior volunteers and boards, playing a key role in shaping and executing effective philanthropic strategies. Your leadership experience will include developing and expanding a development team, underpinned by a collaborative and inspiring approach. Importantly, you will have a demonstrated ability to deliver results in major gift programmes and capital campaigns, with a clear focus on long-term impact and engagement. Your credibility, resilience and ability to show good judgement, will inspire those around you and enable you to take the team’s activity to the next level.
We are looking for an articulate, persuasive and credible ambassador for Cheltenham Ladies’ College, both here in the UK and internationally. You will be a first-class relationship builder with strong cultural awareness and a good knowledge of (or inherent feel for) the independent educational landscape. Crucially, you will share a passion for the power of education and the transformative impact of bursaries.
If you have the skills, aptitude and commitment to take on this role at CLC with drive and ambition, and are committed to College’s values and aims, we would love to hear from you.
For a confidential conversation about this exceptional opportunity, please contact our recruitment partners at Richmond Associates. For further information, key dates, and how to apply, please click apply.
Please tell us if there are any reasonable adjustments we can make to help you in your application or with our recruitment process.
International candidates who are interested in relocating to the UK will be considered as visa support is available for this position.
Cheltenham Ladies’ College promotes the values of mutual respect and integrity at every level in the organisation and is an equal opportunities employer.
Cheltenham Ladies’ College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
Closing date for applications is 09:00 on Friday 11th September 2026
Reporting to: Fundraising Lead
Hours: Full Time (35 hours per week)
Key Relationships: Products Manager, Stewardship Manager, Fundraising Lead, Director of Development, CEO, COO, Trustees, External Partners
Location: Remote Working, with national travel requirements for meetings, events and collaboration.
Overall Purpose
The Partnerships and Philanthropy Manager will both raise money to support the sustainability of NHS Charities Together and contribute to supporting NHS Charities to increase their income.
The focus of the role is on developing and leading partnerships with corporates and philanthropy.
Overall Objectives
- To generate income across a portfolio of corporate partnerships and charitable trusts and foundations
- To support NHS charities to raise income from partnerships
- Work flexibly as part of a Development Team, supporting the range of fundraising and income generation that the team targets.
Key Responsibilities
The main duties and responsibilities of the role holder are as outlined below:
Partnership Development & Delivery
- Manage the range of existing partnerships across corporate and philanthropic audiences, creating and implementing bespoke solicitation and stewardship plans, generating income for the organisation or NHS Charities
- Translate our work into compelling and bespoke cases for support, making relevant and appropriate asks and soliciting multi-year strategic partnerships
- Identifyand develop new partnership opportunities whichbenefitour organisation or NHS Charities
- Develop opportunities for and deliver sponsorship income for our activity and events
Collaboration & Sector Support
- Work collaboratively with member NHS Charities to understand their fundraising needs, challenges, and opportunities.
- Build strong relationships with key stakeholders across the sector, supporting them to understand the most appropriate role for partnership-based fundraising
- Share learning and best practice from partnership relationships to inform future developments and sector growth.
- Contribute to supporting NHS Charities to raise their income, providing advice and guidance 1:1 and through supporting the delivery of member events
- Where required support the delivery of paid for consulting support to NHS charities on fundraising
- Keep abreast of trends in fundraising within and beyond the health sector.
Leadership & Financial Management
- Establish clear objectives, KPIs, and evaluation frameworks for all partnerships
- Monitor the performance and financial return of our partnerships work, producing regular reports and insights to inform decision-making.
- Provide effective line management to team members, ensuring they have clear objectives, professional development, and deliver high performance.
- Manage budgets as required, monitoring income and expenditure to ensure targets and forecasts are met, and reporting any variances promptly.
- Produce regular performance and income reports and insights to inform strategy and continuous improvement.
- Contribute to the effective running of the team, and participate in relevant training and team meetings.
- Ensure donor records are kept up to date on the fundraising database, and ensure our CRM records of key relationships are maintained
- Ensure all appropriate due diligence is undertaken and necessary gift agreements are in place.
- Ensure that all fundraising activity complies with the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice and relevant legislation.
Cross-Team Collaboration & Stakeholder Management
- Liaise with teams across the organisation to collaborate on member facing activity and ensuring our product offers fit with our member segmentation approaches.
- Support the team on other fundraising activity, for example around events, or in the cultivation and recruitment of individual donors
Competencies
Teamwork – ‘One charity’, working within and across teams
- Collaborates across teams, ensuring our activity is aligned with our wider support of members.
Building trust and respect – listen, feedback and learn
- Models our values through their work, seeking to support colleagues and understand their perspectives.
- Proactive, and adaptable to support the wider work of the organisation as required.
Responsibility – owning your part in our success
- Demonstrates commitment to delivering exceptional partnerships.
- Takes responsibility for developing and leading successful relationships which generate income.
Professionalism – creating an environment to achieve success
- Takes a learning approach to ensure we continually improve.
- Upholds the highest standards of integrity, ethics, and transparency, ensuring we always work within the Fundraising Code.
Stakeholder focus – understanding the needs of our key stakeholders and audiences
- Passionate about supporting NHS charities and helping them to increase their income.
- Seeks to understand the needs of NHS charities, shaping our support to maximise our impact in supporting them to raise income.
- Ensures our own fundraising does not compete with members.
Acumen – Sound decision-making
- Adapts and shapes partnerships based on learning to deliver success.
- Identifies and shapes member support around what is most effective.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
- Fundraising Qualification, Chartered Institute of Fundraising, or equivalent
- Significant experience of fundraising, and the role and theory of fundraising through partnerships and/or philanthropic relationships
- Experience of securing significant partnerships of at least 5 figures from corporate partners, individuals or family foundations and managing relationships with major supporters
- Knowledge of the current philanthropy and High Net Worth Individual and/or corporate landscape and insight into future trends
- Excellent project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and stakeholders.
- Creative thinker with a commercial mindset
- Collaborative working style with excellent stakeholder management skills
- Experience managing and developing team members.
- Influencing skills, with experience of working across teams or partner organisations.
- Experience of database management and using a fundraising CRM system
- An excellent communicator, in person and in written work
- Experience working within an NHS charity or large health-related fundraising environment.
- Experience in building credibility with senior external stakeholders and managing relationships with diplomacy
- Experience managing external relationships with suppliers
Other duties
- Visibly live NHS Charities Togethers values, including our commitment to diversity and inclusion.
- Carrying out the duties of postin accordance withNHS Charities Togethers policies and procedures on Health and Safety and take responsibility for ensuring personal health and safety.
- Working flexibly, prioritising workload, and working effectively as part of a team. Demonstrating an ability to work calmly and effectively when under pressure of tight deadlines, to deliver work on time and to a high standard.
- Adhere to relevant legislation, best practice, policies, and processes including, but not limited to charity law, the fundraising regulator, GDPR and professional codes and standards.
This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of duties. The need for flexibility is required, and the post holder is expected to carry out any other related duties that are within the employee’s skills and abilities whenever reasonably instructed.