2 Senior recruitment advisor jobs in Manchester
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The Organisation
We are working with a well-established UK not-for-profit organisation with annual income of approximately £150 million. Operating at significant scale and complexity, the organisation manages a diverse range of income streams including donations, legacies, grant and contract funding, trading activity and investment income. The finance function plays a key role in supporting strong governance, compliance and decision-making across the organisation.
The Job
This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced tax professional to take ownership of all tax matters within a large and complex organisation. Working closely with senior finance colleagues and external advisers, you will act as the organisation's lead technical expert on VAT, Corporation Tax and Gift Aid, ensuring robust compliance, governance and risk management. You will provide practical advice to senior stakeholders, helping the organisation understand and navigate the tax implications of operational and strategic decisions.
Key responsibilities include:
- Leading on VAT, Corporation Tax and Gift Aid compliance and advisory matters
- Preparing and reviewing VAT returns, including partial exemption calculations and annual adjustments
- Managing Corporation Tax compliance and reporting
- Developing and maintaining tax governance frameworks, controls and processes
- Identifying and mitigating tax risks across the organisation
- Providing technical guidance to finance and non-finance stakeholders
- Building effective relationships with external advisers, auditors and internal teams
- Driving continuous improvement across tax processes, controls and reporting systems
Location: Remote working, with occasional office attendance in London (typically once per quarter)
Hours: 28 hours per week (may consider full-time hours for the right person)
Salary: £60,000 - £70,000 per annum, pro rata (28 hours)
The Person
We are seeking a qualified accountant or tax professional with strong technical expertise and experience operating within a large, complex organisation.
You will be able to demonstrate:
- CCAB qualification or equivalent relevant professional qualification
- Strong knowledge of UK VAT, Corporation Tax and Gift Aid legislation
- Experience managing complex VAT environments, including partial exemption
- A track record of delivering accurate and timely tax compliance activities
- Strong stakeholder management and communication skills
- The ability to translate technical tax matters into practical business guidance
- Experience working collaboratively across finance, systems, planning and operational teams
- A proactive approach to continuous improvement and risk management
Experience gained within the charity, not-for-profit, membership body or broader complex organisation environment would be advantageous.
What's in It for You?
- Remote working arrangement
- Double-matched pension contributions up to 8%
- 27 days' annual leave plus bank holidays, pro rata
- The opportunity to be the lead tax specialist within a sizeable, nationally recognised organisation
- Exposure to a broad range of complex tax matters and senior stakeholders
- A supportive and collaborative finance team environment
How to Apply
If you are an experienced tax professional looking for a flexible role where you can make a significant impact, we'd be delighted to hear from you.
Please submit your CV detailing your relevant experience including VAT, Corporation Tax and Gift Aid/partial exemption compliance and advisory work. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
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This is a unique opportunity to lead fundraising for a charity at the cusp of substantial growth, with an exceptional track record of recent fundraising success, an engaged base of supporters and significant untapped potential across multiple channels.
Overview
As Director of Fundraising and Development for Plum Village UK, you will provide strategic leadership of the charity’s fundraising at this critical juncture. Building on the successful campaigns that brought our new Being Peace Practice Centre into being, you will lead the development of a sustainable, diversified fundraising operation across donor stewardship, trusts and foundations, regular giving, legacies, and partnerships, to deepen relationships of trust and gratitude with our supporters.
This role is ideal for a fundraising leader, whether from a career fundraising background or another field, who brings strategic capability alongside deep alignment with the Plum Village tradition, where fundraising itself becomes a form of engaged practice in service of mindfulness and community transformation.
Fundraising in the Plum Village tradition is fundamentally relational. It is not a matter of extracting income from a base of supporters, but of deepening the relationships of trust, gratitude and shared purpose with those who make our work possible, in ways that embody the values of the tradition. Done well, fundraising is itself a form of engaged practice. The Director will be expected to lead the function in this spirit.
The role comes with a high level of strategic ownership. An initial fundraising strategy has been developed and shared with trustees, providing a framework of priority channels, governance arrangements and resourcing for the next phase. The new Director will inherit this as a starting frame, and will then be empowered and expected to develop, refine and bring forward a fundraising strategy on their own authority, working closely with the Lead Trustee for Fundraising and presenting proposals to the board as appropriate. The role also carries operational ownership of the fundraising mechanics, including the choice and management of supporting systems, databases and tools.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic leadership of fundraising
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Lead PVUK's fundraising strategy, developing and refining the strategic direction, and presenting proposals to the Board for approval and resourcing.
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Set, monitor, and report on fundraising targets across all income channels, in agreement with the Lead Trustee for Fundraising and the Board.
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Provide regular substantive updates on fundraising at quarterly board meetings, working with the Lead Trustee on the preparation of board-level reporting.
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Bring forward analysis and proposals to support the Board in setting wider strategic priorities, including realistic income potential by channel and the investment required to secure it.
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Identify and manage risk in the fundraising portfolio, including channel concentration, donor over-reliance, and the sustainability of resourcing.
Donor stewardship and relationship development
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Lead the stewardship of PVUK’s existing donors, lenders, and supporters with the depth of care that this base deserves, recognising it as the most precious resource of the fundraising function.
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Cultivate and deepen relationships with major donors, including through personal contact, site visits, and tailored communication of impact.
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Work with the Chair of Trustees, the Centre Director, and other senior figures on key relationships that require their involvement.
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Steward the friendly lender base throughout the lifetime of their loans, maintaining trust and keeping them informed of the charity’s progress.
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Build and maintain a culture of gratitude and recognition that appropriately honours the contributions of all supporters.
Income channel development
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Lead delivery and growth across PVUK’s priority fundraising channels: donor stewardship, trust and foundation fundraising, regular giving, legacies and Gifts in Wills, and partnerships with values-aligned organisations and networks.
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Develop trust and foundation fundraising as a substantial new income stream, including scoping aligned funders, building peer-to-peer introductions, constructing tailored funding propositions, and overseeing high-quality application writing and reporting.
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Design and grow a regular giving programme that converts members, retreatants and supporters into ongoing monthly donors.
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Develop a structured legacy and Gifts in Wills programme that normalises legacy giving across PVUK’s communications and supports those who wish to leave a Gift in their Will.
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Develop partnerships with values-aligned organisations and networks where these support both income generation and the wider reach of PVUK’s work, in close consultation with monastics and trustees.
Operations, systems and budget ownership
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Own the operational mechanics of fundraising for PVUK, including the choice, configuration and ongoing management of databases, donor management systems, online giving platforms, and integration with communications tools.
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Manage the fundraising budget, including a discretionary supplementary budget for consultancy, training, materials creation, contracted support and light administrative resource, deployed at the Director’s judgement to develop the function effectively.
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Maintain accurate, GDPR-compliant supporter records and ensure sound data practices throughout the fundraising operation.
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Provide accurate financial reporting on fundraising performance, working with PVUK’s finance function and external accountants as required.
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Make the case for additional resourcing where evidence of need supports it, including the possible recruitment of a Fundraising Officer in due course.
Communications and storytelling
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Lead the development of compelling fundraising narratives that authentically convey the work of PVUK and the Being Peace Centre to multiple audiences, including major donors, institutional funders, individual supporters and the wider public.
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Work closely with the PVUK Communications team on the integration of fundraising communications with the wider communications strategy.
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Commission and oversee the production of fundraising materials, including written content, graphic design, video and digital assets, drawing on contracted specialists where appropriate.
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Ensure that all fundraising messaging about the Being Peace Practice Centre is agreed with the Centre Director before publication.
Working partnerships across PVUK
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Work in close partnership with the Centre Director on all matters relating to Being Peace, with agreed ways of working on messaging, external representation, and any programming commitments made to funders.
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Work with the Lead Trustee for Fundraising as primary day-to-day point of contact at board level, supporting the Lead Trustee to hold strategic oversight of fundraising on behalf of the Board.
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Work with colleagues across PVUK’s communications, dharma programming, sangha-building and partnership functions, with these working relationships developing naturally in the first months of the role.
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Draw on external advisors and specialists as needed for support and assurance, both in technical fundraising disciplines and in sector-specific knowledge.
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Engage volunteer capacity from within the community where this can valuably supplement the fundraising operation.
We build mindful communities in the UK inspired by the teachings of ‘Father of Mindfulness’ Thich Nhat Hanh.


