Senior researcher jobs in edinburgh

Full time (flexible working options available)

Homebased – UK

Closing date 21 September 2025

Ref 7162

Save the Children UK has an exciting opportunity for a collaborative and commercially minded fundraising professional with extensive corporate partnerships experience to join us as our Senior Fundraising Manager, where you will work with colleagues across our Regional Fundraising & Engagement department to unlock new business, maximise regional corporate income, and build high-value partnerships that deliver real impact for children. 

Save the Children UK believes every child deserves a future. In the UK and around the world, we work every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. When crisis strikes, and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. We ensure children's unique needs are met and their voices are heard. We deliver lasting results for millions of children, including those hardest to reach. 

As Senior Fundraising Manager, you will be responsible for driving and inspiring new business within regional corporate fundraising. You will leverage research insights, professional networks, and tailored engagement strategies to cultivate a pipeline of high-value opportunities.

Your work will drive innovative corporate partnerships and maximising lifetime fundraising potential. This is a strategic and outward-facing role, requiring both acquisition and stewardship expertise, to create multi-layered partnerships that generate up to six-figure annual income and enhance wider brand engagement for Save the Children. 

In this 12-month fixed term contract role you will have the opportunity to work remotely from anywhere in the UK, with occasional on-site presence in London Farringdon approximately once per quarter. 

In this role, you will: 

• Proactively identify and prioritise high value, strategically aligned corporate prospects. 

• Build and manage a strong pipeline of opportunities with tailored engagement and stewardship plans. 

• Create and deliver compelling, high-quality partnership proposals and pitches. 

• Negotiate partnership terms and ensure smooth handovers to account managers for long-term growth. 

• Work collaboratively across teams to embed safeguarding and compliance into all partnership activity. 

• Contribute to the continuous improvement of corporate fundraising strategy, bringing energy and innovation to the team. 

About you 

To be successful, it is important that you have: 

• Significant experience in corporate fundraising or a relevant commercial environment. 

• A proven track record of securing and delivering five/six-figure corporate partnerships. 

• Strong experience in Cause Related Marketing and commercial negotiations. 

• Excellent relationship management and influencing skills with senior stakeholders. 

• Commercial acumen, with the ability to translate complex financial/technical data into actionable insights. 

• Experience of managing fundraising databases and pipelines, driving results against targets. 

• A proactive, innovative mindset with the ability to bring energy and ideas to a collaborative team. 

• Commitment to Save the Children's vision, mission, and values. 

What we offer you 

Working for a charity provides one of the best benefits there is – a sense of purpose and reward for helping others. However, we understand the importance of giving back to our employees to ensure a happy and healthy working environment and work/life balance. 

We focus on flexibility, inclusion, collaboration, health and wellbeing both in and outside of work. 

We provide a wide range of benefits which will reward your hard work, motivate you, and inspire you to work to improve the lives of children every day. 

Closing date: 21 September 2025 

Please note: To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a high volume of applications are received. This is to ensure that we can manage application levels whilst maintaining a positive candidate experience. Unfortunately once a vacancy has closed, we are unable to consider further applications.

Location & Ways of Working:

In this role you will have the opportunity to work remotely from anywhere in the UK, with occasional on-site presence in London Farringdon approximately once per quarter.  This will be discussed and agreed with your manager / team and we encourage candidates to discuss our ways of working in more detail at interview stage.

Flexible Working - We are happy to discuss flexible working options at interview.

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion:

Save the Children UK believes in a world that is fair, inclusive and equitable where all children have the opportunity to change their world. We apply this to our workforce and we are committed to developing and supporting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organisation where all employees have a sense of belonging and feel that they can be "Free to Be Me". We are not looking for just one type of person - we want to recruit people who can add fresh perspectives, innovative ideas or challenge that disrupts the risk of group think. 

We are especially interested in people whose childhood experiences - of life on a low income, of migration, of being in a racialised community, of the care system, of being LGBT+ or in an LGBT+ family or living with (or with someone with) a disability - help us to see things we might otherwise miss. Whatever your story is we want to hear it because we know that different voices, ideas, perspectives and knowledge, working together will enable us to better the lives of children around the world. This is the reason why we are all here. 

Join an amazing charity that makes a difference for the 110,000 adults and children in the UK with a muscle-wasting condition. This is a role where you can really make a difference.

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that reflects the communities we serve. We actively encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, particularly those from underrepresented groups including people from ethnic minority backgrounds, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those with lived experience of conditions we represent. We believe that diversity strengthens our work and helps us better support our beneficiaries.

The Community Fundraising Manager is an exciting role at MDUK, that will sit within the Fundrasing Team. 

In Community Fundraising we are the team that builds relationships with our supporters, families, and event participants to fundraise so that MDUK can continue to find treatments and ultimately cures through research, and to drive improvements in care and quality of life. 

In this small but close team there are four other Community Fundraising Managers covering the rest of the UK and a Senior Manager who can support you and the rest of the team in delivering an excellent supporter journey to deliver the charities aims.

You will build relationships and manage both supporters and volunteers within the local community creating an impact by maximising financial contributions and raising awareness of fundraising for Muscular Dystrophy UK.

You will need a flexible approach to your working hours as the role may require some evening and weekend work.

About us:

Muscular Dystrophy UK is the charity bringing individuals, families and professionals together to fight muscle-wasting conditions. We bring together more than 60 rare and very rare progressive muscle-weakening and wasting conditions, affecting around 110,000 children and adults in the UK. 

We share expert advice and support to live well now; fund groundbreaking research to understand the different conditions better and lead us to new treatments; work with the NHS towards universal access to specialist health; and together, campaign for people’s rights, better understanding, accessibility, and access to treatments.

Benefits:

We appreciate the range of skills and experience our staff have to offer. In return for your enthusiasm and commitment we commit to actively developing and supporting you. We also offer a range of benefits including pension, life assurance, cycle scheme, health cash plan, financial wellbeing and an employee assistance programme.

Location: Home Based 

Closing date: Tuesday 30 September 

Please download the job description to see full role responsibilities

NB: Please note that we are interviewing on a rolling basis and may close the advert earlier than the stated deadline if we successfully fill the role.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR A HEAD OF YOUNGER LEADERS

About the Department/Role

The National Society for Education (NSE) is both an NCI and a Royal-charter charity. It's aims are to support Church schools and the wider education sector by developing leaders, shaping policy and growing faith.

The NSE leads the Church of England's national work in education in partnership with 41 Diocesan Boards of Education and approximately 4,700 Church of England schools. We also support the national education work of the Church in Wales, which includes around 150 schools. Our presence extends to work with community schools and academy trusts, as well as higher and further education through numerous chaplaincies, providing spiritual support and guidance to children and young people, and to adults.

The Church of England's Vision and Strategy for the 2020s has three priorities, one of which is to be a church which is younger and more diverse. As part of this, the House of Bishops want to ensure that a flourishing children, youth and families ministry is within reach of every young person in England.

The NSE is working with the Vision and Strategy team to help deliver this vision through a range of projects in our 'growing faith' pillar which focus on the intersection between church, home and school; aiming to develop the faith life of children and young people, whilst also growing young leaders.

We are a dynamic team, working remotely from our homes around the country. We gather regularly online, and also have in-person team days through the year.

What you'll be doing

The purpose of this role is to provide strategic oversight for the engagement, sustainability and impact of a range of national leadership development programmes and experiences for young leaders (4-18) and young adults (18-25) including the Archbishops' Young Leaders Award, the Flourishing Young Leaders programme, the Christian Young Leaders pathway and Young Voices at General Synod. To lead a curriculum development and delivery team across these programmes to ensure that children and young people are placed instinctively at the heart of the mission of the church, and that developing flourishing young people is at the heart of the mission of schools, school trusts and dioceses.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Leading effective delivery, engagement and impact
• Deepening thinking, research and theology and practice
• Ensuring sustainability through effective partnerships and engagement

About You

The Church of England is for everyone and we want to reflect the diversity of the community the Church serves across the whole country. Therefore, while of course we welcome all applications from interested and suitably experienced people, we would particularly welcome applicants from UK Minoritised Ethnicities (UKME)/Global Majority Heritage (GMH) and other under-represented groups. As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to recruiting disabled people. We offer interviews to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the role.

Essential

Knowledge/Experience

• Leadership at a senior level and successful management of high performing teams.
• Experience of influencing senior stakeholders and governance groups, programme creation and successful delivery of complex programmes.
• Knowledge of the educational landscape in the primary and secondary sectors and the current and future needs of school leaders.
• Developing and leading marketing strategy and communications financial and budgetary planning and management.

Skills & Abilities:

• Strong developed interpersonal skills.
• Capacity to be flexible and innovative in the changing circumstances.
• Written and oral communication skills- formal and informal.
• Ability to manage multiple projects concurrently, working to tight deadlines and often under pressure.
• Proven ability to synthesise large amounts of information to make robust strategic decisions.
• Passionate about making a difference to the lives of children and young people.
• A clear understanding of the Church of England's Education network and its current and future needs.

Key Role Requirements

• This role is fully remote.
• An enhanced DBS check will be required as part of our pre-employment checks.
• This role is subject to an occupational requirement that the holder be of the Christian faith as expressed in the Nicene Creed under Part 1 of Schedule 9 to the Equality Act 2010.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information about the role and person specification.

What we offer

Your Salary

• A salary of £68,999 per annum, plus age-related pension contributions between 8-15% of salary. We will also match any pension contributions you make up to an additional 3% of your salary.

Your Benefits

• 30 days annual leave plus eight bank holidays three additional days (pro-rated if working part-time).
• We welcome all flexible working arrangement requests. This is looked at in a case-by-case scenario and if this fits within the department's needs. We try to be as flexible as we can in your work pattern to support you with other commitments, and to give a good work-life balance.
• We offer many services and initiatives under our Family Friendly Programme, some of these include enhanced Maternity Leave initiative, Adoption Leave, Paternity Leave, & Shared Parental Leave. Structured induction programme and access to a range of development opportunities including apprenticeships.

• Automatic enrolment and access to Medicash (one of the UK's leading health cash plan providers), providing you with many services including reimbursements of routine dental treatment, optical, specialist consultations, and therapy treatments. Unlimited access to virtual GP & Private prescription service and health & Stress related helplines.

• Access to Occupational Health, and an Employee Assistance Programme 
• Access to the Department of Education Restaurant and Westminster Abbey with a plus-one guest.
• Apply for eligibility for an Eyecare voucher.
• Opportunity to join the Civil Service Sports & Social Club, and get involved in a range of staff networks, groups and societies.

Call for expression of interest 

End-Term Evaluation Consultancy 

Project name: Strengthening Civil Society Representation of Women with Disabilities in Ghana 

Location: Ghana/Remote Global (at least 1-2 team members must be based in Ghana for data collection purposes) 

Length of consultancy: 8-9 months 

About the project 

The Strengthening Civil Society Representation of Women with Disabilities in Ghana project is a two-year project funded by the European Commission. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of two co-applicants (Women with Disability Development and Advocacy Organisation (WODAO) and the Alliance for Better Advocacy and Knowledge (ABAK) Foundation) in the areas of management, communication, fundraising, coordination, advocacy, gender, climate change, networking, and financial accountability.

The overall objective of the project is to strengthen both co-applicant organisations, their partners and their members to effectively participate in development and decision-making processes. 

About the consultancy 

The purpose of this end of term evaluation (ETE) is to assess performance of the project and to understand what specific learnings can be taken forward in future project design and implementation. It is also intended that the evaluation will contribute evidence and/or insight towards some of Sightsavers’ thematic learning questions. An external ETE, to be conducted by the end of the project, is also a requirement by the donor.  

The evaluation will also be designed to collect endline data for three project indicators, as specified in the project MEL plan. It is intended that the findings, learnings and recommendations from the evaluation will be used to inform the design and delivery of similar projects and programmes. 

The evaluation will employ a collaborative and participatory approach to ensure that the evaluation takes into account the complex nature of how capacity is strengthened. It will use a mixed methods approach, triangulating secondary project documentation and data with some qualitative primary data collection. This is likely to include key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with various project stakeholders. The appointed consultant will further define the methods and tools and may wish to consider elements of outcome harvesting if deemed appropriate.

Skills and Experience 

The evaluation will be contracted to an external independent consultant or consultancy company. It would be beneficial if the consultant or team is at least partly located in Ghana. The evaluation team members should have the following core competencies and experience: 

• Extensive experience in monitoring and evaluation for international development project/programmes, with strong skills in both qualitative and quantitative approaches.

• Thematic expertise in disability inclusion, Climate Action, advocacy, and/or capacity development of women’s organisations is essential. Comprehensive understanding of preferred practices/policy issues at global and national level is desirable. 

• Prior experience working in Ghana is essential, including data collection experience. A consultant or team with members located in Ghana is preferred. 

• Must have experience of carrying out evaluations of an appropriate scope and scale. 

• Ability to travel within Ghana is required. 

• Proven ability to produce concise, readable and analytical reports. 

• Excellent communication skills, both written and spoken, in English. Fluency in other relevant local languages is highly desirable. 

• Proven ability to work independently, manage resources, and deliver work within agreed timeframes. 

In particular, the Team Leader (to be identified in the offer) is expected to possess a demonstrable senior evaluation expertise coherent with the requirements of this assignment and not provide less than 20 working days. 

This is a highly varied and involved consultancy position, and the above is not an exhaustive list of duties, required professional skills, project information, or expected scope of work. Please ensure you read the full Terms of Reference (ToR) for all details.  

Next Steps 

To apply for this exciting new opportunity, please complete an application via our recruitment portal. 

All applications must include: 

Budget Template (link here) – Please complete and upload this as part of your application 

CVs of all proposed consultants 

Completion of our online Expression of Interest from (EOI): Please ensure that Section 3 (Addressing the requirements) of the EoI form covers the following two points : 

1. Please describe your proposed design for the evaluation/learning exercise with particular reference to the key questions from the ToRs (Max 500 words). 

• Task conceptualisation

• Approach, framework 

• Methods, tools

• Etc.

1. Please describe your approach to addressing equity and inclusion, including gender, disability, marginalised communities etc. (Max 300 words) 

We anticipate that remote interviews will take place during the weeks of 6 October or 13 October 2025 and the evaluation process will include a 1 stage oral interview to be completed by shortlisted candidates.

Closing date: 28 September 2025 

As a global equal opportunities employer, Sightsavers is committed to embracing diversity throughout our workforce by creating an inclusive environment that reflects the many cultures and locations where we work. Our workforce will be truly representative of all sections of society and we will actively promote the inclusion of individuals with a disability. Sightsavers is a Disability Confident Leader and qualified people with a disability are particularly encouraged to apply.

Sightsavers is an employer that does not tolerate any form of harassment and has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. All potential candidates will be subjected to rigorous background checks and controls. 

About you

Do you want to use your skills to make it possible for people with myeloma, an incurable blood cancer, to live longer and better lives?

Myeloma UK is looking for a motivated and highly proactive Senior Policy Officer to join our Patient Advocacy team within the wider Research and Advocacy directorate. 

You will have experience in analysing, developing, and communicating complex policy issues, strong communication skills, and the ability to prioritise a fast-moving and wide-ranging workload.

You will also have experience working collaboratively and building relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders. 

You will have the ability to present findings and recommendations to a range of audiences and produce high-quality succinct briefings in a timely fashion, underpinned by evidence.

Empathy and sensitivity are required to work closely with patients and their families and friends.

Experience in the health charity sector, public/patient engagement work, and working on the National Institute of Health Care Excellence (NICE) and Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) consultation processes would be beneficial but not essential.

About the role

As Senior Policy Officer you will be part of the Patient Advocacy team who work to ensure that the patient voice is heard and acted upon by UK and devolved nations healthcare policy decision makers. You will represent the charity externally including national meetings with senior healthcare decision makers.

Your role is vital to developing strategic approaches to health technology appraisals (HTA), regulatory pathways (MHRA), clinical development programmes (academic and industry clinical trials) and commissioning routes to broaden access to new myeloma drug therapies and diagnostic technologies.

You will apply your skills flexibly across key policy areas including access to treatment, patient voice, stakeholder engagement and general healthcare policy and work with colleagues in communications and fundraising to make sure our supporters and the wider myeloma community understand the positive impact we make.

About us

Myeloma UK is the only UK charity focused on myeloma and its related conditions.  We provide support and influence access to treatments, while researching a cure.  Thanks to life-extending treatments and support, today many people affected by myeloma are able to live longer and to live well.  Together, we support, so no one faces myeloma alone. 

We are committed to bringing together the best and brightest people to help us ensure that every patient has an empowered present and a hopeful future.

Our ultimate goal is to find a cure and make myeloma history. Until then, our mission is to help every patient live well with myeloma for as long as possible. We are committed to diagnosing myeloma earlier, discovering and sharing knowledge, transforming the patient experience and influencing positive change in care.

Our culture

Wellbeing and staff engagement are at the heart of our culture.  We offer our employees a range of benefits including a pension salary exchange scheme, flexitime, flexible working from home with hub-based office working, health plan, employee assistance plan and holiday purchase scheme and we are committed to providing learning and development opportunities for all our employees.

How to apply

If you think you would be a great fit for this role, get in touch and tell us more about yourself by sending the following:

1. A cover letter telling us more about you and what you think makes you a good fit for this role

2. A CV that sets out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements

Applications close 9am on 6 October 2025 and interviews will be held w/c 27 October 2025.

Myeloma UK is an equal opportunities employer and always welcomes applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of:

· sex

· race

· disability

· age

· sexual orientation

· gender reassignment

· religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity

Please note, you will be asked to provide evidence of your eligibility to work in the UK prior to interview selection.

About us and our ecological work

We are a small but growing UK-registered charity which undertakes projects that protect and restore wild landscapes, helping to provide a future for all life on earth. We use the skills and expertise of our multi-disciplinary team (spanning science, law, economics, technology and culture) to develop projects that protect and restore wild, natural landscapes. 

Our ecological work spans two exciting fronts: restoring missing species through projects like The Missing Lynx, Pine Marten and White-Tailed Eagle reintroductions in Northern England; and securing the protection of ecological restoration sites as a Responsible Body for conservation covenants through which we aim to set the gold standard, supporting ambitious, mission-aligned projects such as Nattergal’s High Fen site.

About the role

We are seeking to hire a dynamic and passionate Senior Ecologist to join The Lifescape Project, to play an integral role in the restoration of charismatic species to the UK and in landscape scale habitat restoration.

As a Senior Ecologist, your work will cover two distinct areas which are broadly: BNG-associated site assessments; and practical planning and feasibility aspects of species reintroductions.

Salary: £40,000 - £42,000 per annum, depending on experience + benefits.

Hours: Full-time, 40 hours per week.

Contract: Fixed-term contract for 12 months initially.

Location: Remote working with site survey work and some UK and international travel.

Please refer to the job description for further information about the role.

To apply, please email a CV and covering letter (each no longer than 2 pages of text) outlining how you meet the person specification and why you should be considered for this role.

Closing date: 9.00am on Monday 20 October 2025.

The role will commence as soon as possible.

We’re looking for a Science Communications Officer (Fixed term) to join our team

Salary: £35,000

Base: Central Edinburgh/hybrid

Hours: Full time and fixed term for one year.  35 hours a week over core working hours of 10am - 3pm, Monday to Friday, with a one-hour lunch break. The office is open 8am – 7pm daily and our hybrid working policy requires all full-time employees to work at least two days a week in the Edinburgh office. 

Benefits: 10% employer pension contribution; private medical insurance; employee assistance programme and counselling service; enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption pay; enhanced sick pay; 31 days’ paid holiday/year plus four paid winter public holidays; 2-weeks fully remote working/year; three paid carer days/year; death in service benefit; cycle to work and travel season ticket schemes.

To support the Team’s work-life balance, we work a nine-day fortnight where the charity is closed every second Friday.  

About the role and why we need you

You can make an impact every day using your passion for science and your excellent communication skills. Our Science Communications team have a key role at Worldwide Cancer Research, engaging the wider team and our supporters (known as Curestarters) about the incredible research we fund.

We are looking for a creative, multi-skilled Science Communications Officer to champion our research and our global researchers through compelling storytelling. This involves collaborating across the charity to ensure content is accurate and audience appropriate. You’ll also be interacting with everyone in the organisation to help them understand how cancer behaves and how our research is helping to find new cures.

Our values are curious, united, real, entrepreneurial and spirited, all of which you’ll have the opportunity to demonstrate in your work. You’ll be curious about our research and be innovative in how you present it. Your strong interpersonal skills will help you to work well with other teams, particularly Marketing and Fundraising, to help us provide the best supporter experience and grow our Curestarter community.

We need someone who shares our enthusiasm for discovery cancer research and who has experience of breaking down complex science into easy-to-understand content and fascinating stories. From presenting to colleagues to creating social media posts, you’ll be required to balance different tasks efficiently and to manage your own time effectively.

Responsibilities

Strategic HR Leadership

• Develop and execute the overall people and culture strategy aligned with Hatch’s overall vision, values and organisational strategy.

Organisational Culture & Employee Experience

• Work with the CEO to champion a values-driven, inclusive, and purpose-led culture that supports employee engagement and well-being.

• Design and oversee initiatives to enhance employee satisfaction, psychological safety, and workplace trust.

• Lead initiatives that reinforce cultural norms and behaviours aligned with organisational values.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Leadership

• Develop and lead the Hatch’s DE&I strategy

• Set DE&I KPIs; monitor progress and report to leadership in the quarterly board papers.

• Set up and work with an internal DE&I working group to implement DE&I Strategy 

• Organise training and education programmes on unconscious bias, inclusive leadership, and anti-discrimination.

• Oversee equitable hiring, compensation, promotion, and development practices.

Employee Relations & Engagement

• Act as a senior point of contact for complex employee relations matters.

• Build systems for transparent communication, feedback, and conflict resolution.

• Analyse quarterly engagement surveys and eNPS score data and develop action plans for improvement.

Governance, Compliance & Reporting

• Deliver reports on key people and culture metrics to the Senior Leadership Group (SLG) and Board, ensuring data-driven insights support strategic decision-making.

• Ensure all people-related policies, procedures, and contracts are regularly reviewed and updated, aligning with organisational needs, values, and current employment legislation.

• Maintain compliance with employment laws and regulatory requirements, minimising organisational risk and promoting ethical practices.

• Support the organisation in responding to emerging workforce-related risks.

• Develop and manage the people and culture budget annually

Compensation and Benefits

• Ensure our pay, benefits and progression framework support employee well-being and align with DE&I principles.

Learning and Development

• Identify skill gaps and oversee the creation of learning strategies to support upskilling and reskilling.

• Promote a continuous learning culture and leadership development at all levels.

Talent Attraction, Management and Succession Planning

• Lead the design and execution of robust talent acquisition, development, and retention strategies.

• Oversee performance management frameworks to drive growth and accountability.

• Continually develop Hatch’s employee value proposition to build Hatch’s brand as an employer of choice 

• Further develop our performance management framework to encourage high performance, professional development and values alignment

• Support and enhance our approach to leadership development and succession planning and providing support and advice to the team and managers to navigate these

HR Operations

• Act as owner of the Factorial HR system, ensuring data accuracy, functionality, and ongoing optimisation.

• Review and approve staff expenses in line with Hatch’s policy.

• Oversee all onboarding and offboarding processes, ensuring a smooth employee experience across the lifecycle.

• Manage changes to staff working hours, salaries, and contractual terms.

• Lead and coordinate recruitment processes, including job postings, candidate management, interviews, and offers.

Person Specification 

Skills

• An all rounder, able to develop a big picture vision and deliver on the details

• A keen eye for identifying talent and passion for developing people (in both their professional and personal growth)

• A focus on diversity and inclusion as a competitive business advantage

• Ability to build authentic relationships across a diverse group of stakeholders 

• Excellent communicator on all levels with demonstrated empathy and strong interpersonal skills

• Analytical skills and and ability to make, and support others to make, data-informed decisions

• Project management skills

• Problem-solving skills

Experience

• Proven experience in a similar leadership role, preferably within the social enterprise or nonprofit sector

• Demonstrated experience in developing and implementing people and culture strategies, talent management, and performance management programmes

• Leadership of end to end employee life cycle

• Partnering with business stakeholders across a whole organisation, especially senior stakeholders

• Leading people & culture project rollouts

• Developing a positive performance culture

• Experience with recruitment and HR systems advantageous

Together, the charities Sands and Tommy’s have formed a Joint Policy Unit (JPU) focussed on achieving policy change that will save more babies’ lives during pregnancy and the neonatal period and on tackling inequalities in loss, so that everyone can benefit from the best possible outcomes.

The JPU’s mission is to secure policy change that will reduce rates of miscarriage, stillbirth, pre-term birth and neonatal death, and to work to eliminate inequalities in these outcomes.

While there is widespread agreement on the need for change to improve the safety of maternity and neonatal services, what that change looks like is not clear.  To save more babies’ lives we believe that a continued focus is required, and that governments should set new commitments to reduce perinatal mortality and preterm births, focused on matching the best-performing countries in Europe.

This role will be crucial to the continued success of the JPU unit; leading, shaping and coordinating all the unit’s work. 

We are looking for an independent and assertive problem-solver, a policy expert who can manage multiple priorities, take the initiative, lead the national conversation and is as excited as we are about taking the helm of this venture for both of our organisations.

The successful candidate will need to have a substantial track record of effectively leading and implementing national policy and influencing programmes, driving change and achieving the desired impact.

You will have considerable experience across research, data analysis, policy development, public affairs and communications.  Additionally, you will be well-versed in research and data management, including analysing complex data and evaluating policy developments.

Experience of being a member of a senior management team with successful, significant and relevant management and leadership experience is also essential.

We are seeking a dynamic Policy Officer to join our policy team, to support our lobbying and advocacy work, raise the profile of specialist FE with parliamentarians and represent the views of members. The work is varied, including monitoring parliamentary activity, undertaking research, meeting with members, helping to prepare consultation responses and analysing government proposals and published policies. The postholder will also take a lead in communicating Natspec’s policy positions to members and other stakeholders.

The main duties of the role include:

• Monitoring parliamentary and media activity to alert the Natspec team to relevant issues
• Maintaining and developing Natspec’s parliamentary database, increasing links with MPs and ministers
• Undertaking research to support Natspec’s policy work
• Preparing news stories, press releases and social media content, and identifying media opportunities to promote Natspec’s work and policy positions
• Working with Natspec member colleges, supporting them in their local lobbying work, and establishing network meetings
• Supporting the Senior Policy Manager and Senior Policy Officer with consultation responses, reports, publications, articles and data analysis.

We are looking for a self-motivated, innovative, dynamic and enthusiastic individual with good written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to develop strong working relationships. You don’t need to have a background in learning difficulties or disabilities or further education, although a demonstrable interest in these areas would be welcome. You should, however, have some prior experience of policy work, including undertaking research and analysis, understand parliamentary processes, and be able to quickly develop your understanding of education and funding policy relevant to specialist FE.

While you will be home-based, you will be in frequent contact with your colleagues both online and in-person and there will be plenty of opportunities to work outside of the home, attending meetings and visiting colleges. You will need to travel to London on a regular basis. You must be able to work flexibly, sometimes under pressure, and thrive on the unpredictability of policy work. 

We are looking for a fundraiser to lead, manage and deliver the fundraising strategy and activities of SBS. Develop relationships, networks and communication channels to advance the work and objectives of SBS across all types of existing and potential new supporters (e.g. individuals, churches & communities, major donors, trusts & foundations).  

You will be passionate about the transformational impact of the Bible and motivated to use your extensive fundraising experience to amplify stories from Scotland and around the world to resonate with a Scottish Christian audience. 

You will continue to cultivate and steward our relationships and partnerships with supporters.

You will have a talent for motivating others to do their best work, coaching them to work collaboratively across SBS.  

Faith requirement – to engage with existing and new SBS audiences, this role carries an occupational requirement that the post-holder is a Christian.  An understanding of the different Christian communities in Scotland and playing an active part in the spiritual life of the organisation is vital to this role. 

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage all the fundraising activities of SBS, including management of the fundraising team.
• Develop and maintain a fundraising strategy in line with the overall strategy for SBS, this includes taking a lead in the forecasting and setting of fundraising targets.
• Take a lead in the recruitment and retainment of individual donors by developing and managing appropriate activities to expand the SBS donor base, exploring and implementing various methods to achieve this.
• Supervise the recruitment and retainment of support from churches and communities (including Action Groups) by developing relationships with them and ensuring they are equipped and encouraged to fundraise.
• Develop a major donor fundraising programme and manage long-term relationships.
• Help identify opportunities and support applications to charitable trusts, grant making bodies and companies, and assist in managing subsequent relationships with funding partners.
• Develop and manage a programme focused on legacy giving across all supporter types.
• Research, test and develop fundraising ideas and opportunities for income generation across all supporter types and all channels of communication.  Report on test results with a view to constantly evolving SBS tactics to meet objectives.
• Provide regular reporting on all fundraising activities, for Senior Staff and Board.  Provide up to date income levels by source, any associated expenditure and what the overall ROI is for SBS.  Be able to provide this as verbal updates and electronically - making comparisons against projections, historical performance and industry averages.
• Keep up to date and ensure SBS complies with fundraising legislation, standards and best practice including GDPR and PECR.
• Support SBS with detailed knowledge of the United Bible Societies (UBS) fellowship projects SBS support and provide a steer on what opportunities there are that would fit with the overall strategy for SBS.
• Set objectives for the Fundraising team in line with the fundraising strategy and overall strategy for SBS.
• Motivate and support staff in setting their personal objectives and managing their performance by providing encouragement, feedback and having regular 1-2-1s with them so they achieve their objectives and that of the team, department and overall SBS objectives.
• Fulfill line management responsibilities in line with policies and procedures for line managers at SBS (e.g. appraisals, holiday requests, absence monitoring, recruitment).

About you

• SBS believes that spiritual maturity, character and behaviour are just as important as fundraising competence, therefore you will be a devoted follower of Jesus with a passion for the Bible. You will be active in a local church that supports your vocation and provides spiritual support.
• Extensive experience (5+ years) in a senior fundraising or development position.
• Proven track record of leading fundraising strategy and campaigns for a charitable organisation, or a background in campaign management driving sales for a commercial organisation.
• Confidence in testing and optimising campaign activity and strategies through a robust, analytical methodology.
• Experience working for charitable organisations, or in international development or similar areas, interacting with a board of directors and with an understanding of charity reporting.
• Excellent planning and organisation skills, with the ability to manage projects and organise your own workload and that of direct line reports.
• Strong leadership and people management skills balanced with a willingness to listen and learn from others.  A genuine interest in developing people.
• A natural preference for collaboration and teamwork, able to interact and manage a wide range of stakeholders at different levels of seniority, sometimes in a cross-cultural context, to deliver the best possible outcome for the charity.
• Excellent working knowledge of GDPR, advertising standards, fundraising standards, and other industry governance.

62,000 children and young people are bereaved of a parent or sibling every year in the year UK. Our client was the first organisation in the UK to provide specialist support to grieving children and while much has changed since their founding in 1992, their desire to make difference to as many children and young people’s lives as they can remains undimmed. They now seek an interim Trusts and Grants Fundraiser and Prospectus is proud to lead the search. 

£30,554 pro rata
Contract until end of March 2026
Part time – 3 days a week (21hrs)
Homebased

As Trusts & Grants Fundraiser (Interim), you will play a key role in driving income from trusts, grant funders, and statutory bodies to support the organisation. Working closely with the Senior Trusts & Grants Fundraiser, you will identify, research, and approach funding bodies, leading on specific applications and contributing to larger bids.

The organisation are looking for someone with excellent written and verbal communication skills, proven experience in bid writing and reporting, and the ability to research and identify new funding opportunities. You’ll be highly organised, confident managing multiple priorities, and able to build strong relationships with funders through outstanding stewardship.

At Prospectus we invest in your journey as a candidate and are committed to supporting you with your application. We welcome all candidates to apply, regardless of age, sex/gender, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, marital status or pregnancy/maternity. If you have any disability and require reasonable adjustment/s to any part of the process then please contact Jessica Stoddart at Prospectus.

If you feel you meet some of the criteria but not all, we really hope you'll enquire and learn more. Prospectus can advise and support on each part of the role and hopefully your application, so we look forward to hearing from you.      
 
 In order to apply please submit your CV in the first instance. Should your experience be suitable, we will arrange for a meeting to brief you on the role. You'll then have all the information you need to formally apply. We are looking forward to connecting with you soon.

About GNDR

We are the Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction (GNDR), the largest global network of organisations committed to working together to improve the lives of people affected by disasters worldwide. Since being established in 2007, we have grown into a network of 2,010 member organisations across 132 countries, representing millions of people on the frontlines of hazards, climate change and mass displacement. Through transformative, evidence-led programming and powerful advocacy, we are driving climate action and disaster resilience alongside our members across the globe.

About the role

GNDR is seeking a motivated and strategic leader to join our Senior Leadership Team (SLT) as Head of Fundraising, Impact and Communications on a full-time basis for a fixed-term maternity cover of one year.

In this pivotal role, you will be responsible for driving forward GNDR’s fundraising and communications strategy, increasing our reach, impact, and income in alignment with the organisation’s strategic priorities.

You will lead a fully integrated function spanning fundraising, monitoring and evaluation, and communications. This includes ensuring a joined-up and collaborative approach to consistent, distinctive messaging and engagement activities. These efforts underpin successful fundraising outcomes and support GNDR’s wider organisational goals – particularly our work in influencing policy and engaging external decision-makers.

This maternity cover role comes at an exciting moment in GNDR’s journey. We are currently evaluating our existing strategy and designing a new five-year organisational strategy that will unlock fresh opportunities to deepen our impact, extend our reach and amplify our global voice. 

The successful candidate will play an essential role in ensuring our fundraising, MEAL and communications operations remain strategically aligned and fully responsive to this evolving context.

Overall scope of the role

The remit of this post will cover the following core responsibilities:

• Sustainability and income growth
• Effective donor relations
• Funding proposals
• Impact measurement
• External communications
• Training and capacity building
• Leadership and governance
• Line management and team development

Candidate requirements

We are ideally looking for candidates who have the following core skills and experience:

• Fundraising & Communications: Proven success securing funding from donors, trusts and foundations, with strategic experience in NGO fundraising and communications
• Leadership & Strategy: Strong team leadership, capacity building, and strategic planning skills within humanitarian or development contexts
• Interpersonal & Cultural Agility: Excellent communicator, culturally sensitive, adaptable, and able to thrive in fast-paced, diverse environments
• Project & Proposal Delivery: Skilled in developing proposals, and producing high-quality reports and budgets
• Technical & Analytical Skills: A sharp analytical mindset and strong decision-making capabilities
• A strong commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and alignment to GNDR’s core values

Eligibility

We are accepting applications from candidates eligible to work in the UK. Candidates will need to be able to travel internationally when necessary. 

This role will be predominantly remote. However, we are currently piloting a revised hybrid working model for our UK-based team, which includes monthly in-person meetups at a flexible workspace in London. This arrangement remains subject to the outcome of the ongoing consultation, with the trial period scheduled to conclude at the end of October.

Please note that all offers of employment at GNDR are conditional and subject to satisfactory background checks.

We welcome applications from candidates who meet most of the essential criteria outlined in the job specification below.

A full Job description is attached, or please visit our website.

Salary

The gross annual salary for this role is £56,098 per annum based on working full-time.

This is a one year, fixed-term full time contract.

Start date

We are ideally looking for candidates who are available to start in November 2025. However, we recognise that availability may vary due to individual notice periods, and we are happy to accommodate some flexibility where possible.

How to apply

Please submit an up to date copy of your CV (max. two A4 pages) and a Cover Letter (max. one A4 page) outlining skills and experience relevant to the role by email to HR.  Please include in the subject of the email, the following: “Application for the Head of FRIMCO role”.

Please note: we are unable to accept incomplete applications.

If you have any questions or need to discuss any adjustments to the recruitment process, please contact our recruitment team. Full contact details are availble on our website, please follow the link below.

Interview

Week commencing 13 October

Please note: The interview process usually consists of two online stages which may include a role-specific task. Interviews are typically conducted by a panel of two to three members, including the Hiring Manager. Applicants are encouraged to advise us of any adjustments required to ensure the whole recruitment process is accessible and equitable.

Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion

We are dedicated to creating a team that embodies the rich diversity of the society and communities we serve. Our commitment lies in cultivating an inclusive environment, where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

We strongly encourage applications from individuals of diverse backgrounds, including those from underrepresented ethnicities, nationalities, socioeconomic circumstances, LGBTQIA+ and individuals with disabilities. We celebrate the unique experiences and perspectives that every candidate brings and are dedicated to ensuring fair and equitable opportunities for all.

We’re committed to making our recruitment process as accessible and inclusive as possible for individuals of all needs and abilities. If you require any adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact us. Contact information are available on our website.

Find out more about our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion by visiting our website.

Our benefits and wellbeing

At GNDR, we are committed to cultivating a happy and healthy working environment for all our staff.

We provide a competitive salary and benefits package across all of our locations. 

Find out more about our approach to wellbeing and our benefits by visiting our website.

Flexible working

In order to support and encourage a healthy work-life balance for our staff, we are happy to consider flexible working requests as part of our recruitment process. As a global organisation, most staff work remotely depending on their role and location. 

If you have any questions on any of the above information or if you have any specific requirements that would enable you to participate more fully in the recruitment process,  please contact our recruitment team. All contact information are available on our website.

You will be joining us at a time that holds the greatest potential for fundraising in our history, following the launch of the UK Government’s Delivery Plan for ME and initial findings of the DecodeME genetics study (co-led by Action for ME) in Summer 2025. 

Building on our charity’s already established level of support from major donors, you will provide exceptional relationship management to existing donors alongside growing our network of high value supporters.

Working closely with the CEO, alongside managing a portfolio of donors and prospects ensuring excellent stewardship, you will support our Breakthrough-ME Group (a group of high net worth and highly networked individuals). There is an established level of support from major donors at Action for ME so this is a role that will require exceptional relationship management to retain our current valued supporters while growing this crucial area of fundraising. 

This would be an ideal role for an experienced philanthropy professional seeking to work for a small but ambitious charity, helping us to achieve our mission to improve the lives of all people affected by ME – better meeting their needs today while taking action to secure change for tomorrow.

Key duties

Major Donor Fundraising

• Successfully develop and implement the philanthropy strategy to secure and maximise funds from high value individuals for Action for ME achieving annual income of £250k+

• Set plans and budgets which will deliver income through major gift fundraising and philanthropic giving through family trusts and foundations, including quarterly forecasting.

• Manage a portfolio of prospects and donors at the £5k to £100k level, to develop and maintain strong and long-standing partnerships

• Work closely with the Director of Fundraising and Development and other colleagues to ensure that plans and activities for fundraising from high value individuals are integrated into the overall fundraising strategy and plan for significant growth.

• Be responsible for our Breakthrough-ME Group with high quality proposition development.  Contribution to Group fundraising activities with a specific focus on ensuring their networks support pipeline growth for future fundraising.

• Lead the delivery of our biennial fundraising gala dinner, maximising income and new opportunities from attendees.

• Develop engaging and inspiring opportunities to steward and cultivate support creating a calendar of activities including events, presentations, approaches, networking and meetings.

• Utilise the CRM database (Raisers Edge) to provide the data required to strategise your approach to philanthropy, monitor progress and provide a high-quality donor experience.

• Ensure utilisation of insight & data, producing management information data to inform planning and strategy development.

• With the Director of Fundraising & Development, create inspiring cases for support and resulting propositions with clear budgets and outcomes.

• Create adequate systems and processes to support the major donor programme.

• Undertake and manage research into prospects and major donors, preparing for approaches and presentations and briefing senior leadership and trustees for donor meetings and events.

• Develop and maintain relationships with donors, a wide range of staff and volunteers from trustee level down.

• Provide regular feedback and internal reporting to line management.

• Work with other fundraisers to ensure that all fundraising opportunities and leads are followed up – particularly in corporate, community and trust fundraising.

• Work with Trustees, the Chief Executive and members of the Leadership Team to develop relationships with major donors.

• Self-administrate including managing your own diary and meetings, keeping accurate and up to date records of activity

• Occasional travel to London, Bristol & events

Other duties

• To positively promote the work and activities of Action for M.E. at all times.

• To contribute to the team’s overall, ongoing and annual planning and budgeting.

• To undertake any other reasonable activity in line with the responsibilities of the post as requested by the Director of Fundraising and Development, Chief Executive or any other senior Action for ME management.

• Act as an advocate for the Charity and its work.

• To work in accordance with Action for ME’s values of collaboration, equity and empathy.