Age UK is hiring a Philanthropy Lead! We are delighted to be recruiting for this brand new role in Age UK’s award-winning partnerships and philanthropy team. You’ll be joining a team of c30 talented and dedicated colleagues working across philanthropy, corporate partnerships, trusts & foundations, statutory, all supported by a fantastic partnerships operations team. We work closely with colleagues in services to drive forward our restricted funding priorities and are well embedded within the charity.It’s an exciting time to join Age UK as we embark on a new income generation strategy to drive significant growth in income and impact, to end the crisis hiding in plain sight for older people.
We’re looking for an experienced major donor fundraiser who has the passion, drive and strategic understanding to lead Age UK’s Philanthropy programme. You will work to create a step change in philanthropy income & impact, aligned to Age UK’s thematic priorities to tackle pensioner poverty, disconnection and health and care – locally, nationally and internationally. You will forge relationships to secure new donations and maintain existing donor relationships, whilst also leading and coaching a team you have the opportunity to recruit and build yourself.
We operate a hybrid-working model, a blend of home and office working. This role will include regular days working from our London office (EC3N 2LB) – currently once a week on a Thursday and may involve occasional travel for meetings and cultivation events. Travel costs to the London office are the responsibility of the postholder and are not covered by the charity.
Last date for applications Monday 17th November 2025. Interviews for shortlisted applicants will take place via Teams on Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th November.
Age UK internal grade: 4L
Must haves:The below competencies will be assessed at the indicated stage of the recruitment process:Application = A, Interview = I, Test = T, Presentation = P
Experience Significant experience of developing philanthropy strategy, implementing major donor programmes and meeting annual income targets. A, I, P
Significant experience of driving a pipeline of opportunities forward, making 7+-figure asks and supporting senior colleagues and volunteers to participate in the ask process. A, I P
Proven outstanding donor-facing and relationship management skills with the demonstrable ability to communicate, influence, and negotiate successfully at the most senior level with donors and colleagues. A, I, P
Experience of managing teams of fundraisers to work at pace to achieve targets and build long-term relationships with donors. A, I
Proven success developing complex restricted funding bids that have secured six and seven figure multi-year investment from individuals. I, P Skills and knowledge Confident when speaking to external stakeholders with the ability to influence at all levels, including senior business people and celebrities. I
Excellent levels of financial management and numeracy with significant experience of putting together, managing and monitoring budgets. A, I
Outstanding communication skills, both written and oral – with the social skills and presence to communicate complex issues to a variety of audiences – up to board level. A, I, P
High levels of gravitas and influencing skills: credible and confident with senior level contacts internally and externally. I, P
Ability to distil complex information and convey it powerfully to a variety of different people, including distilling complex issues to understandable and actionable items. I, P
Ability to manage multiple priorities within a fast-paced environment, ensuring our prospects and donors are at the heart of our fundraising. I, P Personal attributes A passion to join Age UK in supporting older people and a belief the support from major donors is critical to achieving our strategic goals. A, I
A high degree of diplomacy, tact and confidence. I Great to haves:
The below competencies will be assessed at the indicated stage of the recruitment process:
Application = A, Interview = I, Test = T, Presentation = P
Experience Experience of working with public fundraising teams to drive philanthropy and legacy prospecting. I, P
Experience in developing and delivering major appeals/ campaign fundraising. I, P
Experience in project management, reporting and analysing results. I Skills and knowledge: Sound administration skills, including a good working knowledge of MS Office products and databases. I, T Personal attributes A collaborative approach and the ability to work effectively with internal stakeholders in the wider Fundraising division and most other teams within the Age UK. I
What we offer in return
Competitive salary, 26 days annual leave + bank holidays + annual leave purchase scheme
Wellbeing days – 2 paid days per year (pro rata for our part-time colleagues)
Excellent pension scheme, life assurance, Bupa health cashback plan and EAP
Car Benefit scheme, Cycle to Work scheme
Home & Tech - apply to buy any Home & Tech items from 'Currys' & 'IKEA', up to £1000, and spread the cost over 12 months, interest free.
Blue Light Card scheme
You Did It Awards – recognition awards from £100-250.
Additional InformationSupporting statements and anonymisation
Candidates are expected to provide a supporting statement that explains how they meet the competencies annotated with an ‘A’ in the job description, to assess suitability for the position. Age UK acknowledges and accepts that AI may be used to support the application; we do expect candidates to personalise experience, knowledge and skills and failure to do so, may result in your application being rejected.
Please submit a Word version of your CV as it will be anonymised by our recruitment system when you apply for a role. Our system is unable to anonymise supporting statements and heavily formatted CVs. Please could you remove any personal information including your name before you upload to support our inclusive recruitment process. All equalities monitoring information is also anonymised and not shared with the hiring panel. Your name and address will only be known to us if invited for interview.
Equal opportunities & Disability Confident Scheme
Age UK is an Equal Opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates, regardless of age, sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital/civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity. Age UK is a Disability Confident Scheme employer. Due to high numbers of applications received, Age UK reserves the right to limit the overall number of interviews offered, and therefore, it may not always be practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people that meet the minimum criteria for the job.
Reasonable adjustments
Disabled job seekers can access reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process. All requests for reasonable adjustments are considered on a case-by-case basis, in collaboration with the disabled job seeker to best meet their needs, by contacting the Recruitment Team. Disability disclosures will be kept confidential and only shared on a need-to-know basis to support the implementation of adjustments. Disclosures will not be used to inform hiring decisions.
Age UK is committed to safeguarding adults at risk, and children, from abuse and neglect. We expect everyone who works with us to share this commitment.
Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert at any time.
Age UK politely requests no contact from recruitment agencies or media sales. We do not accept speculative CVs from recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.
For a full list of benefits please click here
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