Head of Philanthropy

Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement (P&A) provides a fundraising and alumni engagement function in support of King’s College London. We are proud to work with colleagues across the university and its health partners to help them serve society through world-leading education, research and healthcare.  Our work also includes a partnership with the Maudsley Charity in support of children’s mental health initiatives between the university’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and the South London & Maudsley NHS Trust. 

We are a committed team that brings together fundraisers working across different channels, alongside colleagues who promote King’s College London’s engagement with its worldwide alumni community. Our work is underpinned and enhanced by a range of dedicated professionals in supporting areas covering proposition development, supporter engagement, supporter operations and business operations.

We have an impressive, well-established track record of success in securing support that allows the university and partners to deliver on their missions. This includes our global, award-winning World Questions: King’s Answers campaign, which set the standard in the sector and enabled us to raise substantial funds to help tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. Ambitious and innovative, the team has won awards such as a CASE Platinum Award for Fundraising and a CASE Gold Award for Donor Relations and Stewardship. We are strongly values-driven with a focus on sustaining an excellent and supportive culture, which we see as key to creating a successful team that can support the university and its partners in making a real and positive difference to the world we live in.

More on King’s College London

King’s College London is an internationally renowned university delivering exceptional education and world-leading research. The university is dedicated to driving positive and sustainable change in society and realising our vision of making the world a better place.  Through its commitment to exceptional education, impactful research and genuine service to society, King’s College London is creating positive change in its communities, both in London and on the world stage. The Strategic Vision 2029 looks forward to King’s College London’s 200th anniversary in 2029 and sets out ambitious plans in five key areas: 

We are looking for two exceptional Heads of Philanthropy to join our team to significantly increase philanthropic income for faculty fundraising priorities across King’s College London.  Within your application, please indicate which position you are applying to, or if you are happy to be considered for both positions.

One role will lead the Health, Science & Technology philanthropy team, and the other will lead the Arts & Social Sciences philanthropy team. Candidates will need to demonstrate curiosity and genuine interest in the academic areas that fall within the role, and work in partnership with King’s experts and other stakeholders to be successful.

King’s has an ambition to significantly scale philanthropic income for Faculties as we prepare to launch our next major fundraising and engagement campaign in 2027 and mark the university’s bicentenary in 2029. There is currently at least one major gift fundraiser working in each Faculty. Working closely with the Associate Director, Faculty Philanthropy, the postholder will play a pivotal role in developing and growing the major gift fundraising function. They will be responsible for leading and nurturing a team of high value fundraisers to secure gifts at the £50k level and above.

We are looking for someone with a proven track-record of developing new, high value relationships, with experience of closing gifts at the six- and seven- figure level. They will need to demonstrate that they understand what is required to build and scale prospect portfolios. They should be intellectually curious and energised by the depth and breadth of King’s academic expertise, with particular interest and passion to work with senior university leaders and academics to secure funding for a range of priorities across either the Arts and Social Sciences, or Health, Science & Technology portfolio.

Working closely with the Associate Director, Faculty Philanthropy, the postholder will play a pivotal role in developing and growing the major gift fundraising function in advance of the launch of the university’s next public fundraising campaign. They will be responsible for leading and nurturing a team of high value fundraisers to secure gifts at the £50k level and above.

This is a full time post (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite  contract. P&A has a hybrid working approach, with a minimum of 40% of time in the office, on King’s campuses or meeting donors externally. Typically, this equates to two days per week, but we’re very happy for colleagues to be in more frequently if they so wish.

We welcome applications from those seeking part-time and flexible working.

Please indicate if you are applying for either the Health, Science & Technology role or the Arts & Social Sciences role in your supporting statement or if you are happy to be considered for both positions.

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

Desirable criteria

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's. We are open to discussing flexible working arrangements, including part-time, compressed hours and/or job shares, as appropriate and in the context of the business needs associated with the role.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.  Please indicate if you are applying for either the Health, Science & Technology role or the Arts & Social Sciences role in your supporting statement or if you are happy to be considered for both positions.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit ’ pages.

If you have questions you might have about the role, the selection process, our department, our core values and work culture, our current hybrid work policy, or anything else please email Michelle Moore on michelle.moore@kcl.ac.uk 

These roles will have three interview stages, a first-stage standard skills-based interview followed by a more in-depth second-stage interview and presentation, and (for up to two appointable candidates) a Core Values interview.

First stage interviews are due to be held on Tuesday 25th November.

Second stage interviews are due to be held w/c 1st December.

Core Values interviews are due to be held on w/c 8th December.