Job Description
Position Details
Development and Alumni Relations Office
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822
Grade: 7
Full Time, Permanent
Closing date: 5th January 2026
UK travel may be required for this role
Our offer to you
People are at the heart of what we are and do.
The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.
We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.
We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.
Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.
The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.
Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham
Background
Our University has a proud history of philanthropy stretching back to its foundation in 1900. With a clear vision to change the lives of the people of Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain raised the funds required to build the University from citizens and corporations based locally and around the globe. Since then philanthropy has continued to play an important role in shaping the University. There have been a number of fundraising campaigns, including a £1m urgent capital appeal after the Second World War and a £1.4m campaign to fund the Vale ‘student village’ in the 1960s. In 2015 we closed the Circles of Influence Campaign, raising £193 million, making it the largest HE fundraising campaign outside Oxbridge and London.
The University has global reach, including several partnerships with other leading universities around the world, and is grounded in our local community, having opened the first fully comprehensive University secondary school in the country in 2015. We are an ambitious and successful research-intensive University (one of the top 100 research-led universities globally) and have produced 10 Nobel Prize winners, including three who received their awards in 2016. Academics here are exploring the impact of climate change, helping to address global health epidemics, and changing our understanding of Shakespeare. Our students come from nearly 150 countries and our flagship outreach programmes mean that almost 25% of our student population come from underrepresented backgrounds: one of the highest proportions in the UK.
DARO exists to support this academic and student community by engaging, inspiring, and celebrating alumni, individuals, and charitable funders who give their money, time, and networks to support the University’s strategic priorities. The Office, which is comprised of five teams, is focused on fundraising and volunteering from alumni, organisations and individuals who are passionate about changing lives, through funding various research projects, supporting student bursaries, mentoring students, and providing internships, as well as providing a versatile programme of engagement opportunities for our global alumni community.
Role Summary
Join us in the ambitious ‘Birmingham In Action’ campaign, which commits to raising over £600 million of charitable funding and 1.25 million volunteer hours, positioning the University as one of the world leaders in university development. To help fulfil our exciting campaign ambitions, we are seeking to recruit a ‘Charitable Funding Manager’ (CFM) to maximise philanthropic funding across the University. The role will involve working to achieve a financial target by proactively identifying and securing income from Trusts, Foundations, and other charities.
A key member of the Development and Alumni Relations Office’s (DARO) Charitable Funding team, you will navigate the university, working closely with academics and Professional Services colleagues to identify some key areas where there are funding needs. The role will bring to life some of our ground-breaking, sector leading work in a compelling and succinct way, inspiring support from new and existing funders.
You will have experience of delivering against financial targets, along with the ability to translate complex information into a compelling ask in both verbal and written form. As a Charitable Funding Manager in DARO, you will be innovative, self-motivated, and take ownership of fundraising opportunities in this area. You will generate significant gifts for amazing philanthropic projects and encourage new donors to make long-term, sustainable gifts. You will have an enthusiasm for building relationships and the skill to interact with high-level donors and supporters.
Main Duties
As a Charitable Funding Manager, you will excel in the following areas:
- Managing a portfolio of prospective and established partnerships with Trusts, Foundations and Charity Partners to raise income towards our team target of £12M.
- Developing and strengthening relationships with key current charitable funders to the University to grow philanthropic income.
- Securing five, six and seven figure gifts for the University of Birmingham, developing a sustainable pipeline of prospects and income.
- Networking internally to identify research that aligns with the strategic priorities of charitable funders and working with the Charitable Funding Partners and other colleagues to progress funding opportunities.
- Managing the whole donor journey of a charitable funder, from identification to acknowledgement and stewardship. Meeting reporting objectives of funders and ensuring an excellent experience for funders.
- Managing and delivering against your own budget, planning for future years.
- Bringing exciting projects to life – work across our fundraising campaign and key areas of the university to pull together compelling cases for support.
- Have an ability to write compelling fundraising proposals which express complex ideas coherently and persuasively.
- Understanding the interests of charitable funders and putting forward funding proposals which align to these interests.
- Communicating College research strengths and funding priorities to the rest of the DARO team, particularly the Fundraising Team.
- Influencing internal and external parties including academics, Professional Services, and potential funders and volunteers, and using positive working relationships to deliver a proactive and joined-up approach for delivery.
- Understanding that new funders and opportunities will come from a variety of sources including the wider DARO team, academic and staff networks, volunteers, and current donor networks. You will be expected to identify new prospects and develop your international networks in a number of ways.
- Efficiently using CRM to record and report on activity – feeding into campaign data, team reporting and management information for the senior leadership team.
- Being responsible for adhering to relevant fundraising regulation and current data legislation in the UK and in target markets whilst ensuring fundraising is ethical and that due diligence is undertaken as necessary.
- Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience
Fundraising
- Evidence of writing motivational and persuasive written bids, reports or proposals – this could be demonstrated through performance in full time, part time or voluntary roles.
- Experience of working to and exceeding targets.
- Passion for and knowledge of Higher Education, particularly research and the role of philanthropy.
- Ability to build strong relationships and engage with individuals and organisations, internally and externally.
- Personal confidence, independence and determination to succeed as an individual and as part of a team.
- The ability to understand and communicate complex expressions of academic vision to non-academic philanthropic supporters.
- Outstanding communication skills including the ability to prepare applications and reports for potential funders and to present confidently to audiences of all sizes.
- The ability to represent the University internally and externally with confidence, diplomacy and authority.
- A demonstrable understanding of the different approaches to design in presenting information.
- Excellent interpersonal skills: diplomacy, discretion, tact, persuasiveness, the confidence to deal with a wide range of audiences, along with the ability to deploy negotiation skills when required.
- Understanding of and ability to represent, orally and in writing, the vision and mission of the University of Birmingham.
General
- Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications). Where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a similar role will be required.
- Good understanding of the UK HE sector.
- Ability to prioritise own workload under pressure and balance a range of competing deadlines.
- The desire to support colleagues in the achievement of their individual and the collective goals and to celebrate others’ success as positively as your own.
- Ability to work collaboratively with a wide audience internally including academics and Professional Services staff.
- Good all-round IT skills including competence with all aspects of MS Office.
- Meticulous attention to detail and excellent grasp of written English.
- Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.
- The flexibility and willingness to work unsociable hours (evenings and weekends) occasionally, when required.
Dimensions
Roles at this level will require a broad understanding and practical experience of an administrative or professional field which will be used to plan the running and development of services and/or lead shorter term projects or contribute to larger projects. You will work with information which needs interpretation and analysis; you will use your judgement to identify the best solution to differing problems and issues, offering recommendations for managing more complex situations. You are likely to be responsible for managing a team of staff, being accountable for recruiting and developing them and for managing performance. You may also need to liaise and/or co-ordinate activities across a number of different sections within the department or possibly with wider department or external bodies as appropriate.
Planning and Organising
- plan the running and development of service(s), overseeing resources and inputting into resource planning as appropriate;
- develop, agree and implement standards for delivery for own area;
- plan relevant training and development;
- provide professional advice, guidance and support to others within and outside their immediate work area;
- oversee resources and make recommendations about future resource requirements.
Problem Solving and decision making
- review, develop and propose solutions for problems with (for example) staff, budgets, services and/or systems;
- deal effectively with unexpected issues, such as changing priorities;
- deal with sensitive people matters/issues;
- provide specialist advice and recommendations to support decision–making of others.
Internal and External relationships
- understand their own and closely-related working areas and how they contribute to the success of the University;
- has an understanding of how the University operates; actively seeks to share this knowledge with others;
- developing empathy with the academic endeavour;
- influence decision makers and win support for proposals;
- develop excellent working relationships within and outside of own area and potentially with external stakeholders;
- co-ordinate activities across a number of areas.
Informal enquiries to Chandra Quarshie, email: c.quarshie@bham.ac.uk
View our staff values and behaviours here
Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.
We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website . 
