Role: Global Head of Strategic Philanthropy
Location: Hybrid, minimum 1 day per week in HALO's Salisbury or London office (London office opening soon)
Contract: Full-time, permanent
Salary: Circa £75k per annum
Reports to: Director of Global Philanthropy
Role Overview:
The Global Head of Strategic Philanthropy is responsible for leading our strategic philanthropy team to grow income from individual philanthropic donors (HNWIs and UHNWI), to support The HALO Trust's mission, with a focus on principal gifts. This role involves cultivating high-level donor relationships, navigating complex donor networks, and building and leading a team of high performing professionals.
About The HALO Trust (HALO):
HALO's mission is to protect lives and restore the livelihoods of those affected by conflict.
For over 35 years HALO has been saving lives and helping conflict affected countries recover from conflict, by making their land safe. When conflict ends, land is often littered with landmines and other dangerous explosives. Families live in fear and poverty. They are unable to plant crops or graze cattle and day-to-day activities, like getting to school and fetching water, are fraught with risk. HALO recruits and trains men and women to clear landmines in their own communities, take back control of their own livelihoods and rebuild their communities.
HALO is now one of the leading humanitarian mine clearance organisations globally with programmes in 32 countries and territories with over 11,000 staff, most of whom are local employees.
About the Role:
Although HALO is over 30 years old, it had until recently a relatively small philanthropy programme. This has changed over the past five years with global income from philanthropic donors (including those in the US) increasing from £4 million to £44 million in 2023/24 of which UK philanthropic income (led by the Global Philanthropy Team) increased from £3.6m to £8.9m. The most recent increase is attributable to exceptional US donor support for Ukraine
Underpinning this is growth in six and seven figure partnerships with philanthropists, corporates and foundations, supported by our exceptionally well-connected network of trustees and ambassadors and overseen by our committed and professional global philanthropy team.
The Global Philanthropy Team is a team of 12 professionals, predominantly based in the UK, who are working to secure new support and steward donors across the UK/Europe and increasingly international markets including the Middle East and beyond. The team works collaboratively with philanthropy colleagues in the US who are responsible for US philanthropy strategy and implementation.
Following the success achieved to date, HALO has recently taken the decision to invest further in growing philanthropic funding to diversify to our income portfolio and provide greater agility in the face of a decline in government funding. This will include developing mass market individual giving as well as bolstering our major gifts fundraising capacity through recruitment to new roles over the coming year.
The Global Head of Strategic Philanthropy will lead the onboarding of up to three new roles and establish a high performing team with the skills and expertise to maximise HALO's networks and secure major funding for organisational priorities.
This is an exciting time for an experienced fundraising leader to join our high performing team and contribute to the next phase of philanthropic growth.
Job Responsibilities:
- Work with the Director of Global Philanthropy and Philanthropy leadership team (comprising the Head of Global Grants Partnerships and Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships, Middle East) to contribute towards the development and execution of the Global Philanthropy Strategy focusing on high value sources.
- Lead on the onboarding of new team members with recently approved investment from the board
- Work with the UK Board, HALO's Ambassador Group and other advocates to identify and cultivate potential new high-net-worth individual supporters through their networks
- Oversee the development and growth of a bespoke high-net-worth membership group to include delivery of a series of high-level dinners and strategic communications to secure multi-year unrestricted funding
- Personally develop and manage a portfolio of prospective donors to secure funding commitments at the seven-figure level or above
- Create bespoke stewardship plans for existing donors that demonstrate the impact of their support, foster mutual trust and secure renewed support for HALO's work.
- With support from the Global Philanthropy Research and Insight Lead, keep abreast of key developments relating to philanthropic partners and their networks
- Oversee key strategic partnerships with the potential to generate individual philanthropic support through their network
- Develop with our Communications Team relevant, bespoke and influential communications strategies to support our philanthropic work
- Support growth into new markets, for example, Europe, The Middle East, and Southeast Asia
- Manage, mentor and support a team to ensure high levels of performance and motivation. (The role currently has line management responsibility for the Philanthropy Engagement Manager, with new roles to be recruited to over the next year)
- Stay abreast of global philanthropic trends and best practices to enhance fundraising effectiveness
- Ensure compliance with international fundraising regulations and ethical standards
Requirements
HALO is seeking a senior fundraising professional with strong leadership experience. The Global Head of Strategic Philanthropy will have:
- Proven fundraising credentials with a strong track record of inspiring and motivating internal and external audiences
- Experience of cultivating and soliciting major gifts from high-net-worth individuals, including at the seven figure level
- Proven leadership and team-building skills, including working with an international and geographically dispersed team
- Capacity and experience of working at Board level and with senior, high-impact volunteers
- Ideally experience of working within a large global organisation, fundraising across multiple markets
- Knowledge of global philanthropic trends, international fundraising regulations and cross-cultural engagement strategies
Skills & Attributes:
- A proven ability to develop and maintain trusting, long-term relationships with HNWIs including those giving at the seven-figure level or above
- An excellent communicator with the interpersonal skills required to build relationships with a diverse range of external stakeholders as well as staff and colleagues in different cultural environments.
- An excellent understanding of donor networks and how to navigate them
- Ability to demonstrate tact, sophistication and gravitas
- A proactive, self-motivated approach with strong problem-solving skills and the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment
- Strong intellectual curiosity and the ability to articulate HALO's various programmes and strategies in a compelling way
- The ability and willingness to travel within the UK and overseas if required
- A commitment to HALO's mission and objectives.
- Low-ego collaborative team player with a strong ability to self-reflect
Benefits
- Annual Leave: 25 days leave, plus 8 bank holidays.
- Private medical insurance
- Non-contributory life insurance
- Pension contributions matched by HALO up to 5%
- Emergency medical insurance when travelling overseas (including on leave)
- Flexible working policy
- Cycle to work scheme.
Location and Working Pattern:
- Flexible. The Philanthropy Team is based between HALO's office in Wilton, near Salisbury and our soon-to-be-open office in London. Depending on their location, team members work from one of our offices on at least a weekly basis and we try to come together as a team monthly.
- This is a full-time role, with HALO operating a 40- hour working week (with the office closing at 3pm on Fridays).
- We are open to exploring working arrangements that meet the needs of employees whilst ensuring delivery against the role's objectives and our strategic goals.
To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter outlining how your experience matches the key skills and competencies required by
17th June 2025.
We reserve the right to close the advert earlier than the advertised closing date.
The HALO Trust is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any applicant for employment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.
The HALO Trust is committed to a culture that is both diverse and inclusive and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.
The HALO Trust is committed to ensuring that it provides a safe and trusted environment which safeguards and promotes the welfare and wellbeing of anyone who comes into contact with, or is part of, the Charity, with a zero-tolerance approach to behaviours which challenge this. 
