Legacy and In Memory Officer - Development and Alumni Relations Office - 98886Z25 - Grade 6

Birmingham, England, United Kingdom

7/10/2025

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 £32,546 to £35,116 with potential progression once in post to £39,355

Grade: 6

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to October 2026

Closing date: 30th July 2025

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

Are you looking to develop your career in legacy and in-memoriam giving at a prestigious organisation?

As part of an award-winning team, you will work with our Head of Legacies and Endowments and Legacy and Endowment Officer to generate new gifts to the University and to care for our existing donors. The Legacy and In Memory Officer role is your opportunity to join our excellent team at an exciting time during our 125th anniversary year as a University. You will be passionate about the impact the University’s teaching and research has on the world and have enthusiasm for working in higher education fundraising and helping the University achieve its charitable objectives. You will be an excellent communicator, willing to be in an external facing role, speaking regularly with our supporters, and highly organised, thriving in a fast-paced working environment.

Legacy gifts, or gifts in wills, play a major part in supporting both students and research and you will require a broad skillset but a relationship centred approach to take on this varied role in which you will be well supported with training and development. We are ambitious to grow our legacy and in memory programmes substantially in the coming years and would relish your passion and enthusiasm to help us do that.

Main Duties

The Legacy and In Memory Officer will play a key role in the growing legacy programme by supporting activity and responsibilities across the whole team. Primarily, you will be responsible for managing current and incoming legacy gifts whilst also overseeing in memory giving across the University. You will be expected to work proactively and to use your initiative and planning skills to set your own priorities to ensure you meet agreed objectives and help to encourage continued growth in the legacy team.

• Co-ordinate legacy communications and direct marketing activity across multiple channels. This includes compiling case studies and stories to celebrate the impact of legacy giving at Birmingham.
• Be a first point of contact for supporters interested in leaving a gift in their will to the University and those who have already pledged a gift. You will communicate with prospects and donors by phone, email, LinkedIn, letter and face-to-face.
• Help to co-ordinate a programme of stewardship for legacy pledgers in the Rowbotham Fellowship, our recognition group for those who have chosen to leave a gift to Birmingham in their will.
• Work with the Legacy, Events and Donor Experience Teams to plan and co-ordinate stewardship and cultivation events with prospects and donors.
• Liaise with solicitors and legal professionals to support new legacy pledges and the administration of legacy gifts.
• Ensure all documentation supporting legacy giving is up to date and accurately recorded on the CRM system.
• Track and record the use of legacy gifts across the University for the purpose of governance, storytelling, and donor reporting.
• Work with the Philanthropic Finance Team to ensure gifts are used appropriately and to make maximum impact.
• Take interest in legacy trends and activity across the sector and engage in fundraising networks to identify new opportunities and methods.
• Have responsibility for In-Memory Giving by creating an attractive proposition for donors interested in giving in memory of a loved one, colleague or friend. You will steward existing donors and also cultivate fundraising relationships with new prospects and enquirers to secure new in memory gifts.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues in DARO, particularly the Communications, Events, Volunteer and Prospect Development teams, to maximise legacy fundraising opportunities and to ensure messages and plans are joined up.
• Support the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
• Promote equality and value diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade.
  
  

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• 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.
• A passion for working in a fundraising environment with confidence and determination to succeed as an individual and as part of a team. An understanding of legacy giving is preferable but not essential if you have genuine interest and passion for this area of fundraising.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to interact effectively with a wide range of audiences including senior colleagues, donors, alumni, academics, students, and external organisations.
• The ability to represent the University to senior prospects and donors in the UK and overseas with confidence both in person and on the phone.
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy including the ability to write creatively as well as preparing information and reports.
• Highly proficient IT skills, including the wider MS Office suite of programmes including Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience of working with databases and analysis of large data sets. Knowledge of Blackbaud CRM is desirable.
• Ability to work under pressure and effectively prioritise a varied and diverse workload across two programmes.
• Experience of coordinating and prioritising multiple projects, events and/or groups of people.
• A high degree of initiative, personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self-motivating approach.
• Ability to work effectively in a large, complex organisation, and to develop a good understanding of how the University and higher education institutions work.
• Awareness of relevant legislation e.g. GDPR, Freedom of Information.
• The flexibility to work unsociable hours (evenings and weekends) when required.
• 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.
  
  

Informal enquiries to Thomas Kay, email: [email protected]

View our staff values and behaviours here

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 .