Overview
Senior Philanthropy Manager – Strand, London, WC2R 2LS
About us
Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement (P&A) raises philanthropic funds in support of King’s College London and engages with the university’s worldwide alumni community. We are proud to enable the work of colleagues across the university and its health partners, helping them serve society through world-leading education, research and healthcare. Our activity includes a partnership with the Maudsley Charity in support of children’s mental health and initiatives between the university’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and the South London & Maudsley NHS Trust.
We are entering an exciting period as a team. Our work is identified as a key enabler of the new King’s Strategy 2030, with associated ambitions that include preparing for our next major philanthropic and engagement campaign. This will accelerate and energise our work in support of the University’s mission to be ‘in service to society through academic excellence’ – be that through exceptional, impact-led research; ensuring our students are supported to thrive during their time at King’s and beyond; or by helping the university to invest over the long-term into its people, ideas and infrastructure. We plan to deepen and scale engagement with our global alumni community, donors and other supporters, mobilising them behind these shared priorities. We are strongly values-driven with a focus on sustaining a strong and supportive culture, which we see as key to creating a successful team that can realise these ambitions.
More on King’s College London
For almost 200 years, King’s has been a place where ideas turn into action. From revealing the structure of DNA to reimagining nursing, from advances in medicine, law and the study of war and peace to shaping culture and public debate, our work has always been guided by a belief that knowledge should serve society. Over our history, King’s has been home to 14 Nobel Prize winners, and to scholars whose ideas and leadership have shaped thinking, policy and practice around the world. King’s has always been a place where knowledge is put to work for the benefit of others. King’s College London is a world-renowned university that delivers exceptional education and world-leading research. We’re committed to creating positive and sustainable change in our local and global communities through outstanding education, impactful research, and genuine service to society.
King’s Strategy 2030 sets out how we take that purpose forward, with four key priorities including student success in and beyond university, investment in research and education excellence that responds to the changing world, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, and delivering sustainable finances for a secure future.
More information on King’s, its purpose and strategy can be found here – https://www.kcl.ac.uk/about
About the role
We are looking for two exceptional individual fundraisers to join the Philanthropy team at King’s College London, leading on fundraising for either King’s Business School or the faculty of Arts and Humanities. Candidates are invited to specify in their supporting statement if they have a preference to focus primarily on a particular faculty.
Senior Philanthropy Managers will be responsible for managing a portfolio of major gift prospects, securing and stewarding significant philanthropic gifts at the £50k to £5 million gift level, supporting senior stakeholders with their fundraising efforts, and championing the work and priorities of King’s and its faculties.
The post-holders will play a crucial role in the delivery of the University’s ambition to significantly scale philanthropic income for faculties, as we prepare to launch our next major fundraising campaign in 2027 and mark the university’s bicentenary in 2029.
We will build on our already successful fundraising to achieve ambitious new goals for philanthropy – creating strong partnerships across campus and with donors, to realise shared priorities and deliver strategic impact.
The successful candidates will work collaboratively with academic and professional service colleagues across King’s to secure significant philanthropic income to support student outcomes and drive world-leading teaching and research.
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.
King’s Business School (KBS) is one of the largest business schools in the UK, each year bringing together over 3,000 students, 300 staff, and 1,000 leaders and entrepreneurs from more than 150 countries. It ranks amongst the top 10 business schools in the UK for research, drawing on its world-leading expertise in sustainable business, public services and economic systems, women’s leadership and modern workplaces to respond rapidly to changes in business and to inform ways of working across the world.
Educating the current and next generation of business leaders, KBS makes London its classroom and laboratory, leveraging its position in the heart of London and strong industry partnerships to connect people through unrivalled access to global hubs of finance, technology and policymaking.
King’s Arts & Humanities meets the challenges of today conceptually, historically, creatively and imaginatively. It is the home of eleven departments — distinctive in representing exceptional strength in both the longer established disciplines (such as Philosophy, Classics, Theology, English, History, Languages, and Music) and world-leading quality in more recently established fields (such as Digital Humanities, Film, Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts, and Culture, Media and Creative Industries).
Teaching over 5,000 students and 600 PhD researchers through its Doctoral School, King’s Arts & Humanities is one of the largest faculties of its kind and ranked in the top 5 in the UK (QS Subject Rankings 2025).
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. Typically, this equates to two days per week, but we’re very happy for colleagues to be in more frequently if they so wish.
About you
To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:
Essential criteria
- A proven track-record of cultivating, securing, and stewarding five- and ideally six-figure gifts.
- Experience of qualifying and cultivating new philanthropic relationships.
- Ability to develop and maintain key relationships with senior internal stakeholders.
- Proven interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal).
- Ability to plan strategically and implement those plans.
- The ability to negotiate throughout a large, complex environment with multi-dimensional points of view.
- Ability to manage multiple projects, identifying conflicting demands and establishing clear priorities in order to meet agreed objectives and income.
- An understanding of the philanthropic landscape and what would motivate a prospect to give to King’s.
Desirable criteria
- Major gifts fundraising experience in areas relevant to King’s Business School or the Faculty of Arts & Humanities.
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 page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.
IMPORTANT: Before applying for this role, please make sure you have the right to work in the country where the role is based. Unless it clearly stipulates within in the job advert above that the hiring company is looking to or able to sponsor applicants it is deemed that the hiring employer will only consider applications from those able to comply with and work in the country where the role is based.
