Befriend a Child is looking to recruit an experienced Head of Fundraising and Marketing to lead and develop our fundraising, marketing and communications activity.

As a member of the Senior Management team, you will play a key role in shaping the future of the charity by developing and delivering an ambitious fundraising and marketing strategy, driving sustainable growth and raising the profile of Befriend a Child. You will have a particular focus on developing our corporate and major donor partnerships, while identifying new opportunities to diversify and grow income.

Leading a dedicated and experienced team, you will provide inspirational leadership, empowering colleagues to deliver high-quality fundraising, marketing and communications activity while fostering a collaborative approach across the organisation.

This is an exciting opportunity to make a lasting impact, helping ensure even more children and families across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire can thrive.

If you are an experienced fundraising leader, with a track record of securing sustainable income, developing strong partnerships and inspiring high-performing teams, we’d love to hear from you.

Purpose

The Head of Fundraising and Marketing provides leadership for Befriend a Child’s fundraising, marketing and communications functions, ensuring the delivery of sustainable income and profile raising to support the charity’s mission and long-term ambitions.

The postholder will lead the development and delivery of an ambitious fundraising strategy, driving sustainable income growth through trusts and foundations, corporate partnerships, major donors, community fundraising, events and individual giving. They will personally lead the development of strategic corporate partnerships and identify new opportunities to diversify and grow income.

As a member of the Senior Management Team, the postholder will work closely with the CEO and leadership team to strengthen the charity’s profile, enhance supporter engagement and ensure the long-term financial stability of the charity. They will lead, motivate and develop the Fundraising and Marketing team, fostering a high-performing and collaborative culture.

Key Responsibilities

Fundraising and Marketing Leadership and Development

• Develop and implement a multi-year fundraising and marketing strategy aligned to the organisational strategy
• Deliver sustainable income growth through a diverse portfolio of income streams
• Identify new income opportunities and respond proactively to changes within the fundraising landscape
• Lead annual planning, budgeting and performance reporting for fundraising and marketing
• Monitor fundraising performance and identify opportunities for growth across income streams
• Ensure fundraising activities reflect best practice, regulatory requirements and ethical fundraising standards

Fundraising

• Provide strategic oversight and leadership across all fundraising income streams, including community fundraising, trusts and grants, fundraising events, corporate giving and individual giving, ensuring income targets and KPIs are met
• Support the writing of applications to grant making trusts and foundations, leading on writing applications as required
• Support community fundraising initiatives, events and appeals
• Lead the development and delivery of a corporate partnerships strategy
• Identify, secure and steward corporate and major donor funding opportunities
• Develop an individual giving programme for Befriend a Child
• Identify and develop new fundraising opportunities in line with fundraising and marketing strategy
• Represent Befriend a Child at networking events, presentations and meetings

Marketing and Communications

• Provide strategic oversight and leadership of the charity’s Marketing and Communications function within Befriend a Child
• Ensure marketing and communications activity supports profile raising, fundraising and volunteer engagement
• Oversee the Befriend a Child brand, including visual identity, positioning and key messages
• Oversee digital communications, including website, email and social email
• Ensure consistent messaging across all communications
• Promote the impact of Befriend a Child through effective storytelling

Supporter Relations

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with donors, supporters and stakeholders
• Champion an excellent supporter experience across all fundraising and marketing activities
• Ensure effective stewardship and supporter retention
• Oversee the development of the charity’s CRM database
• Promote a supporter-centred approach across the organisation

Team Leadership and Management

• Lead, develop and inspire the Fundraising and Marketing team, fostering a culture of motivation, accountability and high-performance
• Line manage and support direct reports through regular supervision, performance management and development planning
• Ensure staff have the skills and resources needed to deliver excellent services
• Promote staff and volunteer wellbeing and create a supportive, inclusive and collaborative working environment

Organisational Leadership and Collaboration

• Contribute actively to the development of the charity’s strategic vision and objectives
• Play a key role in organisational decision-making and strategic planning as part of the Senior Management Team
• Prepare operational and impact reports for the Senior Management Team and the Board on a monthly, quarterly and yearly basis
• Attend Befriend a Child Board meetings quarterly to present the Fundraising and Marketing report
• Represent Befriend a Child at events, conferences, and meetings to advocate for our work
• Act as the lead contact for named funders, supporting relationship management, grant applications and reporting requirements

Additional Responsibilities

• Promote Befriend a Child’s vision, mission and values and be an ambassador of the charity
• Support the delivery of activities for donors, beneficiaries and volunteers, including occasional evening and weekend work
• Ensure compliance with all Befriend a Child policies, procedures and professional standards
• Support fundraising activities and attend events as required
• Undertake any additional duties consistent with the senior nature of the role

This is an outline job description designed to give an overview of the responsibilities of the role. We expect the job holder will work flexibly, responding to organisational need and changes as they occur.

PERSONAL SPECIFICATION

Required Knowledge / Experience

• Educated to degree level or equivalent relevant experience
• Experience of strategy development and planning (desirable)
• Experience of developing and delivering operational fundraising and / or marketing plans and KPIs
• Proven experience of leading and managing teams, including staff supervision and development
• Proven track record in professional fundraising with experience of a broad range of techniques for income generation
• Proven track record in securing major donations and grants (£50,000 +)
• Proven success in developing corporate partnerships
• Proven ability to build and maintain partnerships with donors, supporters and stakeholders
• Knowledge and experience of marketing and communications
• Experience of budget management and financial accountability including forecasting
• Knowledge of database management, data protection and GDPR
• Strong local business networks (desirable)
• Experience of working in the third sector (desirable)

Required Skills

• Proven ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, including the ability to produce quality reports for a variety of internal and external audiences
• Excellent planning skills and ability to work under pressure and to strict deadlines across a range of activities
• Excellent project management skills and the ability to co-ordinate multiple projects
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to represent Befriend a Child
• Strong networking and relationship building skills
• Strong team working skills including sharing ideas, providing and receiving support, maintaining positive relationships and able to communicate positively with the Befriend a Child community
• Able to take a flexible approach to work, including flexible and out of hours working in response to beneficiary service needs
• Strong IT skills

Apply

To apply, please forward a copy of your CV along with a covering letter giving an overview of your skills and experience and how you meet the personal specification. Please also include the name and contact details of two referees, one of whom must be your current employer. Please send application information to sarah@befriendachild.org.uk by Sunday 16th August 2026.

Interviews will be held on Thursday 20th August 2026. Please let us know if you need any special arrangements for interview.

For further information please contact Sarah Misra, CEO at sarah@befriendachild.org.uk or tel: 01224 210060.

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