Who are Ambition Institute?

A great teacher changes the future every day. Especially for children who have had a tough start in life, a teacher can be the critical factor in their success.

At Ambition Institute we help schools tackling educational disadvantage to keep getting better and help their teachers and school leaders to become more expert over time.

That’s how we’ll make sure every child gets a great education and the best possible start in life.

• We train teachers and leaders at all levels to get better at the things that make the biggest difference: what you teach, how you teach it, and how you create the conditions for schools to thrive.

• We share what works. Everyone can benefit from evidence of how great teaching and leadership can improve schools and change lives, so we connect people to the latest research and best practice.

• We champion every teacher and school leader’s potential to develop, as the driving force for sustainable school improvement.

What would we like…?

As Associate Fundraising Director, you will be responsible for generating philanthropic income to sustain and advance our reach and impact, enabling the organisation to further meet its charitable objectives. You will work as part of the Fundraising team and with colleagues across Ambition to implement our fundraising strategy and build compelling cases for philanthropic support across our high value portfolio with an emphasis on developing our burgeoning trust relationships and income.

We would like you to:

• Lead on allocated areas of the fundraising strategy to expand our activity and increase our income from philanthropy over the next 2-3 years (contributing to the £1.5M target in 2022/23 moving to £5M in 2025) 

• Generate income from a portfolio of high-net worth funders (with an emphasis on developing our work with Trusts and Foundations) for Ambition Institute projects and initiatives 

• Work opportunistically and creatively – working closely with our colleagues in the Learning Design, Bids, and Programmes teams (and external partners as required), to identify funding opportunities and match areas of interest to specific parts of Ambition’s work

• Brief senior members of Ambition, our Executive team, Trustees and others leading presentations and/or attending meetings with prospects, ensuring they are well prepared and present Ambition effectively

• Have extensive experience of working in a major gifts role, soliciting six figure gifts

• Have experience of delivering on an effective fundraising strategy for a national organisation with comparable or higher income targets. 

What’s in it for you….?

• Competitive annual salary.

• Professional development for all staff.

• 25 days’ annual leave, plus bank holidays and 'winter shut down’ between Christmas and New Year.

• Employer pension contribution of 11%.

• Agile, hybrid working culture, so you can manage when and where you work.

• Staff affinity networks that help keep equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work.

• Blind recruitment process to ensure equality and fairness in our hiring.

• Enhanced maternity pay after a year’s service.

• Shared parental leave package.

• Access to free, confidential 24/7 wellbeing and support line.

• Comfortable and collaborative workspaces in the city centres of Manchester, Birmingham and London

• Work-from-home technology package to support hybrid working.

• Interest free season ticket / bike loans.

ABOUT YOU

We don’t expect the person we hire to have all of the following, but this should give you a sense of what would enable you to thrive in this role and in our team:

YOU SHOULD APPLY FOR THIS ROLE IF:

• You care deeply about educational disadvantage and being part of an organisation that challenges inequality.

• You have a good work ethic and strive to make a difference in the job you do.

• You always give maximum effort to understand and meet the needs of our partners and participants.

• You always have a great attitude so we “can do” for all our colleagues, partners and participants.

• You are open to feedback and learning because we want to keep getting better.

• You work with your initiative to bring new ideas and a fresh perspective.

• You are well organised and can prioritise work that will have the greatest impact.

YOU’LL LOVE WORKING AT AMBITION IF…

• You want a career with a person-centred organisation with a cause at its heart.

• You have a collaborative work ethos, bring warmth and good humour to work and constructive outlook to every situation.

• You enjoy working in a fast-moving workplace, with a great support structure around you.

• You would like to grow with an ambitious organisation as it progresses over time

• Want flexibility in how you work – splitting your time between one of our offices and remote working and managing your own working patterns to get the job done.

HOW TO APPLY:

All applications must be received by the closing date, 13 September 2022 . Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 19 September.

To apply for this role, or any of our other vacancies or for any questions or queries please visit our website.

Equality and diversity matter to us. If you think you’d be suited to one of our roles we’d love to hear from you regardless of age, disability status, ethnicity, gender, religion or sexuality.

We encourage applications from people with disabilities as they are currently under-represented in the organisation and guarantee an invitation to interview for all applicants with disabilities who demonstrate, within their screening process, sufficient evidence to meet the essential criteria for the job.