Development & Alumni Relations

Location:  Highfield Campus
Salary:   £31,406 to £34,304 per annum
Full Time Permanent
Closing Date:  Monday 22 November 2021
Interview Date:   To be confirmed
Reference:  1567021CD

At the University of Southampton, our aim is to change the world for the better, bringing together realms of academic research, creativity and knowledge to have a truly collaborative, immersive and ground-breaking impact. We care about the challenges that humanity is facing, and work to support others on a local and global scale.

In the Office of Development & Alumni Relations (ODAR), our job is to galvanise our community to solve these challenges and to make a difference. Would you like this to be your job too?

About the role

This important position is responsible for raising significant philanthropic income to help advance the University. Building personal, creative and rewarding partnerships with individuals and some organisations, this position is crucial in connecting donors with Southampton’s fantastic research and education. Working amongst world-leading researchers and managing a varied portfolio of interesting, generous and engaging alumni and supporters, you will get to see truly life-changing impact in action. 

You will line-manage a fundraising colleague and oversee our Special Gifts Programme (£1,000+ donations). You will be based in the Development Team where you will work alongside other brilliant fundraisers who share years of experience but are equally eager to learn from the expertise and perspective of others. Our current fundraising priorities cover an innovative student scholarship programme and a range of medical research projects. There are exciting times ahead as we plan for our new campaign, which will introduce a number of new projects and ensure this is a varied, enjoyable and rewarding role.

About you

You will be a confident, engaging and enthusiastic fundraiser, motivated by seeing the impact of philanthropy. You will have demonstrable experience of working face to face with donors on 5/6-figure+ gifts and will recognise the personal and creative approach required to engage with each individual or organisation you work with. You will apply this same approach to your line-management. You will be an excellent writer, with expertise in creating compelling proposals and personalised stewardship communications. You will have a desire to enable interesting opportunities to connect with, cultivate and steward your donors and you will be tenacious and creative in attracting new contacts, ensuring a positive future of philanthropic support for the University.

About Us

We are planning our first University-wide fundraising and engagement campaign. Together, we want to raise more money and to engage more alumni and friends with Southampton so that we can change the world. And with the full support and investment of our University leadership, we are growing our team over the next few years. We are so excited.  

We need people with intellectual curiosity and people who have different ideas. We need people with direct experience or transferable skills and the interest and drive to take on a new challenge.    We are actively determined to welcome a diverse group of colleagues into our inclusive team. Every day will be different, you will meet incredible people and the rewards will be huge.  

Imagine fundraising for medical technologies that could cure cancer or dementia. Or engaging a volunteer who can help a student improve their graduate prospects. Or connecting alumni around the world and reawakening important friendships and partnerships. Or seeing the look on a student’s face when they learn they will be the first person in their family to attend University—because of a scholarship that you secured. That could be you.

The only thing holding us back is more talented people. This could be a career-defining and remarkable opportunity.

Help us change the world. Join us.

Thank yOu for your interest in joining our team

To learn more about working in the ODAR team, visit our Join ODAR website. If you’d like to have an informal chat about this role, please contact Joanna Watts, Senior Development Manager, on 023 8059 7727 or joanna.watts@soton.ac.uk. Please do contact us if you feel you don’t meet all of the selection criteria and want to discuss the role further. 

Application Procedure 

You should submit your completed online application form at https://jobs.soton.ac.uk. The application deadline will be midnight on the closing date stated above. If you need any assistance, please call Hannah Farrance (HR Recruitment Team) on +44 (0) 23 8059 2507 or email recruitment@soton.ac.uk  Please quote reference 1567021CD on all correspondence.