Vacancy: Head of Fundraising

Job title: Head of Fundraising 

Reporting to: Finance Director

Supervisory responsibility: N/A

Key relationships: CPA Secretary-General, Deputy CPA Secretary-General, Financial Accountant, Head of Programmes, Head of Strategy and Communications, Editor/Communications Manager.

Term: 3-Year Fixed Term Contract – Full Time.

Salary: Scale Point 36 - £59,240 per annum inclusive of London Weighting Allowance - attractive benefits including Pension, Private Travel insurance, Life Insurance, generous annual leave and maternity and paternity leave packages, flexible working arrangements.

Overview

The Head of Fundraising will play a critical role in developing and executing a fundraising strategy and action plan to support the organisation’s objectives and drive our financial sustainability.

The role is responsible for managing supporter relationships and realising new funding opportunities. The Head of Fundraising will lead our income generation activities from the ground up.

This is a pivotal leadership role, responsible for shaping and delivering a sustainable fundraising strategy to support our ambitious global agenda. The role requires effective relationship building coupled with a proven track record in securing income from trusts and foundations, high-net-worth individuals (HNWI), institutional donors and corporate partnerships.

The post-holder reports directly to the Finance Director and works closely with the senior leadership team.

Primary Duties and Accountabilities

The main responsibilities of the Head of Programmes include:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive fundraising strategy and business plan aligned with the organisation’s strategy.
• Identify, prioritise and deliver funding sources – including grants, Trusts & Foundations, corporate partnerships and individual donors – to achieve the fundraising budgets and deliver year-on-year growth.
• Lead income diversification efforts to ensure financial sustainability, including unrestricted and project-specific funding.
• Research, identify and pursue all income generation opportunities that match the objectives of the wider organisation strategy.
• Build business cases to grow new sources of net income generation including committed giving, fundraising campaigns and digital fundraising.
• Write and approve funding proposals across the full fundraising mix.
• Conduct thorough research and analysis to identify potential funding opportunities and stay updated on industry trends and best practice.
• Identify and pursue new funding opportunities and ways to expand the donor base, always mindful of the constraints imposed by the CPA Sponsorship Guidelines.
  Manage the CPA Fundraising budget, assessing and forecasting financial performance to enable our developmental work.
• Alongside the Programmes Team, support the promotion of the CPA Parliamentary Academy as an income stream.
• Collaborate with senior leadership to establish fundraising budgets, timelines and budget allocations.
• Cultivate and manage relationships with trusts, foundations, HNWIs, corporates and institutional donors (e.g., UK FCDO, EU, UN agencies).
• Lead and deliver exceptional supporter relationship management, using data to cultivate new supporters, define effective supporter journeys and execute a supporter relationship management plan that delivers elevated levels of supporter engagement and retention.
• Lead, develop and deliver the Fundraising events plan including event management plans to achieve supporter engagement.
• Prepare papers for the CPA Executive Committee relating to plans for the Fundraising Strategy.
• Represent the CPA at networking events and meetings with potential donors.
• Collaborate with external partners/stakeholders where this supports income generation.
• Work with the Editor/Communications Manager to identify opportunities for sponsorship and advertising within our Communications outputs, including the CPA quarterly journal The Parliamentarian.

Any other duties commensurate with the role.

Skills & Experience

Essential

• Minimum 7 years’ experience in fundraising with a strong track record in securing six-and seven-figure donations.

• Experience of creating a fundraising strategy and action plan across all main funding sources.

• An up-to-date knowledge of fundraising good practice and current fundraising trends.

• Familiarity with UK and international fundraising regulations.

• Knowledge of CRM and donor management systems (e.g., MS Dynamics).

• Excellent written and oral presentation skills with experience in donor proposals and impact reporting.

• Experience of setting budgets, financial management and business planning.

• Experience of networking and influencing senior stakeholders and representing an organisation externally and able to apply these to the specific needs and limitations of the CPA.

• Experience of creating and implementing a successful capital fundraising campaign.

Desirable

• Experience working in or with NGOs, INGOs, or parliamentary networks.
• Digital Fundraising experience.
• Fundraising campaign management experience.
• Experience of managing or building a fundraising team.

Personal Attributes

• Positive attitude and ability to motivate others.
• Excellent people skills with the ability to create and build relationships both internally and externally.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to work autonomously and collaboratively.
• Able to find pragmatic solutions, seek improvements, and adapt to changing situations.
• Self-motivated, entrepreneurial and takes initiative.
• Team player and willingness to work collaboratively with colleagues.
• Due to the nature of the role, it will require occasional evening and weekend working, as well as occasional international travel.

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to degree level or equivalent demonstrable experience.

Desirable

• Fundraising qualifications.

Our Mission:

"To promote knowledge of the constitutional, legislative, economic, social and cultural aspects of parliamentary democracy, with particular reference to the countries of the Commonwealth."

About Us:

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) is a membership-based association that brings together Parliamentarians, irrespective of gender, race, religion or culture, who are united by a community of interest, respect for the rule of law and individual rights and freedoms, and by the pursuit of the positive ideals of parliamentary democracy. The Association is made up of over 180 Parliaments and Legislatures (also known as CPA Branches) divided up between nine geographic regions of the Commonwealth. It offers a vast opportunity for Parliamentarians and parliamentary staff to collaborate on issues of mutual interest and to share good practices.

Explore this CPA website to find out more about our organisation.

If you are committed to progressing parliamentary democracy, highly self-motivated, hard-working and an organised individual who is willing to take on responsibility, then please apply for this role.

To apply:

• Please submit a copy of your CV and a covering letter of no more than two A4 pages, stating how you fulfill the requirements of the role. 
• Please also complete the attached Application Form and Equality Monitoring Form and submit these with your CV and covering letter.
• All applications should be sent via email to vacancies@cpahq.org. 

Deadline: 18 October 2025 (UTC+1) by midnight.

Interviews: Interviews will be held during the week commencing 27 October 2025.

IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: All posts with the CPA Secretariat are subject to UK Border Agency requirements for those who already have the right to work in the UK.

In order to fulfil our security clearance vetting requirements, you are also required to hold at least 3 years UK residency.

For informal enquiries about our vacancies, please contact Sharon Moses, Head of Human Resources at the CPA Secretariat via vacancies@cpahq.org.