Senior Philanthropy Manager

About Us

We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.  

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.

We employ 1000 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us.

Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.

We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

About the role

We are looking for a dynamic and self-motivated fundraiser to join our successful team as we embark on a major capital campaign to raise £150m. Reporting to the Head of Philanthropy, this role will be responsible for personally securing six and seven-figure gifts from High-Net-Worth Individuals.  

The Senior Philanthropy Manger will work closely with the Head of Philanthropy, the Senior Principal Gifts Manager and the rest of the Philanthropy team, feeding into the overall strategy of high-value partnerships. They will manage a portfolio of funder accounts which deliver long term, high-value strategic partnerships as well as building new relationships.  

The Senior Philanthropy Manager will also manage 2 roles – Patrons Manager and a Philanthropy Manager (HNWI and Legacies), with oversight of both the Patrons Programme and Legacy programme.  

The Philanthropy team is growing and there will be substantial opportunity for professional development within a world-leading cultural organisation.  

About you

The successful candidate will be an experienced and high performing fundraiser, which will support their team to excel. Candidates will have experience working within a results-oriented environment, with a record of achieving personal KPIs and targets.

You will have experience raising significant funding at a six and seven-figure level, demonstrating success in managing a high value and diverse portfolio of major donors that include complex relationships. To thrive in this role, you will be adept at building positive relationships across all levels of the organisation and have strong interpersonal skills both internally and externally. 

Management experience is desired along with an understanding of both Patrons and Legacy programmes.

Thriving at the Museum: the way we work

We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.

Find out more here

What we offer

• 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
• Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)
• Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
• Life insurance
• Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
• Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
• We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
• Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures. For more details, visit https://www.cssc.co.uk
• Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi

Hybrid working

We are working towards a vision where both people and planet thrive, and nothing gives a greater connection with this, than seeing first-hand, the visitors, scientific research and collections that all of our work is inspired by and working side by side with the teams delivering the visitor experience and events.  We also recognise the benefits and flexibility that hybrid working brings.  We operate a hybrid working model that requires regular, weekly attendance for this role, with the precise pattern of days on site and worked from home to be agreed with your manager.