Director of Growth

Impact Europe; Brussel Hoofdstad; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 170,000; Part time

Job summary

Impact Europe in Brussels seeks a Director of Growth to unite membership, fundraising, partnerships and value proposition under one leadership. You will grow and engage the network, secure diverse funding, and steward key funder relationships to ensure long-term financial sustainability.

You will own the growth strategy, renew and expand funding, and manage a team delivering membership, fundraising and program development in a fast-moving European context.

Qualifications

• Proven track record in fundraising with multi-year grants and partnerships.
• Senior leadership experience, including building and managing a budget.
• Experience growing membership networks with focus on engagement and retention.
• Experience working with boards, CEOs, and senior funders.
• Ability to articulate impact clearly and build a case for support.
• Matrix organization experience; fluent professional English.
• Established network among European foundations, philanthropists or impact investors.

Responsibilities

• Grow and engage the membership and ensure engagement.
• Lead fundraising strategy across foundations, corporates, and funders.
• Personally lead major funder relationships from prospecting to renewal.
• Develop new funding propositions and products with programme colleagues.
• Support the CEO and Board in approaching funders.
• Set up programmes/products to inform funders and maintain enthusiasm.

Skills

Fundraising leadership

Leadership & team management

Membership networks

Board/CEO interaction

Impact communications

English proficiency

Job description

Director of Growth

Impact Europe is the investing for impact network.

We gather capital providers (impact funds, foundations, corporate social investors, banks, public funders) to increase prosperity and social progress for all, fix inequalities and injustices and preserve the planet. Together, we rally people, capital and knowledge to accelerate, scale and safeguard impact.

Making impact history: In 20 years we went from eight to 300 members strong.
We built a unique data hub for the impact space, trained 1,000+ impact champions, produced standard-setting and bar-raising guidelines on investing for impact and impact measurement and management. We established a strategic presence in the EU policy sphere and play a vital role in global impact collaboration impacteurope.net.

Job Description

As we continue our pivot towards a fit-for-purpose organisation, we are looking for a Director of Growth. This role brings our membership, fundraising, partnership and value proposition work under one leader, so that the people who make up our network and the people who fund it are served by one joined-up growth strategy. The Director of Growth grows and engages our membership, leads fundraising to secure Impact Europe’s long-term financial sustainability, continuously renews the offer that makes Impact Europe worth joining and funding, and manages the team that delivers all three. It combines strategy with hands-on delivery: setting the direction and personally opening and stewarding the most important funder relationships.

Roles & Responsibilities

1. Membership & Community

Grow a network that is representative of the European impact market and keep members engaged:

• Define and deliver a membership strategy that grows a network representative of the European impact market, across segments from foundations and philanthropy to institutional investors
• Own membership growth, engagement, retention and satisfaction targets, and the membership fee income they generate
• Make sure the voice of members (needs, insights, input) shapes Impact Europe’s plans, programmes and events
• Identify untapped segments and markets where Impact Europe can bring in new members and new capital for impact
• Act as an ambassador for Impact Europe and the investing for impact community with members, the wider sector and public stakeholders

1. Fundraising & Partnerships

Secure and diversify the income that underpins Impact Europe’s long-term financial sustainability:

• Develop and lead a fundraising strategy that diversifies income across foundations, corporates, public funders and partners, and secures long-term financial sustainability
• Personally lead major funder relationships, especially with private and corporate foundations, from prospecting to proposal, negotiation and renewal
• Build compelling funding propositions and cases for support with programme colleagues
• Support the CEO and Board in approaching and briefing key funders
• Set up programmes/products so funders and partners are well informed and enthusiastic about our mission and impact
• Work with the Finance & Operations team on funding agreements, pledge tracking, income forecasting and reporting to funders

1. Innovation & Value Proposition

Make sure Impact Europe offers clear, distinctive value to members, funders and partners, and keeps renewing it:

• Own Impact Europe’s value proposition for each member and funder segment, so it is clear why organisations join, stay, fund and partner with us
• Turn member and market insight (needs, feedback, data, retention trends) into a clear view of where our offer is strong and where it has gaps
• Design, pilot and launch new products, services and membership models with programme colleagues, such as segment-specific or tiered memberships, peer-learning formats, data and benchmarking services and digital community tools
• Develop new, mission-aligned income streams beyond membership fees and grants, such as sponsorship, paid programmes, events and earned-income services
• Review the portfolio of offers regularly: scale what works, adapt what could work better and retire what no longer adds value
• Track trends in impact investing, philanthropy and sustainable finance so Impact Europe’s offer stays ahead of what the market needs
• Build a culture of experimentation in the team: test ideas quickly, measure the results and share what we learn

1. Team Leadership

Lead the Growth team to deliver its goals:

• Lead, coach and develop the Growth team, with clear goals, trust, empowerment and accountability
• Improve processes and workflows so the team works efficiently and in step with other departments
• Attract, retain and develop key talent

1. Organisational Leadership

Contribute to Impact Europe’s direction as a member of the leadership team:

• Serve as a thought partner to the CEO and contribute to organisational strategy as a member of the leadership team
• Work across teams in a matrix environment to align objectives, priorities and resources
• Manage the budget for the department and report on results to the CEO and Board

Key Performance Indicators

• Fundraising income secured and renewed, against annual targets
• New funding partnerships
• Membership growth, retention and satisfaction
• Diversity and representativeness of the network
• Uptake of and income from new products, services and partnership models
• How members and funders rate the value Impact Europe offers them (e.g. satisfaction or Net Promoter Score)
• Impact Europe’s presence and credibility in key impact and philanthropy circles
• Team engagement, retention and development

Skills & Qualities

Essential experience

• Proven track record in fundraising, with a history of securing significant multi-year grants and partnerships from foundations, corporates or other institutional funders
• Senior leadership experience, including leading and developing a team and managing a budget
• Experience growing a membership network, community or client base, with a focus on engagement and retention
• Experience working with boards, CEOs and senior funders, including briefing them for funder approaches
• Ability to build a compelling case for support and communicate impact clearly
• Experience working collaboratively in a matrix environment; fluent professional English
• An established network among European foundations, philanthropists or impact investors

Desirable experience

• Experience working in or with a philanthropic foundation, ideally on the grant-making or partnerships side
• Knowledge of impact investing, venture philanthropy or sustainable finance
• Experience building a fundraising function or programme from scratch
• Experience developing and launching new products, services or membership offers, ideally in a network, association or mission-driven organisation
• Fluency in other European languages, in addition to English

Personal qualities

• Modern leadership based on trust, empowerment and accountability; inclusive and able to co-create solutions
• Strategic thinker who is also pragmatic and results-driven, able to switch between the two daily
• Excellent relationship builder, networker and communicator
• Analytical mindset, able to spot growth opportunities and barriers
• Curious and entrepreneurial: comfortable testing new ideas and learning from what does not work
• Strong ability to prioritise; agile and goal-oriented
• Team player, and passionate about accelerating positive change and ecosystem building

Reporting & Stakeholders

Reports to: CEO

Member of: Leadership Team

Works closely with: Finance & Operations, Communications, Knowledge and Policy teams, and Impact Europe’s members, funders and partners

Manages: Growth team (membership, community engagement, fundraising and value proposition, innovation)

Location: Brussels, with travel across Europe

Contract: Full-time or part-time 80%

Use of AI in your application

We recognise that AI tools are now part of how many people work, and we welcome their responsible use. In your application, please use AI only to polish language, vocabulary and structure.

Everything you submit must reflect your own experience, achievements and views. Examples, figures and outcomes should be real and ones you can discuss in detail at interview. Applications that appear to be largely generated by AI, or that include content not based on your own experience, may not be taken forward.

Impact Europe is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate and practise diversity in all its forms and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all of our employees.