Development Director, HUGHES HALL

Guardian Jobs; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Hughes Hall Cambridge seeks an experienced Development Director to lead the college’s fundraising and alumni activities, including a high-impact anniversary campaign. You will engage senior donors, cultivate relationships, and work across education and estates to advance the College’s mission.

The role requires a proven major gifts background, strategic leadership, and willingness to travel domestically and internationally to engage prospective supporters.

Qualifications

• Senior development professional with proven track record of securing major gifts.
• Experience leading or enabling major campaigns.
• Willing to travel UK and internationally to cultivate donors.
• Energetic, confident communicator and relationship builder.

Responsibilities

• Lead Hughes Hall's fundraising and alumni operation.
• Oversee a major anniversary campaign targeting substantial philanthropic support.
• Cultivate and steward prospective donors and stakeholders.
• Build and lead a small development team reporting to the President.

Skills

Leadership

Fundraising

Donor relations

Strategic planning

Campaign management

Job description

Hughes Hall is one of the largest constituent Colleges of the University of Cambridge: progressive, international and egalitarian, with a distinctive commitment to putting learning and research at the service of wider society.

As Hughes Hall looks ahead to its 150th anniversary in 2035, the College is entering a period of major transformation. With a highly international student body, a growing global alumni community and ambitious plans across education, impact and the estate, Hughes Hall seeks to reimagine what a Cambridge College can be: outward-looking, inclusive, and connected to the challenges of the wider world.

We are seeking an experienced and ambitious individual to lead the College's fundraising and alumni operation as Development Director. Reporting to the President, Sir Laurie Bristow, the postholder will be a key member of the Senior Leadership Team, and will lead a small development office. They will lead a major anniversary campaign, expected to raise in the region of £30-50m over the next decade to support scholarships, transformational capital projects and wider social impact.

The post holder will likely be a senior development professional with a proven track record of securing major gifts. They will have first-hand experience leading, or be instrumental in, major campaigns. They will be prepared to travel in the UK and internationally to cultivate prospective donors and stakeholders.

Strong candidates will be energetic, confident communicators and relationship builders, able to act as a warm, credible and energetic ambassador for Hughes Hall. They will combine strategic judgement with a hands-on approach, be able to speak and inspire an audience, and to lead a successful team.

This is a mission-critical appointment at an exciting moment for Hughes Hall. It is a rare opportunity to design and lead the first major philanthropic campaign in Hughes Hall's history, and to help shape the College's future as it approaches its 150th anniversary. The College has strong foundations, clear ambition and significant philanthropic potential; this is a distinctive opportunity for someone who shares Hughes Hall's ethos to help shape the future of a unique Cambridge institution.

The closing date for this role is 15th September 2026.