Director of Development and Partnerships

The Royal Countryside Fund; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 81,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Contributory pension (Royal Household)

25 days annual leave

Enhanced family-friendly policies

Job summary

The Royal Countryside Fund in London with hybrid working is seeking a senior fundraising leader to shape our income strategy. The role reports to the Chief Executive and carries a £70,000 annual salary.

You will develop a new fundraising strategy to grow unrestricted income, strengthen partnerships with individuals, corporates and trusts, and help manage a budget of £3.8m for 2026/27. Preliminary interviews in late November 2026.

Responsibilities

• Lead work to increase The Royal Countryside Fund's resources and unrestricted income.
• Develop a new fundraising strategy.
• Build genuine, shared-value partnerships with individuals, corporates, trusts and foundations.

Job description

Location : London with hybrid working; at least two days in the office each week

Reports to : Chief Executive

Salary : £70,000 per annum

This is a crucial senior leadership role, which provides a rare and exciting opportunity to play a central part in shaping the future of The Royal Countryside Fund (RCF), a UK-wide charity.

You will be responsible for growing our sustainable unrestricted income by leading our work to increase the RCF’s resources (Budget for 2026/27 FY £3.8m). But the role is so much more than that, it requires the development of a new fundraising strategy and associated approach to rethink how we build genuine, shared-value partnerships with all who wish to support us and that strengthen our impact as well as our income, whether they are individuals, corporates or trusts and foundations.

We have an enviable raft of corporate partnerships with leading companies and have recently developed our income from trusts and foundations to a similar level.While there is much scope to grow both income streams, there are areas such as legacies and individual giving, which in comparison, are undeveloped.

• Contributory pension through the Royal Household Worksave Pension Scheme with up to 7.5% employer contribution upon completion of six months’ continuous service, which is conditional on employees maintaining a minimum contribution of 2.5% of salary.
• 25 days annual leave rising by 1 day for every year of service on the anniversary of joining to a maximum of 30 days, plus English statutory bank holidays (8 days).
• Further benefits are offered, including enhanced family-friendly policies, a summary of which will be made available to short-listed candidates.

Preliminary interviews: w/c 23rd November 2026

Final Panel interviews: w/c 30th November and w/c 7th December 2026