Head Of Impact | Education & Social Mobility

Eql Tech; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 65,000; Full time

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Job summary

Zero Gravity is seeking a Head of Impact to lead fundraising and strategic development for Education & Social Mobility in London. You will build and close major donor relationships, partnerships with banks and corporates, and shape the Fund's strategy with the CEO and trustees.

You’ll work closely with finance and product teams to ensure governance and impactful delivery of funds. This role is London-based with hybrid office days.

Qualifications

• Experience raising funds for social impact or education-focused programs.
• Proven ability to build and manage donor pipelines and major gifts.
• Ability to translate mission goals into funder-ready proposals and pitches.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Fund's fundraising strategy and donor engagement with banks, corporates, consultancies and major donors.
• Set the Fund's strategy in collaboration with CEO and trustees and ensure governance and reporting rigor.
• Cultivate partnerships from first outreach to long-term commitments and manage a small fundraising team.
• Design impact delivery approaches, including AI-enabled models, in collaboration with product/engineering teams.
• Prepare quarterly trustee packs with transparent impact and financial reporting.

Skills

Fundraising

Stakeholder management

Strategic planning

Donor relations

Team leadership

Partnership development

Job description

Head of Impact - Education & Social Mobility | Zero Gravity | London-hybrid | £50k-£65k

Who Zero Gravity are

Zero Gravity is a tech platform connecting students from low-income backgrounds to university and career opportunities. Its programme is free for students, forever, and members are 2.3 times more likely to get into a top university. Over 23,000 students have been supported to date.

In April 2026 Zero Gravity launched an AI tutor that coaches students using the Socratic method rather than handing over answers. Early engagement and attainment results have been strong, and the company has since won a government contract to scale the tutor across the UK. Zero Gravity is a Certified B Corp, holds ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus, and has been covered by the BBC, The Times and The Guardian.

EQL Tech is Zero Gravity's exclusive recruitment partner for this search. All applications and enquiries for this role are handled by EQL Tech on Zero Gravity's behalf.

Why you will want this role

• A cause you can ask for without spin. You are raising money for young people the system has overlooked, so you win funders on belief and evidence, not pressure.
• A real strategic seat. You set the Fund's strategy directly with the CEO and trustees, weighing real options rather than executing a plan handed to you.
• A Fund that is already moving money. It has put real money behind disadvantaged young people. Your job is to make it genuinely ambitious.
• Room to build. In a lean, startup-paced team you shape how impact lands on the ground, including new AI-enabled delivery models for under-resourced schools, and you build the team around you as the Fund grows.
• Strong rewards. £50k to £65k depending on experience, plus share options.

The role

This is a fundraising role first. Zero Gravity runs a charitable fund alongside its core organisation. It now needs someone to take the Fund from well-run to genuinely ambitious by personally asking for the money: building relationships with banks, corporates, consultancies and major donors, and closing them.

Being on the asking side is the opportunity, not the catch. You choose who to approach and how, you take a relationship from a cold start to a committed partner, and the results are yours and visible. Alongside that, you set the Fund's strategy with the CEO and trustees, shape how impact lands on the ground, and work with the finance team and trustees to keep governance and reporting strong. This is a hands‑on role, not a traditional charity post.

We hire on belief in the mission as much as on fundraising record. A funder can tell within minutes whether you believe in what their money will do, and it shows in the commitments you win. We are looking for someone who has genuinely bought into closing the gap between where a young person starts and what they are capable of, and who would be doing something in this space even if this exact job did not exist.

What you will be doing

• Asking for the money yourself: going from a cold start to a committed corporate partner or major donor, and writing and pitching propositions that get funding moving
• Building and owning relationships with UK corporates, banks, consultancies, foundations and major donors, from first approach to long-term partner
• Setting the Fund's strategy directly with the CEO and trustees, weighing real options
• Designing how impact lands on the ground, including AI-enabled delivery models, working with product and engineering so the technology and the mission stay pointed at the same target
• Producing quarterly trustee board packs that stand up to scrutiny
• Working with the finance team to keep financial controls, audit preparation and reporting strong
• Building and leading a small team as the Fund grows

Where you will be: Central London, 3 to 5 days a week in the office.

Interview process

1. Informal video discussion with EQL Tech, the recruitment partner running this search
2. A task, then an in-person presentation to the Zero Gravity team
3. A values interview with the COO, CEO and wider team