Membership & Engagement Manager

Liberal Democrats; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

8% Employer's Pension Contribution

28 days annual leave plus bank holiday

Hybrid working

Job summary

Liberal Democrats Headquarters in London seeks a Membership & Engagement Manager to grow and retain the party's membership and income streams. You will design end-to-end journeys, run a volunteer retention group, and lead data-driven campaigns to reduce lapsing and boost engagement across digital and in-person channels.

Reporting to the Head of Fundraising & Membership, you will work with CRM systems, campaign teams and elected representatives to build a persuasive member experience and two-way

Qualifications

• Established track record in a membership organisation.
• Experience in retention strategies and win-back programmes.
• Experience recruiting, training and managing volunteers.
• Knowledge of Salesforce or other CRMs and using data to identify lapsing risk.
• Experience hitting annual membership or financial targets.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead strategies to grow and diversify membership and income streams.
• Design end-to-end member journeys, onboarding and lapsing-saver journeys.
• Recruit, train and manage a volunteer retention group and wider network.
• Build online fundraising and digital membership capacity, coordinating with the Head of Digital.
• Develop two-way member communication channels and engagement initiatives.
• Evaluate membership options and report performance to leaders and donors.
• Oversee CRM use and segmentation to support retention activity.
• Build relationships across the Party and collaborate with colleagues to add value to membership.
• Represent membership interests at national campaigns meetings.
• Manage a small team including day-to-day line management of refugee? retention group lead

Skills

Membership management

Volunteer management

CRM and data analysis

Digital & social media

Fundraising & membership growth

Strategic planning

Team leadership

Stakeholder collaboration

Tools

Salesforce CRM

Job description

Benefits: 8% Employer's Pension Contribution; 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays; flexible/hybrid working

Tenure: Permanent

Hours: Full time, 37.5 hours per week (flexible working considered)

Location: Hybrid: Liberal Democrat Headquarters, 66 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6AU, with regular UK travel

Purpose of Job

In recent years, political party membership across the UK has become more volatile and more competitive. Overall party membership has fallen back from its historic highs, voters are more willing to switch allegiance, and newer and insurgent parties are competing hard for the attention, money and activism of politically engaged people. Retention — not just recruitment — is as important to the Party's future as growth.

Reporting to the Head of Fundraising & Membership, the Membership & Engagement Manager will review the Party's membership portfolio, data and member behaviours, benchmarking against other membership organisations and political parties to identify successful models, brands and innovative ideas that recruit new, diverse members and — critically — keep them engaged and renewing.

They will recommend and develop new strategies to engage with and grow the membership and corresponding income streams to support the Party's objectives, with a particular focus on reducing lapsing and building genuine two-way relationships with members from the moment they join.

They will take a hands-on role driving a better member experience through engagement and two-way communication across all channels — digital and face-to-face — including building and leading a network of trained volunteers dedicated to welcoming new members and re-engaging those at risk of lapsing.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and lead strategies to grow and diversify the Party's membership and income streams, maintaining a strategic view of sector-wide trends and competitor activity.
• Design and own end-to-end member journeys — including onboarding and a data-driven lapsing-member "save" journey — to maximise retention and experience at every stage.
• Recruit, train and manage a volunteer retention group (e.g. welcome callers), plus a wider volunteer/activist network, with clear targets, scripts and safeguarding standards.
• Build the Party's online fundraising and digital membership capacity, including digital joining, renewal and payment journeys, liaising with the Head of Digital on relevant projects.
• Develop two-way member communication channels (surveys, forums, events) and initiatives that boost participation, engagement and retention.
• Evaluate membership options, benefits and income streams on an ongoing basis, reporting performance (including retention/lapsing rates) to senior management, stakeholders and relevant donors.
• Oversee effective CRM use, including segmentation, to support targeted retention activity.
• Build strong relationships across the Party (elected representatives, local parties, volunteers) and collaborate with colleagues (e.g. Head of Training and Engagement) to add value to the membership offer.
• Represent membership interests at national campaigns meetings, feeding in relevant ideas.
• Manage a small team, including day-to-day line management of volunteer retention group lead

Person Specification

The successful candidate will have a clear vision of how to grow, diversify, engage with and retain the membership of the Party in a challenging and fast-changing political environment. Specifically, they will have:

• An established track record of working in a membership organisation.
• An understanding of best practice in membership, voluntary or commercial organisations, including membership retention strategy.
• Experience of recruiting, training and managing volunteers to deliver a defined programme of work, ideally in a membership, campaigning or retention context.
• A detailed knowledge and understanding of Salesforce and/or other CRMs, including using data to identify and act on member lapsing risk.
• Experience of working towards annual financial and/or membership targets.
• Experience of devising effective marketing communications, including digital and data-led communications.
• The ability to work effectively with digital platforms and social media.
• A strong teamwork ethic and collaborative working style.
• The ability to build strong working relationships at all levels.
• A track record of commitment to liberal politics and a first-rate understanding of the Liberal Democrats, including evidence of sympathy with its aims and values.
• Experience of devising strategies to deliver growth and retention, and add value.
• Strong links with other membership organisations.
• A track record of successful online fundraising.
• Experience of devising strategies to deliver growth and retention, and add value.
• Experience of member retention or “win-back” programmes in a political, charity or subscription-based context.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The Liberal Democrats are committed to fostering equity, equality, diversity and inclusion across our workforce. We want our employees to thrive in an environment where everyone is welcomed, supported and able to achieve their full potential.

We value and celebrate the diversity of our staff and are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels respected, valued and able to be themselves.