Philanthropy Manager

Birdlife International; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 47,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

David Attenborough Building access

Pension up to 12%

25 days holiday to 28 days

LinkedIn Learning access

Cycle to work

Employee Assistance Programme

Job summary

BirdLife International in Cambridge is seeking a Philanthropy Manager for the Europe and Central Asia region to grow philanthropic income and support restoration programmes. You will build donor relationships across Europe, cultivate new giving, and represent the organisation at meetings and events, with hybrid working and a competitive package.

You will lead strategy, donor engagement and multi-year partnerships, collaborating with teams across borders to advance conservation goals and drive

Qualifications

• Experience building and managing donor or stakeholder relationships in philanthropy or major giving.
• Proactive self-starter with ability to shape a new fundraising programme.
• Excellent written proposals and verbal communication, inspiring and negotiating with diverse audiences.
• Strong networking skills to identify opportunities and form long-term partnerships.
• Ability to collaborate with colleagues across countries, cultures and time zones.
• Willingness to travel across Europe and Central Asia.
• Interest in international conservation, nature restoration, climate action or sustainable development.
• Excellent written and spoken English; additional European languages are advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a philanthropy fundraising strategy, including prospect cultivation and donor stewardship plans.
• Build a strong pipeline of prospective donors through research, networking and relationship development.
• Cultivate, solicit and steward new philanthropic relationships, securing first-time gifts, repeat support and multi-year partnerships.
• Create compelling funding propositions and tailored donor materials in collaboration with programme and development colleagues.
• Represent BirdLife International at donor meetings, conferences, networking events and cultivation activities across Europe.

Skills

Donor relations

Fundraising

Philanthropy

Stakeholder engagement

Donor stewardship

Networking

English fluency

Travel willingness

Job description

Application deadline: Thursday 8 October 2026 – 09:00 BST
Location:Cambridge, UK (hybrid working, minimum one day per week in Cambridge)

Full-time: 35 hours per week
Contract:Open-ended

Salary:£45,000 - £47,000 per annum depending on skills/experience, plus competitive 12% pension benefit
Annual Leave: 25 days pro rata in year 1, increasing by 1 day p/a to 28 days

We’re BirdLife International, the only global Partnership conserving birds and all life on our planet. We exist to give one voice to nature, and to unite and strengthen conservation across borders.

As Philanthropy Manager for the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region of BirdLife International, you will play a key role in growing philanthropic income to support the RENATE initiative and wider ecological restoration programmes across the region. Working with conservation partners throughout Europe and Central Asia, you’ll help secure support for landscape-scale restoration projects in the Balkans, Türkiye and the Caucasus, while building relationships with donors and foundations across key philanthropic markets, including Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.

How you will do this:

• Develop and implement a philanthropy fundraising strategy, including prospect cultivation and donor stewardship plans.

• Build a strong pipeline of prospective donors through research, networking and relationship development.

• Cultivate, solicit and steward new philanthropic relationships, securing first-time gifts, repeat support and multi-year partnerships.

• Create compelling funding propositions and tailored donor materials in collaboration with programme and development colleagues.

• Represent BirdLife International at donor meetings, conferences, networking events and cultivation activities across Europe.

What we are looking for:

• Experience building and managing donor or stakeholder relationships, ideally within philanthropy, major giving, or another relationship-led fundraising environment.

• A proactive, self-starting approach with the confidence to help shape a newly created fundraising programme.

• Excellent communication skills, both written via strong proposals and verbal, with the ability to inspire, influence and negotiate with a range of audiences.

• A talent for networking, identifying opportunities and turning connections into long‑term partnerships.

• The ability to work collaboratively and effectively with colleagues, partners and supporters across different countries, cultures and time zones.

• A willingness to travel across Europe and Central Asia to build relationships and represent BirdLife’s work.

• An interest in international conservation, nature restoration, climate action or sustainable development.

• Excellent written and verbal English; additional European languages would be advantageous.

Some of our benefits:

• We are able to offer a hybrid model of working on‑site and from home/remote for most roles, which helps to ensure a flexible work‑life balance.

• A chance to work in the award‑winning David Attenborough Building, which brings together much of the Cambridge‑based conservation community on a ‘conservation campus.’

• A generous pension scheme, up to 12% company contribution.

• Holiday starting at 25 days excluding Bank Holidays and increasing for every year of service up to a maximum of 28 days.

• Full access to LinkedIn Learning with access to more than 13,000 high‑quality, on‑demand courses.

• Cycle to work scheme.

• Employee Assistance Programme, including access to Health Assured online health portal.

BirdLife values a diverse workforce and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. Find out more about our Diversity statement.

We are committed to building and maintaining an inclusive and supportive culture, a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit. We aim to promote a more inclusive environment, which attracts all candidates and signals our commitment to celebrate and promote diversity.

We know that everyone’s needs are different. If you need us to make any adjustments to our recruitment process, let us know, we’ll do our best to make it happen.