Senior Fundraising Operations and Administration Manager

East Anglian Air Ambulance; Norwich; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

East Anglian Air Ambulance is seeking a senior fundraising leader to head the administrative backbone of the fundraising directorate. You will supervise the team delivering supporter management, events, and major funding applications, ensuring efficient operations and strong external partnerships.

You will shape governance, oversee contracts, and drive continuous improvement across two primary income streams: lottery and legacies, while aligning with charity regulation and best practices.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading or managing teams in a charity or fundraising setting.
• Experience delivering improvements to operational systems and processes.
• Project management experience; knowledge of lean/value stream mapping is a bonus.
• Experience with third-party contracts, tendering and procurement; contract negotiations.
• Knowledge of fundraising governance, legislation and regulation; familiarity with Code of Fundraising Practice.

Responsibilities

• Develop a future-proofed administrative function to manage fundraising and supporter administration.
• Provide senior leadership and direction to the Trust and Grants, Gifts in Wills, and events delivery functions.
• Manage key external relationships with stakeholders, third party providers and contractors incl. lottery canvassing/CRM providers.
• Collaborate with Information Systems and Finance to ensure fundraising insight, reporting and data are up to date.
• Proactively audit and review activity; drive continuous improvement and ensure compliance with fundraising governance.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Continuous improvement

Vendor management

Fundraising governance

Regulatory knowledge

Job description

Location: *Hybrid working – Norwich or Cambridge

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Contract: Permanent

About East Anglian Air Ambulance

We are East Anglian Air Ambulance. A charity providing lifesaving critical care every day of the year across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Whether by air or road, we bring hospital-level care to the most seriously ill and injured, probably on the worst day of their lives.From blood transfusions and pain relief to anaesthesia and emergency surgery, our doctors and paramedics give patients the best chance of survival and recovery. And it doesn’t stop there. We also offer vital aftercare, train people in lifesaving skills, and carry out clinical research to keep improving care.We’re fuelled entirely by donations, without any regular government funding, so our supporters and their fundraising powers every single mission.

About the role

You will be playing a key role in the senior leadership of the fundraising directorate, working alongside the two Heads of Fundraising. You and your team will provide hugely important support functions for the charity, including; delivering fantastic event experiences for supporters, applying for significant funding, ensuring the smooth running and administration of the fundraising function and specifically for the two largest income areas in fundraising – lottery and legacies.

Key responsibilities include:

• Put simply, you will be responsible for developing a future proofed administrative function that can manage all fundraising and supporter administration, processing and fulfilment requirements.Providing senior leadership and direction to the Trust and Grants, Gifts in Wills administration and events delivery functions of the fundraising directorate. At the same time managing key external relationships with stakeholders, third party providers and contractors inc. our lottery canvassing company, lottery CRM, fundraising systems, insight contractors and other providers.
• Collaborating with Information Systems and Finance teams to ensure that all fundraising insight, reporting and supporter data is accessible and up to date. Commissioning the development of new dashboards or reports to ensure the fundraising team have everything they need to make informed decisions and to grow income.
• Proactively auditing and reviewing current activity and processes. Developing a culture of continuous improvement, through collaboration with other teams and key stakeholders, to address current and future need, plus identifying areas of efficiency, and where we can add value for supporters.Becoming our in-house expert on fundraising governance and compliance, staying up to date with fundraising legislation and regulation to help ensure we are always compliant in our activity, policies and process across the fundraising department.

You’ll bring:

• Significant experience leading or managing teams or functions in a charity and/or fundraising setting. Alongside this, you will have recently been working in an environment where you have been identifying and delivering improvements to operational systems and processes.
• You will have a proven experience in project management and if you have knowledge of lean processing, value stream mapping or continuous improvement methods this would be a real bonus. You will be great at managing significant third-party contracts, supplier tendering and procurement, and contract negotiations.
• Your knowledge of fundraising practices, governance, legislation and regulation will be great, but there will be opportunity to learn and develop this if you need it. A good working knowledge of the Code of Fundraising Practice, Gambling Commission and Charity Commission rules would be fantastic.
• Overall, you will have the right mindset to get stuff done, solve problems and find ways to continuously improve processes and activity – being a fan of helicopters and the colour yellow, would be great too!

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Stuart Wyle, Director of Fundraising & Supporters, on 03450 669 999.

Closing Date: 21st September 2026 (9am)

Interview Date: 28th September 2026 (to be held in person at Helimed House, Norwich)

No agencies please. *This role will be worked a minimum of 3 days a week from our Norwich or Cambridge office and up to 2 days a week from home. The exact days worked in the office will be agreed with the successful candidate, but you must live within a commutable distance of Norwich or Cambridge.