Fundraising charity - Teach First – seeks a Head of trusts, foundations and fundraising intelligence and external affairs and development

Teach First is a fundraising education charity. It has experienced rapid growth over the past twelve years since its inception – doubling its annual income over the past three years.

Teach First believes that what you achieve in life shouldn’t be determined by how much your parents earn. However, in the UK, it very often is the determining factor. As an education charity, Teach First works with like-minded people and organisations to ensure that eventually every child gets the education they are entitled to. They train people with leadership potential to be inspirational teachers in low-income communities across the country. These leaders go on to work in schools and other sectors in society with our main aim at heart – a future where no child’s educational success is limited by their socio-economic background.

Teaching
Because Teach First has expanded so rapidly, they are looking to hire a Head of trusts, foundations and Fundraising Intelligence and external Affairs and Development. Third Sector’s Careers Content Editor, Antje Derks, talks to Samuel Sims, Teach First’s hiring manager about the role, the person they are looking for and what it is like to be involved in this charity.


Tell me more about the role you have on offer.

This is a really exciting opportunity. The successful candidate would be expected to lead and develop Teach First’s Trusts, Foundations and Fundraising Intelligence Team. The role will mean building on existing successes of the fundraising programme by managing a prestigious portfolio of supporters as well as identifying and winning new partnerships and overseeing the dissemination of fundraising intelligence throughout the development team.

Currently the position has one report, but this is being expanded to two in the near future. Because of sustained growth and our commitment to fundraising, we are growing the department to maximise its capabilities.

What would a typical day look like?

We are a very fast-paced and dynamic organisation, so the successful candidate must thrive in an organisation that still has and nurtures a strong, ‘start-up’ mentality – even though we have been firmly established for the past twelve years.

A big part of the role involves working across many different areas as well as spending a large proportion of time with the senior management team. You will be expected to help them prepare for pitches to help with fundraising. Our executive team is very focused and forward-thinking and are actively involved in all aspects of the business. This role offers the chance to become very well networked within the organisation.

Aside from this, you will also spend a lot of time building and maintain relationships with our supporters. This may involve site visits to schools and attending events put on by us all in the name of raising funds and awareness about our cause.

This is an amazing opportunity for you to really put your stamp on the role and really own the project.


What is it like to work at Teach First from a cultural point of view?

Teach First has a true ‘start-up’ feel. We adopted agile working practices two years ago and never want to get bogged down in bureaucracy – indeed, we actively fight it. Therefore, you can expect a slick, fast paced working environment. We are all highly creative and entrepreneurial. We want to be nimble and reactive to change as it happens without lengthy sign-off processes.

No one is assigned a desk – you work where you want to. We have a myriad of breakout areas and spaces as well as more traditional office areas. Everyone has a locker and desks must be cleared at the end of each day.
Because we are actively engaged in encouraging an agile working process, we also have more flexible working patterns. This means we have the technology in place to support remote working and our ‘hot-desk’ office.

What are Teach First’s core values?

We have a series of values that are at the heart of everything we do here at Teach first. These values play such a central role, that we all refer to them on a daily basis and are part of everything we do. Part of the interview process will be based on our values, so that we can ensure we get a committed individual who will be a good cultural fit.

Our values are: Commitment – we want you to champion Teach First and achieve results for us; Integrity – we want you to manage and develop yourself so that you can lead by example as well as giving, seeking and accepting constructive feedback; Collaboration –we want you to communicate and influence our key messages and really develop relationships that will, in turn, build strong teams; Excellence – you should be able to prioritise, plan and organise efficiently as well as being innovative, adapting to and managing your team;  Leadership – you will manage, empower and develop others whilst providing strategic direction and vision.

Final thoughts?

This is an exciting time to join a growing team within a leadership capacity. This really is your chance to develop and implement a fundraising strategy to maximise the income from trusts and foundations, whilst providing high-quality support to the whole fundraising team.

Teach fun

If you think you have what it takes and wish to apply for the Head of trusts, foundations and Fundraising Intelligence and external Affairs and Development position, click here

Back to listing