Director of Development – SS Great Britain

Job Title: Director of Development
Salary: £70,000
Hours: Full time
Term: Permanent
Location: Brunel's SS Great Britain, Great Western Dockyard, Gas Ferry Road, Bristol BS1 6TY
Closing date: 12:00 pm 26 February 2024

Salary: £70k – £75k

Reporting to: CEO

Responsible for: Development team (3 team members)

Purpose of job:

To play a significant role in securing capital and revenue funding for the SS Great Britain Trust.

To devise and implement a strategy for significantly boosting the Trust’s income through a variety of fundraising activities, including individual giving and legacies, trusts and foundations, corporate support and sponsorship and major donors.

Overview 

Join the SS Great Britain Trust as Director of Development at a pivotal time in the charity’s journey. As a world-leading museum and heritage attraction, and an important charity caring for collections and tackling inequality in access to STEM engineering careers, the Trust offers an incredibly rewarding workplace and career.

With bold plans set out for expansion that will double visitor numbers and grow education and develop new research themes inspiring new audiences, this key senior management role will drive forward all areas of fundraising as the charity realises transformative yet achievable strategic growth goals. With a new CEO currently being recruited, coupled with an ambitious 10-year strategic plan that includes delivery of the Albion Dockyard Project, now is an exciting time to join the charitable trust.

The Director of Development is a new role that offers the opportunity to make a significant difference to the organisation. The Development team is being strengthened and new systems are being invested in, creating a broad scope for the right person to bring new thinking and priorities aligned with the organisation’s strategic goals.

As Bristol’s number one visitor attraction, driving the region’s tourism economy, the Trust has an important role within the city as well as in conserving the SS Great Britain and Brunel collections for the nation.

With ambitious expansion plans underway, the Trust will continue to innovate and reflect the role of both a museum and an education and conservation charity in an equal and inclusive society, delivering positive change for the city and beyond, and continuing the legacy of innovation to inspire the next generation of engineers from all backgrounds.

As Development Director you will:

  • Lead on the fundraising strategy and activity for the Trust, liaising directly with the Chief Executive and trustees as needed, to improve financial resilience.
  • Be an active member of the Senior Leadership Team, feeding into annual business plans and budgets, preparing board reports and attending quarterly board meetings.
  • Be a member of the Development Sub-Committee of the Board of Trustees, and work with the sub-committee to leverage key fundraising relationships and ensure the fundraising strategy remains relevant and dynamic.
  • Be accountable for development and delivery of a full fundraising strategy to sustain and grow unrestricted and restricted voluntary income, legacies, endowment funding, capital funding and funding for special projects.
  • Develop and actively manage the fundraising strategy for The Albion Dockyard Project.
  • Develop a major donor programme and work to recruit HNWIs to support the work of the charity.
  • Manage, lead and develop the Development team, ensuring team members have clear priorities and are engaged, supported and committed. Guide colleagues, The Executive team and Trustees in their roles in fundraising.
  • Lead fundraising and income generation for key projects including appeals and events and develop effective and appropriate fundraising products.
  • Oversee the prospecting strategy for the Trust, ensuring GDPR compliance.
  • Manage and strengthen the on-going relationship with major stakeholders, including ACE and NLHF, keeping them informed through regular communications and invitations to visit to see the work in progress or attend trust events.
  • Review, develop and grow the Trust’s membership scheme and individual giving activities to meet agreed targets.
  • Ensure that all fundraising activity is fully compliant with sector regulations, policies and practices.
  • Undertake other duties as can be reasonably required to assist in the smooth and efficient running of the Trust. Some weekend and out of hours working may be required.

We would like to hear from you if you have:

  • Experience of strategic fundraising and leading a fundraising team.
  • A successful track record in fundraising, including a major capital project and personally leading on, and supporting others in securing donations and grants in excess of five figures from individuals, charitable trusts and foundations, and public funders.
  • Leadership and management experience at a senior level.
  • Managed a personal portfolio of major donors across all fundraised income streams.
  • Experience of managing a fundraising database and CRM strategy that has resulted in giving increasing.
  • Work with CEO and Director of Finance and Resources to set budgets.
  • Experience of managing membership schemes is desirable.
  • A knowledge and understanding of the full range of fundraising channels and how they can be used to meet objectives.
  • Good project and time management skills, with the ability to prioritise tasks and manage own and team workload.
  • A customer-focus, with excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
  • Initiative and enthusiasm and a positive ‘can do’ approach.
  • Excellent copy-writing and proof-reading skills.
  • An enthusiasm and willingness to learn about the SS Great Britain and I.K.Brunel.

How to apply

Please send your CV and your Cover Letter explaining why you are the right person for this role to [email protected] 

Closing date: 12noon, Monday 26 February 2024

The SS Great Britain is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications from people of all backgrounds but particularly welcomes applications from candidates from BAME backgrounds as they are under-represented within our organisation.