Business Support Manager - Philanthropy

Business Support Manager - Philanthropy

Department: P&A Business Operations
Grade and Salary: £45,031 - £52,514 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance
Job ID: 145507

About Us

Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement (P&A) provides a fundraising and alumni engagement function in support of King s College London. We are proud to work with colleagues across the university and its health partners to help them serve society through world-leading education, research and healthcare. Our work also includes a partnership with the Maudsley Charity in support of children s mental health initiatives between the university s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and the South London & Maudsley NHS Trust.

We are a committed team that brings together fundraisers working across different channels, alongside colleagues who promote King s College London s engagement with its worldwide alumni community. Our work is underpinned and enhanced by a range of dedicated professionals in supporting areas covering proposition development, supporter engagement, supporter operations and business operations.

We have an impressive, well-established track record of success in securing support that allows the university and partners to deliver on their missions. This includes our global, award-winning World Questions: King s Answers campaign, which set the standard in the sector and enabled us to raise substantial funds to help tackle some of the world s biggest challenges. Ambitious and innovative, the team has won awards such as a CASE Platinum Award for Fundraising and a CASE Gold Award for Donor Relations and Stewardship. We are strongly values-driven with a focus on sustaining an excellent and supportive culture, which we see as key to creating a successful team that can support the university and its partners in making a real and positive difference to the world we live in.

More on King s College London

King s College London is an internationally renowned university delivering exceptional education and world-leading research. The university is dedicated to driving positive and sustainable change in society and realising our vision of making the world a better place. Through its commitment to exceptional education, impactful research and genuine service to society, King s College London is creating positive change in its communities, both in London and on the world stage. The Strategic Vision 2029 looks forward to King s College London s 200th anniversary in 2029 and sets out ambitious plans in five key areas:

Educating the next generation of change-makers

Challenging ideas and driving change through research

Giving back to society through meaningful service

Working with our local communities in London

Fostering global citizens with an international perspective

About the role

The Principal & International Giving (PIG) team is responsible for securing principal and transformational gifts of £5m+, and high-level gifts of £50k+ from across the international philanthropy portfolio.

The Business Support Manager provides critical operational, programme and business support and management to enable the continued success and evolution of the Principal and International Giving programme.

This is a fast-paced and varied role, spanning business operations, cross-team coordination, and international activity management. The postholder will work closely with the Principal Giving and International Philanthropy teams and sit within the wider Business Operations unit, ensuring P&A operates in an efficient, joined-up and high-performing way. They will therefore report to the Senior Business Manager, with their day-to-day activity supporting the Associate Director of Principal & International Giving and the Head of Philanthropy (International).

The role suits an ambitious self-starter who enjoys working with people, processes, and systems; can manage complexity and competing priorities; and can act as an active enabler and connector, bringing together the right people at the right time to support fundraising success.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week) and you will be offered an indefinite contract. P&A has a hybrid working approach, with a minimum of 40% of time in the office. Typically, this equates to two days per week, but we re very happy for colleagues to be in more frequently if they so wish.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

Proven experience in project or programme management or complex coordination

Ability to prioritise, manage competing deadlines, and work calmly under pressure

Highly organised and process-orientated, with strong attention to detail and an ability to see the bigger picture

Strong relationship-building skills and the ability to collaborate effectively across teams

Proactive approach with the ability to manage own workload and deliver to objectives

Confident stakeholder management skills, including working with senior leaders

High level of IT literacy, including strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office and databases

Strong analytical ability, with experience synthesising and presenting complex information clearly

Desirable criteria

Experience of fundraising or working within a fundraising operation

Knowledge of a fundraising database (e.g. Dynamics, Raiser s Edge)

Experience supporting senior leaders or high-performing teams

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

At King s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King s guidance.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.

We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our How we Recruit pages.

We are open to discussing flexible working arrangements, including part-time, compressed hours and/or job shares, as appropriate and in the context of the business needs associated with the role.

We offer the opportunity of an Ask Us Anything Teams call on Wednesday 20th May at 11am. During this call you will be able to ask any questions you might have about the role, the selection process, our department, our core values and work culture, our current hybrid work policy, or simply listen to others questions.

Close Date: 25-May-2026

This role will have two interview stages, a standard skills-based interview followed (for up to two appointable candidates) by a Core Values interview.

First stage interviews are due to be held on Monday 8th June. Core Values interviews are due to be held during w/c 8th June or w/c 15th June.