Head of Partnerships & Income Development

Contract Type: Full-time, Permanent

Salary Band: £60,000, plus £2,200 London weighting if applicable

Location: Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Manchester or Newcastle

Hours: 5 days per week; 9AM-5.30PM (flexible working hours available)

Start date: As soon as possible, as agreed with candidate

The Opportunity

As Head of Partnerships & Income Development you will own the development and delivery of the SMF's income generation strategy so that we can raise the funds and build the partnerships we need to meet our ambitions.

Commercially minded and experienced at building and stewarding strong, mutually beneficial funder relationships, the successful candidate will be an inspiring leader who can empower their team to be creative, proactive and tenacious and leverage our networks of support to tap into new opportunities You will be passionate about providing access and opportunity for young people across the UK, capable of working at the very highest level, and excited by the personal professional growth this role and the organisation could offer you.

You will be accountable for overseeing and developing our impressive portfolio of corporate funding relationships and partnerships, through which we deliver on our strategic priorities and generate most of our £3.2m income. You will also lead and develop our other income streams including trusts and foundations, earned income from the Social Mobility Employer Index, and philanthropy. As well as setting strategy and giving direction to the team, you'll enjoy managing some of our most significant partnerships yourself and building the foundations for diversifying our income.

As a valued member of the senior management team, you will work closely with the board of trustees, Chief Executive and senior leadership colleagues to shape and deliver our strategy and business plan and develop our charity and our people.

Key Responsibilities

1. Fundraising strategy and leadership:

• Set and implement a robust income generation strategy to enable the SMF to achieve its strategic ambitions, setting targets, monitoring and reporting on income performance and supporting accurate forecasts and projections
• Lead a culture of excellent fundraising and relationship management across the SMF and ensure the right resources, systems and skills are in place to support all staff that hold funding relationships
• Represent the SMF externally with funders, partners and other stakeholders, seeking opportunities to increase our network and build our influence and reputation as an effective charity partner
• Work with the Head of Finance and Operations to ensure strong processes to support income generation including income forecasts, budgets and partnership reports and records

2. Corporate Partnerships:

• Oversee the SMF's portfolio of corporate partnerships including strategic partnerships and partnerships focused on enabling and enhancing our student programmes
• Manage individual high value corporate partnerships and ensure excellent stewardship of all our corporate partnerships
• Oversee the development of compelling cases for support and a robust new business pipeline for corporate partnerships
• Oversee our corporate volunteering offer including employee volunteering with our student programmes and skilled volunteering/pro bono support

3. Business development:

• Oversee the delivery and development of the Social Mobility Employer Index
• Oversee the design and development of other products and services for employers through which the SMF can earn income and influence workplace social mobility

4. Trusts and foundations:

• Oversee the SMF's relationships with trusts and foundations, building a strong long-term funding pipeline
• Build and manage relationships with key trusts and foundations

5. Philanthropy and individual giving:

• Oversee the development of our supporter community and opportunities for individual giving and fundraising through challenge events
• Identify opportunities to build philanthropic relationships with individual donors and supporters

6. Leadership and management:

• Manage, motivate and develop the team, setting team and individual goals and evaluating performance, coaching and motivating staff and supporting professional development and staff wellbeing
• Lead across the organisation, fostering a collaborative and high performance culture and modelling the SMF's leadership behaviours
• Work with the CEO and the rest of the SMT to shape the SMF's strategic priorities, set the annual business plan, budget and key projects, and monitor delivery and performance

Please see full job description attached for more details.

Person Specification

We need someone who will demonstrate our organisational skills-based competencies - as listed below.

1. Leadership
2. Communication
3. Adaptability
4. Professionalism
5. Decision-making

Technical knowledge, understanding and experience required:

• Experience in managing a significant funding portfolio, stewarding and developing partnerships and ensuring effective account management
• Experience in securing funding, including scoping opportunities and prospects, setting targets and building a pipeline, and shaping proposals
• Confident in representing the SMF externally and engaging with senior stakeholders
• Able to motivate, develop and inspire a team and ensure that high standards of performance and behaviours are maintained
• Ability to develop and manage budgets and forecasts, team and individual income targets and monitor income performance
• Familiar with using a CRM as a tool for partnership and income development

Ways of working:

• Most of our work is office based, but you will spend a lot of time collaborating with other teams and clients via email, telephone and other communications channels such as Teams or Zoom.

Travel:

• Able to travel around the UK as necessary
• Some travel to other offices and other locations will occasionally be expected.

Please see full job description attached for more details.

Benefits:

• 36/37 days (England & Wales and Scotland respectively - includes bank holidays) calculated on a pro rata basis with 3 of these days reserved for the annual end of year office closure.
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• 5% Salary sacrifice pension scheme with enhanced matching employer contributions
• Employee Assistance Programme available to staff and their family
• Flexible work options such as hybrid working, flexitime, part-time
• Regular staff team building and business planning "away days"

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply by submitting to our application portal Pinpoint the following information by 23:59 on Tuesday 28th April 2026:

1) A recent work history, detailing:

• Job title
• Employer
• Dates of employment/Period in post

2) A cover letter detailing your skills and experience, with reference to the key responsibilities and person specification for the role (750 words max.)

3) Give an example of an important funding relationship you have secured or grown, and explain how you identified the opportunity, what you did, and what were the outcomes and benefits (800 words max.)

Please note that generic applications and CV's will not be considered. If you have any questions about the role, please contact our HR team:

Interviews: First round interviews will take place in May 2026, with slots throughout the working day. Interview candidates may be asked to complete online tests; this will be arranged after interview.