Lead Associate - Philanthropy in City of London

Who are we? Humanity Insured is a high‑growth, impact‑led organisation operating at the intersection of insurance, finance, and global development. Incubated by Howden and launched in 2024 with backing from leading insurance partners, our mission is to use insurance as a tool to alleviate poverty at scale. We mobilise capital and expertise from the private sector to fund solutions that help climate‑vulnerable communities prepare for and recover from climate shocks. Our model is differentiated: rather than operating as a traditional charity, we build financial architecture that unlocks a multiplier effect, where every £1 of philanthropic funding can unlock significantly more protection through insurance mechanisms. As we scale towards £20m+ in annual funding and the protection of millions of lives globally, we are building a new category of organisation at the intersection of finance, climate, and impact.

Why work at Humanity Insured? This is a rare opportunity to join a high-performing, entrepreneurial organisation where commercial rigour and global impact sit side by side. You will work alongside senior leaders across insurance, finance, and philanthropy, with direct exposure to the partnerships, funders, and strategic decisions shaping the future of climate resilience. Unlike traditional fundraising roles, this position offers the opportunity to help build and scale a global capital mobilisation function from the ground up. You will work on complex, high-value partnerships and play a hands-on role in developing innovative funding models across sectors and geographies. As part of a lean, high-impact team, you will take ownership of a live funding portfolio and play a visible role in delivering Humanity Insured’s next phase of growth. This is an opportunity to build a purpose-driven career while contributing to solutions that help communities on the climate frontline.

Role Overview: The Lead Associate – Philanthropy is a pivotal execution role within Humanity Insured’s capital mobilisation function, responsible for turning a growing pipeline of opportunities into high-quality, conversion-ready partnerships. Working closely with the Head of Philanthropy, this role combines pipeline management, proposal development, and cross-functional coordination to support revenue growth across philanthropy and private-sector partnerships. It is a highly commercial, externally facing role focused on three priorities:

• Pipeline management and deal execution
• Strategic proposal development
• Stakeholder coordination across complex partnerships

The role is designed to increase execution capacity and discipline, enabling senior leadership to focus on origination, top-tier donor relationships, and strategic expansion. This hire is critical at a scale-up moment: as Humanity Insured expands its funding base across geographies and donor segments, the organisation needs a stronger execution engine to ensure opportunities move from prospect to conversion with consistency, pace, and quality.

Core Responsibilities: Humanity Insured’s growth ambition depends not only on strategy and relationships, but on the ability to execute consistently as deal flow, stakeholder complexity, and funding volumes increase. This role provides that capability. It strengthens the link between origination and conversion, reduces dependency on a small number of senior individuals, and helps build a more scalable, resilient capital mobilisation function.

• Pipeline Development and Deal Support
• Manage and support a high-quality global pipeline across philanthropy and private-sector partnerships
• Identify and research new prospects aligned to strategic priorities
• Maintain strong pipeline tracking, reporting, and follow-through across opportunities
• Prepare high-quality briefing materials and support senior external engagements
• Support the Head of Philanthropy in meetings, follow-up actions, and relationship management
• Coordinate inputs across internal teams to ensure quality, consistency, and momentum
• Own a defined segment of the donor pipeline and associated income targets
• Process, Systems and Scale
• Support opportunity conversion processes, including negotiations where appropriate
• Coordinate due diligence, contracting, approvals, and internal governance steps
• Help build structured, repeatable processes that improve execution discipline as the function scales
• Maintain CRM and pipeline systems, ensuring visibility, accuracy, and strong internal reporting
• Contribute to the development of the philanthropy function’s operating model and internal infrastructure
• Cross-Team Collaboration
• Work closely with colleagues across partnerships, impact, governance, and finance
• Ensure strong coordination and continuity across the full donor and partner lifecycle
• Manage competing priorities across senior internal and external stakeholders
• Marketing, Events and Donor Engagement
• Support the design and delivery of targeted fundraising activities, including events, roundtables, and partnership convenings
• Contribute to the development of donor-facing materials and campaigns, ensuring alignment with fundraising strategy and external positioning
• Work with the Head of Philanthropy and Comms team to ensure clear, consistent messaging across pipeline engagement and proposals
• Support planning and execution of key engagement moments (e.g. donor events, industry convenings, Climate Action Week, partnership sessions)
• Help translate project outcomes and insights into compelling external content to support fundraising and relationship development

Skills and Experience:

• Essential
• Strong experience in philanthropy, fundraising, partnerships execution, or business development
• Proven ability to structure opportunities and convert them into outcomes
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Highly organised, with experience managing complex pipelines and stakeholders
• Analytical mindset with the ability to structure problems and opportunities and prioritise effectively
• Highly Desirable
• Exposure to global fundraising or multi-market partnerships
• Experience working with UHNWIs, corporates, or foundations
• Ability to design innovative funding or partnership models
• Track record in deal structuring, proposals, or client-facing roles
• Familiarity with climate, development, or impact sectors

This role would suit someone who:

• Is highly proactive, organised, and execution oriented
• Thrives in a fast-growing, entrepreneurial environment with high levels of ownership
• Enjoys working closely with senior leaders and contributing to high-value external relationships
• Is comfortable operating at the intersection of strategy, relationships, and delivery
• Is motivated by purpose-driven work and the opportunity to help build something ambitious

Diversity and Inclusion: We value diversity - there is no one ‘personality type’. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us. Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new. We support each other, in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges. We are determined to make a positive difference, at work and beyond. We consider our people our chief competitive advantage and as such we treat colleagues, candidates, clients, and business partners with equality, fairness, and respect – regardless of age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, or family circumstances.