Challenge Events Manager

Merrifield Consultants is delighted to partner with a brilliant social welfare charity in the search for a Challenge Events Manager (12-month Maternity Cover). The Challenge Events Manager will play a central role in driving income through the charity’s challenge events programme. You will steward existing fundraisers across the 2026 calendar and recruit and support participants for the London Marathon 2027 and a wider portfolio of 2027 events. This role is key to engaging supporters, growing income, and developing innovative events aligned with our mission. You will bring creativity, ambition, and a supporter-first approach to ensure every participant feels valued and supported.

Organisation: Social Welfare Charity

Contract: Part-time (16 hours), 12-months

Location: London

Working Pattern: Hybrid – 1 day a week in the office

Closing Date: Friday 6th March

Application Requirement: CV and Cover Letter

Responsibilities:

• Recruit and steward the charity’s challenge events portfolio, ensuring every event is executed to the highest standard.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with challenge event participants, ensuring they feel motivated, valued, and inspired throughout their fundraising journey.
• Recruit 30 charity places and 10 own places for the London Marathon team, while also recruiting a strong team for other challenge events in the portfolio.
• Work towards ambitious income targets, ensuring the challenge events programme contributes significantly to the charity’s overall income generation goals and maintaining income in community fundraising.
• Oversee logistics, including securing places in major events, managing participant registrations, coordinating event-day activities, and providing post-event follow-up.
• Collaborate with the Communications team to create inspiring marketing materials, social media campaigns, and participant stories to drive recruitment and engagement.

Skills/Experience Required:

• Proven experience managing large-scale challenge or mass participation events in the charity sector.
• Strong project management skills, with a track record of delivering events on time, within budget, and to a high standard.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, with the ability to build meaningful relationships with supporters and motivate them to achieve their goals.
• Consistent and creative thinker with the ambition to maintain, recruit and deliver an events programme.
• Proactive, results-driven, and self-motivated, with a commitment to achieving income targets.
• Experience managing a large team of fundraisers, ideally for the London Marathon.

If you are ready to make a significant impact in the field of challenge events within a dynamic and collaborative environment, we encourage you to apply for this exciting opportunity.

Please apply today or contact Moses Thomas-Johnson at Merrifield Consultants if you have any questions, moses.johnson@merrifieldconsultants.co.uk.

We practice a diverse and inclusive recruitment process that ensures equal opportunity for all we work with, irrespective of race, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, age or gender. As an organisation, we encourage applications from all backgrounds and will ensure measures are met when required, to allow a fair process throughout.