Fundraising Manager

Salary: £32,080 to £33,002 with progression to £34,610 per annum pro rata. Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you. Closing Date: 30 April 2026.

The role sits within The Bubble Foundation, a unique charity dedicated to supporting children born with severe immune deficiencies. You will play a key part in raising vital funds and awareness by strengthening how we communicate with patients and families, engaging the public, and expanding our digital presence. Working independently, you’ll shape engaging social media content, nurture supporter relationships, enhance our social media channels, and identify new opportunities to increase donations through both digital and in‑person initiatives and help build a stronger, more visible Bubble Foundation.

Since 1993, The Bubble Foundation has supported families whose children require bone marrow transplantation. The Bubble Foundation is more than a charity – we are a lifeline for families facing the unimaginable. Our support goes beyond medical treatment; we bring warmth, kindness, and a sense of home to those who need it most. As our communications and fundraising lead, you’ll bring creativity, confidence, and initiative to how we connect with patients, families, and the wider public. The charity operates independently and in partnership with Newcastle University and the Great North Children’s Hospital to advance vital research and improve care.

To apply for this position, we will need your CV and ideally a personal statement outlining how you are suitable for the role. Please focus your personal statement on the below points using examples where possible:

• Proactively seek new supporters in communities across the North of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.
• Experience of dealing with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders, resolving issues and queries independently.
• Experience in the creation of digital fundraising opportunities, for example, through events and networking.

We offer a hybrid and flexible working model. Both full time and part time applications will be considered. This post is tenable for 2 years initially. Further information can be obtained by contacting Roz Scott.

Key Accountabilities

• Opportunity Development
  • Experience of sourcing new business opportunities in communities across the North of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.
  • Liaise with Ward staff and families with regards to their needs and requirements and report back to the charity team.
  • Take the lead in resolving solutions to these needs where appropriate and possible.
  • Provide excellent supporter service to enquiries from members of the public, and build long term beneficial relationships with supporters and families that are bereaved or have a child in treatment via phone, mail and in person, encouraging their support.
  • Represent the charity confidently in a range of settings resolving any issues or queries independently or recommending alternative sources/courses of action if unable to assist ensuring efficient customer service is maintained.
• Event Management and Networking
  • Responsible for developing and implementing physical fundraising activities for identified target audiences.
  • Design and support the delivery process of promotional materials for events and fundraising activities with the support of the Administrator.
  • Respond to telephone and email enquiries from supporters, filtering issues and resolving queries independently, seeking the relevant support for customers.
  • Provide on the day support at Bubble Foundation events, as required, ensuring specific activities within the events are run efficiently and that the correct process of reporting issues or concerns are adhered to prior to, during and after the event live period.
  • To supervise the administrator and any volunteers engaged with charitable activities on behalf of The Bubble Foundation.
• External Communications
  • Planning, developing and integrating digital content across multiple channels including web, social media, etc.
  • To create and deliver virtual fundraising and engagement events and activities to grow income for the charity.
  • Manage social media groups, engaging with posts, responding to queries, creating posts and providing first‑class supporter care.
  • Ensuring all digital supporter communications are in line with The Bubble Foundation’s values, branding and messaging.
• Adhoc
  • Management of the charity’s CRM database which records and reports all key relationships and partners and income streams involved in the Bubble Foundation’s work, e.g. donors and other supporters.
  • To undertake any other duties as appropriate to the level of the post, as determined by the Chairman and Trustees.

The Person

• A detailed understanding of physical and digital fundraising techniques.
• Demonstrable experience of working independently and dealing with unforeseen problems and circumstances.
• Excellent IT skills including Microsoft packages (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Databases and Outlook) and digital marketing tools such as Facebook, Instagram, Google Analytics etc.
• Excellent interpersonal, networking and presentation skills.
• Good knowledge of managing financial records and managing incoming and outgoing expenditure and budgets.
• Knowledge of fundraising and events operational procedures (e.g. health and safety, financial, volunteer, etc.).
• Operate as an individual, organising and planning own work activities which contributes to the achievement of the team’s objectives, maintaining and improving efficiency where possible.
• Good understanding of the various social media platforms, including experience of keeping abreast of current trends and seeking new opportunities within these platforms.

Attributes and Behaviour

• Communicating – uses clear, concise and accurate communication, tailoring the approach accordingly and encouraging a two‑way communication process.
• Understanding others – understands colleagues, supporters and other stakeholders.
• Gathering information – gathers a broad range of relevant information from internal and external sources, making this information widely available. Uses information to gain competitive advantage.
• Creativity – you can develop creative ideas and transform them into practical reality.
• Team working – You will be able to work collaboratively with external and internal teams, playing a positive role in a small team environment.
• Flexible working approach, able to work occasional evenings and weekends.

Qualifications

• Educated to HNC or HND level with several years’ experience OR Broad vocational experience, acquired through a combination of job related vocational training and considerable on‑the‑job experience, demonstrating development through involvement in a series of progressively more demanding relevant work/roles.
• Clean driving license and access to own car for business use.

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution. We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population. At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme. In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.