Development Director in London

About us Established in 2021, Opportunity Green is a fast‑growing non‑profit organization that helps to identify and unlock opportunities to tackle climate change. We build ambitious coalitions, support climate‑vulnerable countries in international negotiations and find innovative legal pathways to fight climate change.

What’s the role? The Development Director will work closely with the CEO and the Chief Strategy and Impact Officer (CSIO) on all of Opportunity Green’s fundraising. We need someone who truly understands what OG is trying to achieve, can pull strands of our work together and turn them into cohesive, cross‑cutting proposals that funders want to be part of. You will draft and write compelling concept notes and proposals – not just edit them. Previously, the CEO and CSIO have overseen all of Opportunity Green’s fundraising with the assistance of a Project Officer. We have been hugely successful, thanks to extraordinary talent. As we scale, we need a Director to add capacity and expertise to our fundraising. This role is essential in our expanding team and organization. You will work closely with OG colleagues to understand their work, assist the CEO and wider team in managing our current donors, and develop ambitious, strategic and innovative funding partnerships with trusts and foundations. Focus areas include grants at the £1m+ level and increasing the number of unrestricted grants.

The following will not be a large part of the role in the short to medium term:

• Searching new prospects – at present we have multiple prospects that we are not pursuing due to capacity constraints.
• Institutional or corporate fundraising – not part of the strategy now.
• Individual giving – developing an HNWI giving programme is not a focus at the moment.

You’ll be the kind of person who sees connections, chases opportunities, gets out from behind your desk to meet people, and influences internally and externally to achieve results. You will be driven, determined, tenacious and solution‑focused. You will not simply comment on proposals and ensure funder timelines are met; instead you will co‑develop the strategies and projects that we pitch to potential funders. The Development Director is our first full‑time fundraising hire, supported by the current Project Officer. There is huge potential to grow this role and eventually expand into a fundraising team.

Location options:

• UK: London‑based (2 days per week in office) or remote elsewhere in the UK, with travel to London for two consecutive days per month.
• Belgium: Brussels‑based (2 days per week in office) or remote elsewhere in Belgium, with regular travel to Brussels and bi‑monthly travel to London.

About the candidate: A passion for using fundraising skills to tackle climate change. Experience of philanthropic, not just institutional/corporate, fundraising in climate, environment or international development sector(s). Ability to, over time, fully understand Opportunity Green so well that the candidate is almost as comfortable in OG’s project teams as leading on fundraising.

Desirable skills and experience:

• Excellent strategic relationship‑building skills and proven ability to manage philanthropic donor income streams.
• Experience in maximizing opportunities and income with current and prospective donors by strengthening relationships and implementing creative engagement.
• Developed and secured new sources of income from trusts and foundations, with a strong focus on funders with the potential to give £1m+ annually.
• Executed a fundraising strategy and developed a strong pipeline, managing a portfolio of current donors at the same time.
• Experience managing the complexities of restricted income projects.
• Ability to understand diverse donor motivations and deliver a bespoke relationship to meet these.
• Demonstrable skill in adapting written and verbal communications for a philanthropy audience.
• Engaging presentation and writing skills for tailored presentations, proposals and grant reports for donors.
• Confidence in working with senior stakeholders internally and externally, using tact and diplomacy.
• Organized and methodical approach to plan and deliver against a varied workload, managing competing priorities under own initiative and to strict deadlines.
• Be financially savvy and able to work with the finance team to ensure new proposals support a full‑cost recovery approach.

Diversity and inclusion: Diversity and inclusion are important principles at Opportunity Green. We believe that diversity and inclusion make teams stronger and more effective. We are committed to fair and equitable employment practices, and we are striving to ensure that a variety of voices and experiences are included in our organization. Our commitment to diversity and our parental leave policy are available to view on our website. We will consider all applicants who meet most or all of the essential competencies regardless of identity or background. We particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, non‑white people, people from marginalised backgrounds, and members of LGBTQIA+ communities.

Flexible and remote working: We also value flexible working and are open to those who would want to work part‑time in this role. This could include a 3‑day week or working school hours over a 4‑day week.

What we offer – UK / Belgium Full details available on our website.