Head of Membership in Bristol

Hours: 55% contract (24 hours per week in term time, 16 hours per week in school holidays).

Location/Travel: Hybrid. Predominantly home based with one office day per week, in term time. In addition, there will be up to 4 additional days travel per month to member schools in the UK and Ireland (in term time). This may involve the occasional overnight stay.

IDPE is a membership organisation, supporting fundraising and engagement professionals in schools. We pride ourselves on having a thriving and engaged community and, as head of membership, you will play a pivotal role in supporting and expanding our community.

The Head of Membership will work closely with the CEO in the development and delivery of IDPE’s membership strategy, driving sustainable membership growth; overseeing member engagement and retention activities; and ensuring membership remains at the heart of everything IDPE does.

• Membership strategy and leadership: Work closely with the CEO to develop and continuously review IDPE’s membership strategy, developing ambitious but achievable plans for membership growth, retention and engagement. Operational lead across all membership activities, working with the CEO and senior management team to ensure membership insights inform organisational strategy and service development. Line management of the Membership Administrator.
• Member acquisition: Own and deliver IDPE’s member acquisition strategy, building a strong pipeline of prospective member schools and managing the relationship through to membership. Develop and implement targeted, cross-channel acquisition campaigns in partnership with marketing and the Data Manager. Build relationships with prospective schools, converting prospects into long-term members. Develop compelling membership propositions and clearly articulate the value to members. In partnership with the Data Manager, monitor acquisition performance, conversion rates and return on investment, adapting approaches based on data and market intelligence. Represent IDPE at regional meetings, conferences and exhibitions and other sector events to promote membership. Together with the membership administrator, manage the new member onboarding process, conducting welcome calls and initiating follow-ups to ensure new members are engaged and knowledgeable about IDPE’s services. Provide strategic oversight of IDPE’s volunteer network, ensuring volunteers are effectively recruited, supported and recognised.
• Membership data and insight: Establish and monitor key performance indicators for membership acquisition, engagement and retention. Utilise data and insights provided by the Data Manager to identify trends, opportunities and areas for improvement. Write key membership communications and ensure the membership content on the website remains current. Lead key membership projects. Together with the membership administrator, be a primary point of contact for members across the UK and internationally. Get to know members personally, understand their challenges and areas of interest, signposting them to relevant support and resources and supporting IDPE to evolve our services to best meet the needs of members.

These tasks are not intended to be exhaustive, but they highlight the major tasks that the post-holder may be reasonably expected to undertake.

Are you IDPE’s next Head of Membership? This role would suit someone who loves talking to people and building relationships. IDPE’s strength lies in the relationships it has with members and, the successful candidate will be a natural people person who loves listening to member stories and facilitating the sharing of expertise and knowledge across the IDPE community. It would suit an individual from a sales/account management, alumni relations, fundraising or member services background.

• Experience in membership, account management, alumni relations or customer service management.
• Comfortable in a ‘sales’ environment, engaging prospect schools both in person and over the phone, communicating the value of IDPE membership.
• Demonstrable success in developing and delivering membership or customer acquisition strategies that achieve measurable growth.
• Strong commercial awareness with the ability to identify growth opportunities and develop compelling value propositions.
• Excellent relationship-building and influencing skills with experience engaging senior stakeholders.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects.
• Willingness to travel across the UK regularly, including overnight stays.
• Experience working within a membership organisation.
• Knowledge of the schools’ development sector.
• Experience of working with CRMs and/or membership management systems.

Please note: all IDPE staff are expected to attend the IDPE Annual Conference. This will involve a three day/two night stay each May/June. The IDPE 2027 Annual Conference will be on 16-18 May in Telford.