Corporate Partnerships & Events Manager in London

The Sutton Trust is the UK’s leading social mobility charity. We believe every young person should have a fair chance in life, regardless of their family’s income, the school they go to or where they grow up. Our mission is to change this. Our programmes empower young people to access life-changing opportunities, and our research influences national change to deliver a fairer future. Each year, together with our university and employer partners, we support over 14,000 young people to reach their potential through our university, apprenticeship and career access programmes.

We are seeking a dynamic and confident fundraiser to be our Corporate Partnerships & Events Manager. The Sutton Trust is at an exciting point in our organisational journey, with a new Chairperson and ambitions to significantly grow our impact and fundraising as part of our 2030 strategy. Over the past five years the impact of the Sutton Trust has increased, especially with our programmes which have gone from supporting 11,000 young people a year to 14,000 in the 24/25 programme year. We have secured a relatively stable income of c.£6m over several years, and in the last two years this has grown to £7m. Our organisational strategy, which takes us to 2030/31, will continue this fundraising trajectory with a need to increase annual income on a sustained basis to £12m.

With corporate income accounting for nearly half our fundraised income, there is considerable enthusiasm and opportunity in the corporate world for building strategic partnerships with The Sutton Trust. Our fundraising approach will continue to focus on major gifts and strategic multi-year partnerships, leveraging a range of drivers to secure corporate support.

As Corporate Partnerships & Events Manager, you will be an experienced partnership manager and fundraiser, confident in securing new business through active prospecting and networking along with experience in securing and stewarding strategic partnerships with corporates and their associated corporate foundations. You will have an entrepreneurial mindset for income generation, able to confidently manage competing demands to balance securing new partnerships and delivering high quality account management to your portfolio of current and prospective supporters.

Main duties include:

• Personally scope, develop and secure new five-figure corporate partnerships, aiming for a diverse and robust portfolio of partners with multi-year commitments.
• Proactively approach new business development within the corporate sector, cultivating relationships and networks to grow awareness of The Sutton Trust and secure major gifts.
• Manage and grow the Trust’s leadership and partner level corporate partnerships in your portfolio, including leveraging existing relationships to maximise financial income and partnership longevity.
• Act as an ambassador for the Trust with external audiences in the corporate space, representing the Trust with gravitas and confidence to secure major gifts and develop relationships.

We welcome applications from individuals who have experience in successfully securing, managing, and developing corporate partnerships at five-figures-plus level, from initial prospect research to contracting and ongoing stewardship. Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including networking at C-suite and senior management level and strong presentation skills, are essential.

Terms of Appointment:

• Contract: Full time, Permanent
• Salary: £42,025-£46,000
• Working location: Minimum of two office days per week.
• Hours: The standard working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

We are committed to ensuring equality of opportunity and that all applicants receive equal consideration for employment. We strongly encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply for this role.