Head of High Value Fundraising in London

Contract: Fixed term to 28 February 2027

Location and Time Commitment: Hybrid, with regular attendance at Wen’s office at 20 Club Row, London E2 and meetings in London. Core working day: Tuesday.

Deadline: Friday, November 6

About Wen

Wen is an environmental charity connecting women, health, equity and environmental justice. We take an intersectional feminist approach to the climate and nature emergencies, supporting women and communities to take climate action, amplifying racialised and marginalised women’s voices, and advocating for systemic change.

Since 1988, our campaigns have addressed issues including air pollution, plastic packaging and toxic chemicals in menstrual products and cosmetics. Today, we cultivate grassroots projects, connect women to nature, champion just food systems and put gender and intersectional equality at the heart of the green economy.

Working At Wen

We are a friendly, collaborative team guided by feminist values of care, equity and participation. Our office is near Brick Lane in Shoreditch, with another hub in Mile End for team meetings and shared lunches. We also hold a weekly online check-in on Tuesday mornings.

Our participatory leadership model includes a leadership circle with team representatives, senior management and Directors, who retain overall responsibility for strategy and organisational risk. Colleagues are encouraged to contribute to decisions and take part in Wen events, including our food-growing projects.

About The Role

This new senior role will help shape Wen’s next chapter. We have a strong track record in fundraising and programme delivery, established funder relationships and respected partnerships. We now need a leader who can connect these strengths more deliberately.

The Interim Head of High Value Fundraising will lead three closely related areas:

• Programmes: ensuring our portfolio is well-led, connected, managed effectively and delivering on commitments.
• Partnerships and funder relationships: developing and maintaining strong, ethical relationships with funders, collaborators and strategic partners.
• Income generation: turning Wen’s strategy, expertise and impact into funding opportunities, compelling proposals and successful applications.

This is neither solely a bid-writing nor a programme-management role. We need someone who can write persuasive applications, build trusted funder relationships and oversee programme design, delivery, monitoring and evaluation. A key priority is strengthening systems so that knowledge and capability remain within Wen rather than with individuals.

Key responsibilities

1. Fundraising and income generation

• Develop and implement a practical fundraising and income plan aligned with Wen’s 2025–2030 strategy and financial needs.
• Build and prioritise a pipeline of immediate opportunities, renewals and longer-term prospects.
• Research and qualify prospective funders aligned with Wen’s values and ethical fundraising principles.
• Lead the writing and submission of high-quality grant applications, expressions of interest, funding proposals, cases for support and concept notes.
• Develop propositions for programme-specific and core/unrestricted funding, working with colleagues to turn programme ideas into credible, fundable proposals.
• Diversify income where appropriate, including trusts and foundations, statutory and lottery funding, corporate and strategic partnerships, major donors, individual giving, crowdfunding and collaborative bids.
• Work with Finance on robust budgets, full-cost recovery, payment schedules and cash-flow implications.
  

2. Funder stewardship, reporting and renewals

• Oversee significant grants and funder relationships across Wen.
• Maintain a reliable calendar of reporting deadlines, payment triggers, renewals, application windows, meetings and grant milestones.
• Ensure funder reports are accurate, persuasive and submitted on time, drawing together programme, impact and financial evidence.
• Strengthen relationships with existing funders and identify renewal, extension, additional funding and collaboration opportunities.
• Represent Wen in funder meetings and prepare senior colleagues for key conversations.
• Coordinate with Finance and leadership where changes to budgets, activities or grant terms require funder approval.
• Record funder knowledge and relationship history centrally rather than leaving it in individual inboxes or spreadsheets.
  

3. Programme leadership and oversight

• Provide senior oversight across Wen’s programmes and line-manage relevant programme and project colleagues, including one-to-ones, objectives, support and problem-solving.
• Maintain an overview of programme objectives, budgets, milestones, commitments, reporting requirements, risks and future funding needs.
• Identify delivery and financial risks early and resolve or elevate them appropriately.
• Help colleagues translate Wen’s strategy into realistic, evidence-led outcomes and priorities.
• Support the development of aligned, fundable programme ideas and encourage collaboration and shared learning across teams.

4. Partnerships and business development

• Build and steward relationships with delivery partners, community organisations, academic and research institutions, coalitions, statutory bodies and prospective funders.
• Develop a clear approach to assessing partnership opportunities against strategic value and available capacity.
• Identify collaborative and consortium funding opportunities and articulate Wen’s contribution to different partnerships.
• Track partnership agreements, commitments, responsibilities and next actions, ensuring alignment with Wen’s values and priorities.
  

5. Case for Support, evidence and impact

• Work with colleagues to develop a compelling organisation-wide Case for Support and adaptable programme-specific propositions.
• Communicate the wider impact of Wen’s work, connecting lived experience, community knowledge, environmental expertise, research, campaigning, policy influence and practical delivery.
• Build a reusable library of fundraising materials, including programme summaries, case studies, impact evidence, statistics, budgets, evaluations, previous applications and standard information.
• Establish practical ways to capture programme outcomes, participant insights, learning and stories for fundraising, reporting and communications.
  

6. CRM, systems and organisational knowledge

• Establish a clear, usable system for fundraising and partnership information, working with colleagues leading Wen’s wider CRM improvements.
• Make it easy to identify funders, award values and durations, reporting and payment dates, relationship owners, applications, prospects, partners, next steps and relationship history.
• Maintain central records of grants, applications, reports, agreements, feedback, contacts, funding portals and key correspondence.
• Prioritise a simple, reliable single source of truth that colleagues will actually use.
• Help programme colleagues understand how their work contributes to fundraising, from defining need and outcomes to developing budgets, demonstrating impact and producing evidence.
• Provide coaching, co‑writing, feedback, templates, tools and training so colleagues can contribute confidently to bids.
• Develop a small group of colleagues able to contribute more substantially to future funding applications, while retaining accountability for the quality and strategic coherence of submissions.
• Document processes and create tools that remain useful after the interim appointment ends.

The Person we are Looking For

You are more than a fundraiser or programme manager. You understand that effective fundraising depends on strong programmes, credible evidence, trusted relationships and compelling storytelling, and that securing funding matters only if the organisation can deliver its commitments.

You can move confidently between strategic planning, practical delivery, funder conversations, bid writing and supporting colleagues. You enjoy bringing order to complexity and leaving organisations stronger than you found them.

• 25 days’ annual leave plus 8 bank holidays, pro rata; increasing to 27 days after five years’ service
• Employee Assistance Programme, including free counselling
• Training and development opportunities
• Menstrual leave
• Time off in lieu for agreed overtime
• Flexible and hybrid working
  

Recruitment Process

Please let us know if you need reasonable adjustments during the application or interview process because of a disability, health issue or neurodivergence.

Questions about the role or recruitment process are welcome at and will not count against you.

The successful candidate must comply with Wen’s safeguarding policies. Appointment is subject to satisfactory DBS checks and references.

Find out more:

• Instagram: @Wen_UK

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