Philanthropy Manager

As the living, growing home of our national story, The National Archives is a special place to work. We’re an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history.

We’ve set ourselves the challenge of becoming the 21st Century national archive - a different kind of cultural and heritage institution: Inclusive, Entrepreneurial, Disruptive. We won’t become this overnight. It will take time, focus, effort and daring.

That’s where you come in. Because we can’t do this without you.

Job Overview

Salary: £40,853 per annum
Contract type: Permanent
Band: F / Senior Executive Officer
Closing date: Wednesday 7th October 2026 at midnight

About us:

The Philanthropy Manager will sit within The National Archives’ Research, Grants and Academic Engagement department, the central locus for our:
1. Research strategy and delivery
2. Research impact, culture and engagement
3. Grant fundraising and philanthropy
4. Management and assurance of external funding
5. Grant-making to the archives and GLAM sectors.

The National Archives has a strong track record of securing external funding and holds a grant portfolio of over £16m. Our per-annum grant income has grown by nearly 500% since 2022-23, and in April 2026, we consolidated our fundraising operations with The National Archives Trust. The National Archives has a strategic priority to secure new charitable and philanthropic funding, and this post is one of three new roles being advertised in Autumn 2026 to deliver on that goal. We want to grow our research income, including particularly beyond the arts and humanities; reach a wider breadth of funders both nationally and internationally; and raise our profile, through more creative and targeted public engagement and learning programmes with national reach.

About the role:

The National Archives (TNA) is looking for an experienced Philanthropy Manager to work within its newly established Philanthropy team. Reporting to the Head of Philanthropy, the Philanthropy Manager will play an important role in shaping this new business function, working to grow the profile of The National Archives in the philanthropic community and generate donor income. They will build meaningful and sustainable donor relationships that enable exceptional projects across the breadth of The National Archives’ work.

The Philanthropy Manager will independently build and manage a portfolio of donors and prospects at various stages of cultivation and stewardship. Working collaboratively with colleagues across a range of disciplines, the Philanthropy Manager will develop compelling proposals to secure major gifts that support The National Archives’ strategic vision.

This will include generating income for strategic multi-year programmes, as well as annual priority projects, such as exhibitions, digitisation and conservation. Working closely with the Grant Development team, the Philanthropy Manager will coordinate approaches and share intelligence to ensure a strategic approach to achieving shared goals.

The Philanthropy Manager will develop and deliver cultivation and stewardship activities to bring donors and prospects close to The National Archives’ collection, activities and staff expertise. They will identify bespoke opportunities to steward and recognise donors during delivery of funded projects, develop engaging and timely progress reports and work closely with project teams to monitor projects and ensure accurate financial reporting.

The postholder will work closely with The National Archives Trust, a registered charity that supports The National Archives to engage and educate the public, and conserve and preserve the collection. The Philanthropy Officer will also work with the Grant Development team to achieve shared goals.

This is a full time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department.

A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for a minimum of 60% of their work time.

Application Process:

We ask all applicants to submit work history details and a personal statement addressing the 4 criteria below:

• Graduate-level education or equivalent experience, with excellent written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to translate complex information to compelling cases for support.

• Proven experience in securing five- and six-figure gifts from family trusts and foundations and/or high-net-worth individuals within an arts, culture and heritage organisation.

• Outstanding relationship management skills, with proven experience of managing senior donor relationships, collaborating with internal and external stakeholders, and of coaching and supporting senior staff and Trustees in donor engagement.

• Ability to work independently, maintain momentum across a variety of tasks and meet multiple and simultaneous deadlines.

Selection for interview will be based on these 4 criteria so please ensure that your application demonstrates in detail how you meet these requirements. You may find it helpful to use each criteria as a subheading, or to use the STAR method to structure your statement.

If we receive a large number of applications candidates will initially be assessed on one criteria:

• Proven experience in securing five- and six-figure gifts from family trusts and foundations and/or high-net-worth individuals within an arts, culture and heritage organisation.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.  Please visit the Civil Service Careers website where you can find further information on the use of AI in the application guidance section.

Interviews will be held on-site in October 2026.

Applicants invited to interview will be assessed against ALL of the essential criteria (see full job description below).

We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Job Description

Role and Responsibilities

• Cultivate and manage a portfolio of major gift donors, generating philanthropic income for The National Archives’ strategic priorities and meeting KPIs as agreed with the Head of Research, Grants and Academic Engagement and Head of Philanthropy.

• Contribute to the development of the Philanthropy team as new business function, working with the Head of Philanthropy and Head of Research, Grants and Academic Engagement to proactively identify, design and deliver initiatives which mature the Philanthropy team’s processes, policies and ways of working.

• Identify, research and qualify prospects, building a pipeline of donors with capacity and affinity to support The National Archives, assessing opportunities and determining engagement strategies to maximise philanthropic income.

• Manage the development of compelling funding proposals, collaborating with colleagues across The National Archives to ideate and shape initiatives that align with organisational strategy and the needs and interests of donors.

• Devise and deliver creative donor engagement opportunities through supporter groups and campaigns, identifying high-potential fundraising opportunities across the breadth of The National Archives’ activity.

• Plan and deliver bespoke cultivation and stewardship events and private tours to engage prospects and donors.

• Be responsible for donor due diligence, continuing to develop a donor acceptance policy for The National Archives, evaluating information and managing risk and opportunity in securing new funding in line with agreed frameworks.

• Manage