Do you want to work for the fastest-growing education charity and youth brand in the country?

Do you have experience building transformational relationships and raising money for a cause?

Do you want to lead a dynamic, youthful and growing team?

Title: Head of External Relations
Reports to: Director of External Relations
Start date: Jan 2024
Location: London, with travel to Birmingham and Manchester as appropriate
Hours: Full Time
Salary:  £42,000-58,000
Deadline:  Midday Friday 10th November

Football Beyond Borders is seeking a dedicated and experienced Head of External Relations to join our team. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in developing and implementing our fundraising strategy, with a particular focus on securing funding from Trusts and Foundations. Additionally, this role will involve the line management and development of a team of five individuals to ensure the continued success and growth of our organization.

Who are we?

FBB is one of the leading educational charities and youth brands in the UK. Established in 2014, we have undergone impressive growth in the past couple of years and are now at an exciting stage of our journey. We currently work with 2000 students across 130 Secondary School programmes in Greater Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Lancashire, Yorkshire, London, Kent, and Essex. Alongside this, we have built strong partnerships with a host of brands such as Nike. In the next stage of our journey, FBB aims to become the leading specialist charity for disengaged young people and the best place to work with young people in the UK.

Young people are at the heart of everything we do. From decisions made at Senior Leadership and our Board, to how we design activations with partners to ensure young people get the most out of them. We’re working in a system that has been designed to limit the potential of many young people, and we know that to make real change, we need to work hard and differently. FBB can be fast-paced and intensive at times, but our focus on working culture and support is prioritised to ensure staff are in a position to ‘Go Beyond’ for young people.

We place relationships at the heart of what we do. That’s not only about our work with young people but equally important with our colleagues. We strive to do things differently at FBB. We don’t believe that work should be the thing you dread on a Sunday evening. If you’re keen to throw yourself into new environments and develop meaningful relationships with people from all walks of life, then FBB is the workplace for you.

We’re also BIG on learning. This means that we dedicate a full day of everyone’s week to learning and development, during this day practitioners take part in our innovative training programme which includes chances to receive training from external experts, connect with colleagues and reflect. As a young and ambitious team, we are constantly finding the next opportunities to develop. We like to throw our hat in the ring for things we’ve never tried before. FBB is a place where you can be introduced to multiple different aspects of work: our focus on cross-team collaboration means you'll have the opportunity to work on projects in Brand, Comms, Operations, Culture, and Programmes. We also don’t mind the conventional stuff: there’s an FBB reading list, opportunities for reflection, and external training budgets too!

FBB is recognised in the sector as innovative and thought-leading. We are always on the hunt for talented and ambitious people to join the team and contribute to our vision of becoming a leader in supporting young people to thrive and become the best versions of themselves. 

Key Responsibilities

FUNDRAISING STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION

• Develop and execute a comprehensive fundraising strategy to secure financial support from Trusts and Foundations.
• Identify and research potential donors, grant opportunities, and partnerships.
• Build and nurture relationships with existing and potential donors to ensure long-term support.

TEAM MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT 

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of five individuals responsible for fundraising and external relations.
• Provide guidance, training, and professional development opportunities to team members to enhance their skills and effectiveness.
• Foster a collaborative and high-performance work environment.

• Prepare compelling grant proposals and applications to secure funding from Trusts and Foundations.
• Oversee the timely and accurate submission of grant reports and updates to donors.
• Ensure compliance with donor requirements and reporting guidelines.

DONOR CULTIVATION AND STEWARDSHIP

• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with current and prospective donors through effective communication and stewardship efforts.
• Develop and execute donor recognition and appreciation strategies.

COLLABORATION AND COMMUNICATION

• Collaborate with other teams within Football Beyond Borders to ensure a coordinated approach to external relations.
• Represent the organisation at external events, meetings, and conferences.
• Contribute to the development of marketing and communication materials to support fundraising efforts.

Qualifications

• Proven track record of successful fundraising, particularly from Trusts and Foundations.
• Experience in managing and leading a team.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building abilities.
• Knowledge of the charitable sector and an understanding of football as a tool for social change.
• Highly organised, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Proficiency in donor management and CRM software (e.g., Salesforce) is a plus.

Recruitment Process 

Football Beyond Borders aims to be representative of the community we are working with. We recognise that having the strongest workforce possible means hiring and developing the best people across all races, ethnicities, religions, age groups, sexual orientations, gender identities and abilities.

We’re not just committed to being an equal opportunity employer, we actively celebrate diversity in all its forms. Let us know if we can do anything to make the application or interview process more accessible. If you are invited to interview, we will at that point ask you for any accessibility requirements or preferences.

FBB is committed to adopting a safe recruitment process and follows the NSPCC safer
recruitment procedures that have safeguarding at their heart. The appointment will undergo an enhanced DBS check.

Shortlisting, interviews and reference checking

When shortlisting, we will be looking for evidence that you have the knowledge, experience and skills to do the job as detailed in the person specification and job description. These provide the criteria against which your application will be assessed.

You must fill in the application form and are requested NOT to submit a curriculum vitae. All applications will be taken seriously and contacted regarding the outcome of their application.

References from previous and current employers may be taken up for shortlisted candidates. Please let us know about the sensitivity of taking up references prior to an interview.