About us

Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement (P&A) provides a fundraising and alumni engagement function in support of King s College London. We are proud to work with colleagues across the university and its health partners to help them serve society through world-leading education, research and healthcare. Our work also includes a partnership with the Maudsley Charity in support of children s mental health initiatives between the university s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and the South London & Maudsley NHS Trust.

We are a committed team that brings together fundraisers working across different channels, alongside colleagues who promote King s College London s engagement with its worldwide alumni community. Our work is underpinned and enhanced by a range of dedicated professionals in supporting areas covering proposition development, supporter engagement, supporter operations and business operations.

We have an impressive, well-established track record of success in securing support that allows the university and partners to deliver on their missions. This includes our global, award-winning World Questions: King s Answers campaign, which set the standard in the sector and enabled us to raise substantial funds to help tackle some of the world s biggest challenges. Ambitious and innovative, the team has won awards such as a CASE Platinum Award for Fundraising and a CASE Gold Award for Donor Relations and Stewardship.

About the role

Events play a vital role within Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, creating opportunities to bring people closer to King s, strengthen relationships and support philanthropic engagement and giving.

As Advancement Events Manager, you will play a key role in delivering an ambitious programme of high-quality events for King s alumni, donors, prospects and supporters in the UK and internationally. You will take ownership of a varied portfolio of events, from intimate cultivation dinners and senior roundtables to larger receptions and digital engagement, developing experiences that are purposeful, creative and tailored to their audiences.

Working closely with colleagues across Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, academics, senior leadership and external partners, you will lead events through their full lifecycle from shaping the initial concept and developing the event plan, through to delivery, stakeholder management and post-event evaluation. You will bring strong project management skills alongside creative thinking, ensuring events are delivered to an exceptional standard while continually looking for new and innovative ways to engage our audiences.

This is an exciting time to join the team. As King s moves into a major new Campaign and towards its Bicentenary, events will play an increasingly important role in bringing the University s ambitions, priorities and propositions to life. You will have the opportunity to contribute directly to these high-profile moments, creating experiences that deepen relationships and help connect our global community to the impact of King s.

The role will also contribute to the continued development of the Advancement Events programme, identifying opportunities to improve processes, share best practice and introduce new approaches that increase the effectiveness and impact of our events.

If you are an experienced events professional who combines excellent organisation and delivery skills with creativity, initiative and a genuine interest in building relationships, this is an opportunity to play a central role in an exciting period of growth and change for King s.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

Experience of planning and delivering events end-to-end, with the ability to take ownership of multiple events and projects from initial concept and planning through to delivery, evaluation and follow-up.
Excellent organisational and project management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities, complex logistics, budgets and deadlines while maintaining a high standard of delivery.
Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills, with the confidence to work effectively with senior leaders, academics, colleagues, external partners and suppliers.
Creative and innovative approach to events, with the ability to develop engaging and audience-focused experiences, think differently about event formats and respond creatively to changing requirements and opportunities.
Excellent attention to detail and sound judgement, ensuring events are delivered accurately, professionally and with appropriate consideration of risk, logistics, guest experience and financial management.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate clearly and confidently with a diverse range of audiences and to build positive relationships at all levels.
Proactive and solutions-focused approach, with the ability to anticipate challenges, use initiative, make informed decisions and remain calm and effective in a fast-paced environment.
Ability to evaluate and learn from events, using data, feedback and stakeholder insight to assess impact, demonstrate outcomes and identify opportunities to improve future activity.

Desirable criteria

Experience of delivering events within a higher education, charity, membership or other stakeholder-led environment.
Experience of delivering events that support fundraising, donor cultivation, stewardship, alumni engagement or other relationship-building objectives.
Experience of contributing to campaigns or major institutional programmes, with an understanding of how events can support wider engagement and fundraising objectives.
Experience of managing event budgets, monitoring expenditure and using financial information to inform planning and assess value and impact.
Experience using CRM or relationship management systems, such as Microsoft Dynamics, and an understanding of how supporter data can inform event planning, audience selection and stewardship.
Knowledge and experience of digital and hybrid event platforms, such as Zoom, Teams or similar tools.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

At King s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King s guidance.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.

We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our How we Recruit pages.

In P&A we want to build a diverse team, which represents the communities served by the organisations we support. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented.

We are open to discussing flexible working arrangements, including part-time, compressed hours and/or job shares, as appropriate and in the context of the business needs associated with the role.

This roles with have two interview stages, a standard skills-based interview followed (for up to two appointable candidates) by a Core Values interview.

King s benefits

Our pay and benefits package attracts the best candidates from around the world.

Creating meaningful impact

Addressing urgent global challenges to shape a better world.