Assistant Director for Institutional Advancement

• Job Title:Assistant Director for Institutional Advancement
• Location:London, UK
• Salary:£70,875
• Posting date: 19 August 2025
• Closing date: 2 September @ 10 am BST

• Manage a portfolio of grants for the education program.
• Manage a portfolio of grants for new CGD/E initiatives (e.g., climate).
• Work closely with programme teams to prospect funders, develop, write, and submit funding proposals and budgets.
• Meet regularly with CGDE research staff to stay up to date on upcoming work streams.
• Review all grant agreements and contracts to ensure alignment with organisational policies and terms.
• Attend CGD/E-related Programme meetings and have regular check-ins with key internal staff, including Programme Directors.
• Attend meetings with funders/donors and prospects along with members of the IA team and/or other staff and manage and initiate follow-up as appropriate.
• Maintain and coordinate consistent quality communications with donors and prospects in coordination with CGDE and programme leadership, and the IA team.
• Lead donor reporting to ensure all funder reporting requirements are met, working in collaboration with programmes and the finance team.

• Fundraising oversight and line management for the IA team in London.
• Track fundraising progress and pipeline and report regularly to the leadership team.
• Stay informed on trends and shifts in the philanthropic landscape and provide regular updates to the leadership team.
• Work closely with the leadership team, contributing to strategic planning efforts (e.g., finance, communications, and outreach) to help build CGD’s organisational profile.
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with fundraising and partnership networks in the UK and Europe.

• Work with the IA team to develop and implement an effective fundraising strategy for securing and retaining unrestricted funding (e.g., from high-net-worth individuals and corporate funders) for CGD’s entire research portfolio.
• Identify, cultivate, secure and steward potential major gift donors.

• Utilise Salesforce and other IA systems (One Drive, notional pipeline, master reports tracker) to track funder outreach, concept notes, proposals, payments, CGD impact, and reporting requirements.
• Keep the pulse (e.g., attend CGD communications and programme meetings, subscribe to funder newsletters, read major philanthropic journals/periodicals) on upcoming major global development events, initiatives, etc. for strategic fundraising purposes and flags useful information for the rest of the IA team.
• Build and maintain a culture of information sharing and transparency, both within the IA team and with all CGD staff.

• Bachelor’s degree required, master’s degree in business, non-profit management, international development, or related field preferred.
• Demonstrated 7-10 years’ experience securing major gifts and/or grants from individuals, corporate donors, and trusts/foundations, in international development, policy, think tanks or academic research.
• Experience working with Salesforce or another CRM platform required.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite required.
• Exceptional writing and communication skills required. Clear and concise writing is necessary; excellent editorial skills, ability to understand and distill technical research subjects into easily accessible funding pitches (in English).
• Ability to cultivate relationships with potential donors and secure major gifts.
• Experience in donor stewardship and the ability to nurture relationships with donors after they have made a grant or gift.
• Experience in managing a portfolio of grants preferred.
• Ability to maintain strong working relationships with high level individuals, executive management, and donors.
• ​Poise, confidence, self-motivated, collaborative, outstanding time management skills.
• Friendly and flexible team player attitude; a willingness to pitch into all projects and tasks is necessary; enthusiastically troubleshoots/problem solves on a regular basis.

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