Development Operations Manager

Focus of the Role

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) is a purpose-driven, not-for-profit organisation, with a mission to equip leaders to build open, prosperous and inclusive societies. We believe that politics done well has the power to transform lives. When governments work well, they are able to create economic and social change in a way that promotes fairness, social justice and opportunity. We are optimists, and we work relentlessly to support leaders and governments with the challenges they face: giving them practical solutions and actionable insights, that once implemented, can be transformative for their people.  

We do this within two connected divisions: 

 Government Advisory 

Our Advisory Practice works directly with political leaders and governments around the world to implement reforms that improve the lives of their citizens. It has both non-profit partners and a client base and its outputs cover a range of disciplines and projects across countries in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South Asia. We are currently in a rapid expansion phase from c. 18 countries at present, to 30 by December 2022.

Policy Futures 

Our Policy Futures work encompasses three broad areas: 

·Renewing the Centre: developing a bold and innovative domestic policy programme to help renew the centre ground of British politics; 

·Tech and Public Policy: exploring the policy challenges and opportunities presented by the technological revolution; and 

·Extremism Policy Unit: creating solutions designed to tackle the threat of extremist ideologies in the UK and around the world. 

As an organisation, the core beliefs we all embrace are: 

·Open and Progressive: you’ll believe in the value of teamwork 

·Bold and Pragmatic: you’ll approach everything you do with integrity and authenticity 

·Optimistic Changemaker: you’ll be focused on results 

Our Fundraising and Donors Relations Team is a strategic function at the Institute, responsible for securing and managing income to ensure the Institute can achieve impact and increase its influence. The Team focusses on a broad range of high value relationships with philanthropic institutions, corporate partners, individuals and development partners as well as governments to meet its objectives. The Team works at the highest levels including with the Executive Chairman and CEO as well as operational teams to ensure the Institute is best positioned to maximise relationships with its donors and partners.

The Development Operations Manager is a key role which will help strengthen TBI’s fundraising operations and will be responsible for managing optimising our fundraising processes to increase funding revenue.

The role will ensure that we have the requisite systems in place to maximise our fundraising platform: from prospecting and donor intelligence through to pipeline tracking and award management. Through effective data structures, the Development Operations Manager will develop tools, data and insights to inform decision-making including shaping the Institute’s strategy for income and internal reporting, and will work closely with internal stakeholders, including the Institute’s leadership and external stakeholders including, board members, donors, partners, consultants and advisors.

Key Responsibilities

• ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Manage all operational aspects of the Fundraising and Donor Relations Team
• Manage systems for prospecting, donor intelligence, pipeline development and financial management across the Institute’s income streams
• Track proposals and other fundraising outputs to ensure that necessary internal and external deadlines are met
• Deliver coordination and communication systems to support the Team’s oversight role and in enable strategy development and implementation
• Work closely with the Database Manager on the department’s CRM system improvements as well as identifying and championing various tech solutions that support fundraising goals
• Support the Institute’s Advisory and Policy divisions in their fundraising initiatives including events, developing marketing materials and other activities
• Support the Director of Philanthropy and Business Development in working closely with the Institute’s Finance team to deliver monthly and annual revenue projections and income coordination
• Creating and tailor reports into formats appropriate to internal and external stakeholders
• Work with others, particularly the Stakeholder Manager to implement gift and award management systems across the Institute’s UK and US departments including tracking of donor commitments and award compliance
• Undertake other responsibilities as requested by the Director of Philanthropy and Business Development including analysis, policy development, HR and team finance matters.

Person Specification

This is a key role in the Institute and will help shape and grow the Fundraising and Donor Relations Team. The candidate should possess exemplary management and communication skills, outstanding attention to detail, eagerness to excel, a capability to grow in their role and be able to demonstrate the majority of the following:

• A minimum of three years’ of programme management in fundraising or customer services
• A background in implementing business processes
• Experience of the management of and reporting on data, and a background in the strategic application of relationship databases
• A proven ability to analyse, interpret and communicate complex and fast-moving management information to senior stakeholders
• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to meet deadlines under pressure and manage multiple tasks and competing priorities
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, problem-solving attitude, and ability to work both independently and as a collaborative team player
• Strong numeracy skills
• Excellent verbal communication, writing, researching and editing skills. Fluency in written and spoken English
• Excellent diplomacy, discretion and ability to engage with individuals at all levels is essential
• Strong IT skills and ability to learn new systems easily
• Experience in CRM and Database management (e.g. Salesforce, Raisers Edge, Dynamics or SharePoint). Technical background in database management, understanding the back-end and associated software like PowerBI would be advantageous
• Flexible working style and ability to work across various donor categories or learn quickly and with ambiguity
• Experience of working with senior internal stakeholders
• Experience and knowledge of fundraising operations (desirable)
• Experience in a start-up environment, think-tank or Higher Education context (desirable)
• Knowledge of charity law (U.S. or U.K.), tax efficient giving (desirable)
• Knowledge of the donor landscape, including philanthropy networks in the U.S. or bi-lateral/multi-lateral agencies (desirable)
• Experience of or interest in policy research or development programmes (advantageous)
• Project management qualification is desirable

About The Institute

TBI believes embracing diversity and inclusion make us a better place to work.  It’s our goal to reflect everyone in society and we actively welcome applications from individuals and groups who are under-represented in the workplace. We celebrate difference be it ethnicity, religion, age, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation or disability.

We will only ever assess you on your abilities and fit for a role. We’re happy to discuss any adjustments you need to ensure a level playing field during recruitment and, if you're successful, discuss any adjustments you might need to thrive in your role.