Advancement Officer

Salary: £31,236 - £32,080 with progression to £34,610  per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 10 November 2025

The Role

Join a mission-driven team shaping the future of philanthropy at the University.

We're looking for a proactive and detail-oriented individual to play a pivotal role across two key areas of our Advancement team: Operational Support and Donor Relations. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to both the strategic backbone of fundraising and the storytelling that inspires continued generosity.

What You'll Do

Prospect Research & Operational Support
Working closely with the Head of Advancement Operations, you'll contribute to ensuring the whole team can operate effectively and dynamically. You'll conduct insightful research and analysis on potential donors, helping to identify individuals with the capacity and propensity to support the University's mission. Your work will empower our team to build meaningful relationships with high-impact prospects.

Philanthropy and Donor Stewardship
In collaboration with the Head of Major Gifts, you'll craft compelling updates and reports that showcase the transformative power of philanthropy. You'll help donors see the direct impact of their support, strengthening their connection to the University. You'll also work to coordinate the planning and development of donor-funded scholarships, ensuring a seamless and rewarding experience for both donors and recipients.

Why This Role Matters

This role is ideal for someone who thrives on both analytical thinking and creative communication. You'll be a key connector between data and storytelling, helping to drive fundraising success while celebrating the generosity that fuels our institution's growth.

Newcastle University (NU) Advancement is the driving force behind fundraising and alumni and supporter engagement across the University. Our work transforms lives, inspires ground-breaking research, and creates opportunities and communities that have a profound impact. 

The NU Advancement Team is responsible for fundraising, donation management and alumni engagement across Newcastle University. Our work provides substantial financial and in-kind support to students and recent graduates and to the University's research programmes.

This role provides research, analytical and systems support ensuring fundraising efficiency and compliance with the governance requirements of the Fundraising Code of Practice and the University's ethical policies in relation to the acceptance of donations are met.

The role will work across 2 areas in the team - operational support and donor relations. The postholder will provide support across the Operations function, focusing specifically on researching prospects to further the efforts of the fundraising team. You'll work closely with the Head of Operations to provide analysis on potential donors to the University, working form educated assessments of a donor's propensity to give.

This role will also work with the donor relations team. The post-holder will be responsible for producing compelling updates and reports for donors , to clearly demonstrate the impact of philanthropy to the University and the impact of their giving.  The role will work closely with the Head of Individual Major Giving to oversee the planning and development of the scholarship process for donor-funded scholarships.

This role is full time, fixed term position for 9 months ending in September 2026. As a team, we work flexibly and are open to specific requests.

For more information on the role and an informal chat, please contact Jack O'Toole, Head of Advancement Operations at

Interviews are expected to be held on the 18th /19th  November

Key Accountabilities

• Work independently on general research activities, such as Prospect Research, to support the Head of Advancement Operations and the wider philanthropy team in providing GDPR-compliant, high-quality research on individuals, companies and trusts/foundations
• Work with Advancement colleagues to keep donors informed on the progress of their donations through effective stewardship report writing
• Work with colleagues in the philanthropy team to deliver stewardship strategies that strengthen long-term relationships with major donors, regular donors, legacy pledgers and other supporters.
• Lead on stewardship specific events to showcase the impact of philanthropy to our donor community. Acting as key liaison, overseeing logistics, event management and leadership briefings
• Oversee Advancement's programme of philanthropically donated scholarships, bursaries and prizes, guaranteeing a consistent experience for all donors
• Lead on donor visits to campus, organising a programme of activity which will inspire them to support the University and demonstrate the impact of philanthropy on campus
• Contribute to day to day maintenance of the alumni, donor, stakeholder and strategic relationship management data
• Independently produce sector and thematic research and supporting our events with briefings and guest biographies, particularly for the Alumni Engagement and Supporter team
• Ensure that information on key constituencies and their preferences is accurate and up to date on the NU Advancement database
• To produce reports and datasets as requested
• Organise, analyse and review prospect data to assess fundraising capabilities at monthly prospect pipeline and one to one meetings with canvassers, to ensure that fundraising efforts are targeted toward the best possible prospects to contribute towards the optimum performance of the fundraising team
• Work with the Operations Coordinator to ensure the prospect research process is adequate, fit for purpose and offers tangible return on investment. Work with the Head of Operations to gather intelligence to track effectiveness
• Ensure all research information is stored and processed is compliant with legislation (like GDPR), regularly reviewing processes and procedures to guarantee they are fit for purpose
• Contribute to ongoing training support related to the research and administration processes for the wider team
• To routinely contribute to the review of procedures, processes and policies relating to the prospect management system, ensuring compliance with relevant data protection legislation, the Fundraising Code of Practice and the University's policies for the ethical acceptance of donations
• Be aware of changing priorities with a willingness to undertake any other duties of a relevant nature as required by NU Advancement

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience (Essential)

Essential

Strong verbal and written communication skills, with experience preparing material for senior audiences

Experienced in producing clear, impactful reports

Experience of drawing together complex information and summarising it succinctly in accessible language for a non-specialist audience/readershipDemonstrates neutrality and objectivity in senior-level research reporting

Experience of working in a customer focused environment

Proven understanding of how to work effectively in systems-led environments

Proficient in  data analysis, especially using Excel

Skilled in identifying and improving standard operating practices

High accuracy and attention to detail

Excellent interpersonal skills, with a track record of building strong working relationships across teams

Strong project management capabilities, including prioritisation, organisation, and meeting multiple deadlines

Creative problem-solver with initiative and a proactive approach

Desirable

• Experience in prospect research or fundraising and donor relations
• Familiarity with handling sensitive data and applying ethical judgement
• Knowledge of fundraising regulations and guidance, including:
• • Fundraising Regulator's Code of Practice
  • Chartered Institute of Fundraising's major donor guide
  • Charity Commission Compliance toolkit
• Working understanding of data protection legislation and compliance requirements

Attributes and Behaviour

• Gathers a broad range of relevant information from internal and external sources making this information widely available. Uses information to gain competitive advantage
• Looks for impact of external developments on the University and embeds them into approach to reports for senior leadership
• Digs deeper by probing and questioning data
• Works continually towards achieving excellent service delivery through understanding and meeting/exceeding the expectations of the area
• Understands, values and utilises varying perspectives of stakeholders
• Manages time and resources by prioritising and organising effectively
• Generates a range of viable options and decides on an appropriate course of action that best fits organisational and area goals
• Looks at ways of overcoming obstacles rather than coming to a standstill, acknowledging when necessary to pass on or ask for help
• Keeps an open mind to alternative ways of doing things
• Sound understanding of the wider Advancement Strategic Aims and Objectives

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level (or equivalent), and/or relevant professional experience in a similar sector

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 28623