Director of Advancement Strategy & Operations

Director of Advancement Strategy & Operations
Advancement Department
University College London
London, UK

Grade 10 role with a globally competitive salary of £100,000-£120,000 pa, with excellent benefits and sector-leading relocation support.

UCL is a radically different university. Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, we were the first university in England to welcome students of any religion and the first to welcome women on equal terms with men. Today UCL has over 40,000 students, 13,000 staff and 400,000 alumni, and is one of the world’s top 10 universities.

In 2020, we closed one of the most successful fundraising campaigns in the UK’s higher education sector, which raised £624M and galvanised our community.  We have undertaken a strategic review of our programmes and have started to design a roadmap to build further capacity and expertise across our Advancement division. As part of this growth, we are investing in our Advancement Strategy & Operations team and require a dynamic and experienced new Director to lead this change.

The Director of Advancement Strategy & Operations is a pivotal and strategic senior leadership role within Advancement, offering a visionary leader the chance to make a lasting impact at one of the world’s leading universities. This is an opportunity to reimagine, innovate and shape the future of UCL’s ambitious fundraising and engagement programme, building systems and structures, and driving excellence in support of our philanthropic vision.

You will play a central and strategic role in developing and planning UCL’s next campaign, working closely with Advancement’s leadership team and senior leaders across the institution. You will lead and inspire a team of 24 to design and harness cutting-edge tools, data, systems and practices, delivering insights into donor behaviour, prospect and pipeline development, and ensuring operational efficiency and compliance.  You will also play an active role as a leader in Advancement, and in the wider UCL context, with responsibility for ensuring the right resources and talent are in place to deliver on our fundraising and alumni engagement targets, now and in the future.

The ideal candidate will bring a depth of experience from a Higher Education Advancement context of a similar size and scale, and a nuanced understanding of global ‘best-practice’. Your expertise and enabling leadership style will raise the professional confidence of advancement at UCL and play a key role in developing the culture of the office.  In return, you will join the team at an incredibly exciting time as we plan for UCL’s biggest ever fundraising and engagement campaign, launching in UCL’s bicentenary year, 2026.  We are a team of passionate individuals who work together to achieve remarkable things with a global impact. 

Our people really are our greatest asset and we invest in them so that they can fulfil their potential.  Equity, diversity and inclusion is important to us. We are committed to creating an environment where everyone is encouraged to give their best in a place where their unique experiences, perspectives and skills are seen as valuable assets. We also prioritise work-life balance and offer hybrid and agile working as well as flexibility around working hours.  We are happy to receive part-time applications for all of our job opportunities, and can consider a 0.8FTE working pattern for this role. And we particularly welcome applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce.

If you’re interested in hearing more, please contact our recruitment partner at Richmond Associates on +44 (0)20 3617 9240 or you can download further details from their website by following the Apply button here.

Closing date for applications is midnight on Wednesday, 12 March 2025