Clare College seeks to appoint an exceptional individual as its next Development Director. Clare College has a long and proud history, dating back to 1326, and today is a vibrant and diverse community of Fellows, staff, postgraduate and undergraduate students, and alumni. The College will be celebrating its 700th anniversary in 2026. The second-oldest of the constituent Colleges of the University of Cambridge, Clare College is known for academic excellence, as well as its friendly, stimulating and supportive environment and its highly engaged alumni body. The College has recently completed its very successful Old Court campaign.
The new Development Director will be responsible for shaping and realising the College’s ambitious fundraising strategy, and for maintaining and enhancing relations between the College, its alumni and other potential benefactors. Working in close collaboration with Fellows and staff, they will shape and deliver a new fundraising campaign to be launched to coincide with the College’s 700th anniversary. The successful candidate will be personally responsible for cultivating and raising principal gifts to the College, and for stewarding existing principal donors. They will lead the work of the Development Office, developing and empowering a small and highly capable team. They will report to the Master and will be put forward to the College’s Governing Body for election as a Fellow of the College, reflecting the importance of close relationships between the Development Director and the Fellowship as a whole.
The ideal candidate will be an outstanding collegial individual, with a successful track-record of setting and delivering ambitious fundraising targets and personally securing principal gifts. Recent successful major campaign experience would be helpful. The successful candidate will be a strong communicator and diplomat, with natural influencing skills, who will be able to engage effectively with all College members, including Fellows and alumni. They will be an inclusive leader who will inspire their team. The successful candidate will be collaborative in style, and will be respectful of tradition while bringing a forward-thinking approach. This is an opportunity to play a pivotal role in attracting philanthropic funding that will secure the College’s core activities for future generations.
This is a wonderful opportunity to work for the second oldest of the 31 Colleges in the University of Cambridge. Regarded as one of the most progressive and informal, Clare is renowned as a College that achieves academically at the highest levels, whilst also being welcoming, forward-thinking, and inclusive.
Located in the heart of Cambridge city centre, the College is extraordinarily beautiful and famed for its gardens on “the Backs” (the famous backs of the Colleges that overlook the River Cam). Our gardens are widely renowned as some of the best in Cambridge and are valued by all members of the College, as well as our guests. Clare’s Old Court, a Grade I listed building, is the centre of the College and is unique among the ancient Cambridge Colleges in having maintained its architectural integrity over the course of its history.
Salary and Benefits
The annual salary for this role will be between spine point 71 (£88,074) and spine point 73 (£93,374) DOE.
In addition to the salary We also offer membership of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). The College currently pays contributions equal to 14.5% if salary and the employee pays 6.1%.
The Application Process
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