Head of Fundraising

Compass Wellbeing CIC, for ELFT Charity | East London, Bedfordshire & Luton | £50,000–£55,000 | Permanent, full-time (37.5 hours)

Closing date: Monday 5 October 2026, 10:00

Compass Wellbeing is a Community Interest Company set up to improve lives, strengthen communities and reduce inequalities. We are a wholly owned subsidiary of East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) – we operate independently as a social enterprise, but we share ELFT’s commitment to improving lives, reducing inequalities and strengthening communities. Our role is often to act as the connector: bringing people together around shared challenges and turning ideas into practical action.

ELFT Charity is the NHS charity of East London NHS Foundation Trust. It raises and manages charitable funds to support opportunities, ideas and improvements that go beyond what core NHS funding can provide, helping people and communities to thrive, recover and live well. Through its funding programmes – including Moments of Joy, Thrive, Horizon and Catalyst – it supports activity ranging from small local initiatives that make an immediate difference through to larger projects focused on innovation, improvement and community partnership. The Charity is entering a new phase of development focused on increasing awareness, building stronger relationships with the people and communities ELFT serves and creating more opportunities to support its work.

The Head of Fundraising will lead the day-to-day delivery of ELFT Charity’s fundraising strategy and the development and implementation of its action plan. Employed by Compass Wellbeing and working as an integral part of ELFT Charity, you will establish the relationships, propositions, systems and fundraising activity needed to build sustainable support for the Charity. This is ELFT Charity’s dedicated full-time fundraising post and reflects the Trust and Charity’s commitment to a new phase of sustainable growth: developing a balanced fundraising pipeline, growing participation and income, and helping more people and organisations understand, support and engage with the Charity’s work.

This is a varied and influential role with significant scope to shape and grow the Charity’s fundraising function. It will suit someone with broad fundraising experience, strong relationship-building and bid-writing skills, an innovative and entrepreneurial approach, and the ability to establish effective systems and ways of working – collaborative, practical and comfortable operating with a high degree of autonomy.

What we’re looking for

• A proven track record of fundraising, achieving or exceeding income and activity targets from both community and corporate streams, using a variety of fundraising methods
• Experience of developing, securing and stewarding relationships with funders, donors or partners, including managing expectations and demonstrating impact
• Experience of fundraising within an NHS charity, health, mental health, public service or community setting
• Practical knowledge of fundraising and charity regulation, data protection, ethical fundraising and the legal and governance requirements relevant to charitable fundraising
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to turn service ideas and community needs into clear and compelling cases for support, funding proposals, reports and presentations
• Experience of using CRM, supporter or pipeline management systems, and of working to agreed income, activity and engagement objectives

The full role description and person specification are in the candidate information pack.

The details

• Salary: £50,000–£55,000
• Contract: permanent, full-time (37.5 hours)
• Employer and reporting: employed and professionally supported by Compass Wellbeing CIC and accountable to ELFT Charity for delivery of the agreed Fundraising Strategy; reporting operationally to Compass Wellbeing’s Head of Strategic Growth & Impact, with strategic direction and priority-setting provided through the designated ELFT Charity lead
• Location: based across Compass Wellbeing and ELFT locations, working flexibly across office, service and community settings in East London, Bedfordshire and Luton, with occasional travel elsewhere and occasional evenings/weekends to support fundraising events
• Benefits: 27 days annual leave (rising with service) plus bank holidays, 5% employer pension contribution, 2 days paid volunteering leave per year, travel season ticket loan, NHS and fitness discounts, and occupational health and wellbeing support through Medigold

How to apply

The closing date for applications is Monday 5 October 2026, 10:00. Please send the following to hr@compasswellbeing.co.uk:

• A supporting statement (maximum 2 pages or 1,000 words) telling us: what you would bring to this role; how this opportunity aligns to your experience; and your motivations to join us as Head of Fundraising
• An up-to-date CV (maximum 2 pages)
• Contact details for two referees (only contacted with your permission and only after the selection of a preferred candidate)
• A completed equality monitoring form (optional)

We know people communicate their experience and motivation in different ways, so you are welcome to apply with either a written supporting statement or a video application (maximum 5 minutes) covering the same points. Both formats will be given equal consideration.

Shortlisting takes place on 6 October. Final interviews will be held in person at our offices in mid-October, with dates confirmed directly with shortlisted candidates. Candidates selected for interview will be asked to complete a DBS check and appropriate pre-employment checks.

If you would like the pack in an alternative format or need any adjustments to support your application or participation in the process, contact us at hr@compasswellbeing.co.uk and we will be happy to discuss what would help.