Epic Foundation - UK Director

UK

DIRECTOR MAY 2024

ABOUT EPIC FOUNDATION

Epic is a dynamic and forward-thinking international foundation committed to driving positive change in the world and transforming the lives of vulnerable communities. We serve as a bridge between those on the ground, nonprofits forging solutions to today’s most pressing challenges, and the donors—individual and corporate—who are essential to fuelling that work. We find, select, and monitor nonprofit organizations that design and implement essential solutions to transform the lives of children and youth and protect our planet for generations to come.

As a grantmaker, we have historically dedicated our funding to issues affecting children and youth in their human development— education, economic empowerment, health, rights, and protection. Since 2022, acknowledging climate change as the greatest existential threat, we curate a second portfolio dedicated to Environment and Livelihoods issues.

Make Giving the Norm is our motto.

Epic embodies and encourages innovative and strategic giving. We pool the resources of diverse donors - individuals and families, entrepreneurs, corporates, funds and financial institutions etc. - who want to invest strategically in social impact.

We act as an innovative philanthropic one- stop shop, and tailor giving solutions that are adapted to our donors and what they do.

Since our creation in 2015, Epic has mobilized over 80 million dollars and supported 54 organizations in 11 countries worldwide.

The Epic model is built on three core activities:

• We back nonprofits: We build and manage portfolios of highly-vetted nonprofits to whom our strategic support will be game changing.

• We mobilize donors: We offer innovative giving solutions so that individuals and companies alike can support our portfolios.

• We guarantee impact: We analyse the performance of nonprofits and report back to donors, ensuring trust and accountability.

Additionally, Epic leverages its 100% model:

Our goal is to foster lasting change for children, youth and our planet, and move the needle in the way philanthropy currently operates. To do so, we invest in a team of experts from diverse backgrounds who use their knowledge and expertise to bridge the gap between nonprofits and donors.

Our Board, Advisory Board, Trusted Circle and corporate strategic partners cover 100% of our operational expenses to ensure that 100% of donations go to the nonprofits in our portfolio.

For more information: https://epic.foundation/

THE ROLE

Role: UK Director

Location: London, UK (2-day per week remote work arrangements permitted)

Salary: £70,000 - 80,000 depending on experience plus Benefits (including BUPA Health Insurance)

JOB SUMMARY

Epic Foundation is seeking a highly motivated and strategicthinking UK Director to lead our fundraising and development efforts in the UK. The UK Director will be taking over from the Chief Engagement Officer, who launched Epic UK in 2015 and has acted as UK Director for the past 9 years. The new UK Director will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Epic in the UK by creating and implementing comprehensive fundraising strategies, building and nurturing donor relationships, and ensuring sustainable growth.

The UK Director will manage the dedicated UK Development team (3 people) and will report to the COO. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in resource mobilization, major donor stewardship, communications, and a deep passion for social impact and strategic philanthropy.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategy

• Develop and execute a robust fundraising strategy aligned with the Epic Foundation’s mission and goals. This includes setting annual and long-term fundraising targets, and continually evaluating the effectiveness of fundraising activities.

The annual fundraising target for the UK office is £1.6M-£2M.

Awareness and Fundraising

• Comprehensive experience and ability to manage sales cycle end to end – identifying new market segments, defining acquisition strategies, building prospect pipelines, pitching, securing grants and managing accounts:

– Experience across various prospecting techniques: cold outreach, LinkedIn, growth emailing campaigns etc.

– Ability to manage, nurture, outreach and network across key donor segments : high net worth individuals (HNWI) and intermediaries, entrepreneurs, corporations

– Comfort with pitching to C-Suite level.

– Account Management, Renewal and Upselling: Lead on all major accounts ($20K - 1 million), developing long term, trusting relationships with key donors, with the aim of increasing funds raised year on year.

– Effectively manage relationships with key corporate partners and maintain high levels of donor satisfaction by developing custom employee engagement programs, proactively sharing relevant content for marketing teams etc.

Team Leadership

• Manage a small dedicated UK development team, providing guidance, support, and mentorship to ensure the team’s success in meeting fundraising goals.

Data and Reporting

• Implement effective data management and donor tracking systems to monitor progress, analyse trends, and make datadriven decisions.

• Provide regular reports to the to the CEO, the COO (line manager) and the Boards.

• Identify new business opportunities through the Epic Lab which promotes innovative corporate giving.

Communications

• Ability to tailor outreach, communications and account management strategies to each donor segment.

• Comfort and confidence in promoting Epic at events – as an attendee and as a speaker.

• Wider awareness generation of Epic as a brand.

Operations

• Provide liaison support and collaboration to the Director Finance and Administration in relation to Epic Foundation UK

• Provide liaison support and contextual advice to the Epic HQ Marketing & Communications team on messaging and communications for the UK market.

• Provide support to the event team in the UK and be able to participate in conferences as a key speaker or a facilitator

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Required Skills & Experience

• 7+ years proven track record of career success in fundraising or new business development leadership within the international or domestic nonprofit sector.

• An understanding or experience of Epic Foundation’s portfolio sectors and geographies would be an advantage, but is not essential.

• Strong strategic planning and project management skills.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.

• Epic HQ is in Paris, good oral level of French and understanding is preferable (not the working language)

• Experience in cultivating and stewarding major donors and partnerships.

• Ease with fundraising software and donor/client database management. Knowledge of SalesForce is an advantage.

• Leadership and team management experience.

• Motivated by finding new donors and signing big cheques. A friendly and good humoured “Robin Hood” attitude is appreciated.

• Networking is a big part of this role – the ideal applicant will be excited by the opportunity to attend events, meet new prospects and pitch Epic to them.

• Enjoys hosting and attending events and conferences day and evening alone or with Epic colleagues.

• Deeply inspired by the mission to help people and the planet.

• Epic boasts a start-up mentality. Applicants must be:

– Comfortable being your own intern and your own boss.

– Need to have a fighter mentality

• Capable of working with a diverse workload across global teams.

• Collaborative: able to work across internal teams to engage and grow the donor community through events such as galas, webinars, and conferences.

• Support Epic’s global marketing and communications team by sharing your understanding of the UK market to support teammates in creating impactful content such as newsletters and fundraising campaigns.

HOW TO APPLY

All correspondence, at this stage, should be via Oxford HR. To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button on the job advert page, complete our online application form, and submit your CV and cover letter as two different documents, which should be prepared before applying as they will be considered in the application process. The cover letter should be no more than two pages long and explain why you are interested in this post and how your skills and experience make you a good fit.

The document should be saved in PDF in the following format: Your First Name-Your Last Name-Document Name-Date (mmyy) e.g., PatJones-CV-052024-EpicFoundation or Pat-Jones-CoverLetter-052024EpicFoundation.

Timeline

Closing Date: 7 July 2024

First stage interviews: 18 - 19 July 2024

Final interviews: 22 - 31 July 2024

Start Date: 2 September 2024

Selection Process

All candidates will receive an update regarding their application after the closing date. We advise candidates to add the role email to their safe senders list and regularly check their spam folder.

Equality Statement

Equality and diversity are at the core of Epic Foundation’s values. Staff are expected to work collectively and individually to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of others is valued and respected.

Queries

If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information, or would like to have an informal discussion, please email Dominic Bond at dbond@oxfordhr.com in the first instance.

ABOUT OXFORD HR

Exceptional leaders can inspire change and propel purpose-led organisations towards reaching their world-changing goals. Finding such leaders can be a challenge; and yet their transition into leadership is vital to an organisations mission and success.

Oxford HR is a global leadership consultancy dedicated to searching for and supporting remarkable leaders and teams in purpose-led organisations.

We understand the nuances of purpose-led leadership because we’ve worked in organisations across the breadth of the sector ourselves. We’ve also worked with such organisations since 1995; so we appreciate just what benefits impactful people can bring.