Director of Income Development & Partnerships
Appointment Brief September 2025
Welcome
Lynne Peabody CEO
Thank you for your interest in the EY Foundation. We are a growing charity with a big ambition; we want to ensure all young people on Free School Meals have an employment and earnings potential that is equitable to other young people in the UK.
In the eleven years since we were founded, we have developed a strong track record of impact thanks to our highly talented and committed team, volunteers, supporters and employer partners across the UK. But we want to do much more.
This is a pivotal moment for us as we accelerate the next phase of development and growth. We know, like many of the young people we work with, that we have huge untapped potential. We are laser focused on our ambition to take the Foundation to the next level of impact. This desire to do more stretches across all of our work, from increasing our paid employability and work placement programmes to more locations across the UK, to systemic change with strategic partners at a national level.
The Director of Income Development will be instrumental in turning ambition into impact. You will lead a highly capable team to drive growth in income from private sector partnerships to donations, grants and traditional fundraising. You will lead across all parts of the income generation process, from identifying opportunities and securing contracts, to pioneering innovative funding models that uncover new ways to fund progress towards achieving our strategic objectives.
We were born out of one of the world’s largest and most successful professional services firms, EY, who remain our largest funder and champion. Through building upon and leveraging their support we have been able to broaden our reach and deepen our impact via our extensive employers and partner network.
This is a challenging time in the market, with DEI initiatives under greater scrutiny than ever before, but we also see a continued commitment from employers to drive an increase in socioeconomic inclusion. To realise this opportunity requires a deep understanding of the circumstances we operate in, good commercial acumen and a ‘glass half full’ attitude to identify new ways to secure partnerships that will lead to a transformative impact for young people.
A solutions-focused, optimistic and collaborative approach will be key to this role and their position within the EY Foundation’s leadership team. As an integral member of the leadership team, you will help guide the organisation’s growth and development.
This role will be perfect for someone who brings drive, passion and commitment to raising income in support of young people. If you do this with a smile and enthusiasm, I urge you to apply and I look forward to reading your application.
We hope you are inspired by our story so far and that you will want to join us as Director of Income Development and Partnerships and a member of our leadership team to lead the next phase of our development to help ensure that every young person in the UK, whatever their background, gets the opportunity to succeed.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Lynne Peabody, CEO
About the EY Foundation
The EY Foundation is a charity established in 2014. We were founded by EY, the professional services firm, which continues to provide funding and donations to the charity under a multi-annual funding agreement. We are based out of EY offices and are fortunate to benefit from a number of EY services.
An independent charity, we bring young people and employers together to deliver high-quality paid employability skills training, paid work experience, and mentoring. Our programmes build aspiration, confidence, and a greater sense of purpose. We utilise our programmes to identify and test new tactics, scalable solutions and ideas, co-designed with young people, employers, and others, to increase social mobility across the UK. We focus on three interconnected areas based on our expertise and unique ability to convene young people, employers and decision makers:
1. Inspire young people through careers support
• Increasing and enhancing our reach through our direct delivery programmes, generating insights on how best to support young people and employers.
• In collaboration we are developing and testing a bespoke model in Bradford that will replace the current ‘one size fits all’ approach to work experience, with the aim of scaling this across the UK.
• Working with the Institute for the Future of Work (IFoW) and by developing a deeper understanding of the impact of increased intrinsic motivation and the mindset needed for young people to thrive, we will create a training framework that will be tested in our programmes before being implemented by educators and employers.
2. Ensure employers actively engage with and recruit FSM young people
• We are taking an evidence-led approach to simplifying the action employers need to take to diversify their workforce. We have a specific focus currently on the business case for action by SMEs which builds on the recommendations from a recent report with Groundswell Innovation.
3. Ensure the future of work is fully inclusive for all young people
• We have a variety of strategic partners and projects focussing on this aim. For example, we are working alongside government and innovators to identify tech-driven solutions through an AI and social mobility Grand Challenge.
• We are working with organisations in sustainability focused sectors of the economy to identify how to explain and promote new ‘green’ jobs to young people.
It’s not just young people who benefit from our work – by collaborating closely with employers, our professional, insight-based approach directly benefits them, too. By working with local talent, employers can build a more diverse workforce and increase staff engagement.
We operate in regions across the country, enabling young people from a low-income background to access the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to help them thrive in the workplace.
As an independent charity we have to diversify and raise our own income through traditional
fundraising, grants and, increasingly, through the development of our work with corporate partners.
EY Foundation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful applicant will need to undertake an Enhanced DBS check via the Disclosure and Barring service, where appropriate.
At the EY Foundation, we have a hybrid working model in which our staff work from the office (one of our Hubs in London, Birmingham, Manchester or Glasgow) at least one day per week.
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion
At the EY Foundation, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are at the heart of everything we do. We believe in the transformative power of embracing differences and creating a culture where everyone feels valued, respected and empowered to be their authentic selves.
We are committed to fostering an environment that celebrates diversity in all its forms, ensuring that everyone – regardless of background, identity, or experience – feels safe, accepted and that they truly belong. Our dedication to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging means continuously learning, improving, and challenging ourselves to build a workplace where every individual can thrive.
We are an Equal Opportunities Employer and are proud to be a diverse and inclusive organisation. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, identities and experiences. If you share our commitment to creating a culture of belonging and inclusion, we encourage you to join us and help to make a difference.
Structure Leadership
Team
Income Development & Partnerships Team
Role Profile
Role title: Director of Income Development & Partnerships
Location: London, Birmingham, Manchester or Glasgow. We operate a flexible working policy with hybrid working. We expect the team to be in the office a minimum of 1 day per week.
Salary: £88,047 + £5499.96 Car Allowance
Role Purpose
The Director of Income Development & Partnerships will be instrumental in driving income diversification for the organisation through expanding private sector partnerships, donations, grants and traditional fundraising. The candidate will lead on identifying, developing and securing high-value contracts, and developing innovative funding models to help drive the EY Foundation’s strategic objectives. You will collaborate closely with a variety of stakeholders who contribute strategic funding and partnerships, lead our fundraising teams, and be an integral member of the Leadership Team, responsible for guiding the organisation as a whole.
We are seeking a commercially minded, resultsoriented individual with a strong track record of securing and managing significant incomegenerating partnerships and delivering substantial income growth. You will bring experience of working with complex stakeholders, building and leading high-performing teams to drive funding growth across a network, and representing an organisation or cause on public platforms. You will demonstrate a strong alignment and affinity with the mission of the EY Foundation. The successful candidate will demonstrate a strong commitment to social mobility, diversity, and inclusion.
Key Responsibilities
The role will include several key responsibilities but are not limited to:
Strategic Leadership
• Developing and implementing a long-term fundraising and corporate partnerships strategy to ensure the delivery of income growth, sustainability and diversification.
• Working collaboratively with relevant colleagues to lead the development and testing of new income sources to drive EY Foundation’s strategic pillars.
• Working with the leadership team (LT) to design and implement EY Foundation’s long-term strategy.
• Working closely with key stakeholders in EY to leverage the organisation’s network and maximise collaborative working on social value bids and client engagement opportunities.
• Leading on annual business planning and budgeting for your team’s functions.
Income Generation
• Leading on the growth of income from trusts and foundations, corporate partnerships, major donors and individuals, and events and campaigns.
• Setting and monitoring income targets, and taking responsibility for forecasting, budget management and KPIs in these areas.
• Delivering existing strategic donor commitments and developing engagement strategies for prospective donors to diversify and increase income for the organisation.
• Oversight and responsibility for all commercial arrangements with regards to income generation, fundraising and collaborative partnerships – including costing and pricing, contract management, due diligence, independence and legal considerations.
Development of strategic partnerships
• In addition to income generation as above, further developing EY Foundation’s value proposition and go to market plan for corporate partnerships.
• Leading on identification and stewardship of strategic funders (spanning corporate partnerships and influence projects.)
• Overseeing implementation of a Business Development strategy, working closely with the Head of Corporate Partnerships and Business Development Manager to provide clarity of direction and necessary support to meet income targets.
• Working closely with the Programmes team to develop funding pipelines that align with strategic delivery, forecast and monitor it on a regular basis.
• Creating and developing relationships with key senior stakeholders in EY and externally across the public, private and non-profit sectors, to influence and build coalitions of support to drive our mission.
• Actively seeking new opportunities to meet potential funders and corporate partners at industry events, conferences and networks.
Team Leadership & Line Management
• Providing direction, guidance and line management to the Head of Fundraising and the Head of Corporate Partnerships, ensuring a highly motivated team to drive optimum performance of staff, support collaboration and foster a happy and supportive fundraising team culture that meets its team targets.
• Enabling team members to identify and access relevant L&D opportunities that further support their personal and professional development.
• Champion a culture of wellbeing by fostering a culture of care, psychological safety, and open dialogue, ensuring every team member feels supported, heard, and empowered to bring their best self to work.
Governance and Reporting
• Overseeing strategic collaborations and partnerships, managing risk and assessing return on investment for the charity.
• Working closely with CFO to ensure high level of accuracy on forecasting and budgeting related to your functions.
• Supporting on Trustee engagement and providing relevant, insightful and analytical data points for Board updates and papers on a quarterly basis
Person Specification
What you will bring to the Foundation is your demonstrable skills, experience and knowledge in the following areas:
Skills:
• Ability to develop and implement multi-year fundraising and partnership strategies aligned with organisational goals.
• Strong decision-making and prioritisation skills in a resource-constrained environment.
• Strong commercial acumen and ability to negotiate mutually beneficial agreements.
• Contributing to organisational strategy as part of a senior leadership team or at a senior management level.
• Demonstrating the ability to influence commercial stakeholders through the establishment of strong, effective relationships that foster collaboration and alignment on key objectives.
• Build proactive and effective relationships with trustees and non-executive directors.
• Inspire, coach, and hold teams accountable.
• Craft compelling cases for support tailored to different audiences.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate complex ideas clearly, adapt messaging to different stakeholders, and speak with authority and authenticity in public and internal forums.
• Handle challenging situations and display solutions focussed and conciliatory approach to partnership management where necessary.
• Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills with senior stakeholders, including board members, donors, and corporate executives.
• Represent the organisation externally with credibility and passion.
Experience:
• Building, developing and managing strategic partnerships with corporates, ideally in a social impact or CSR context.
• Securing five-six figure multiyear income from a mix of sources: corporate partners, trusts and foundations, HNWIs, events, and digital campaigns.
• Managing and developing high-performing teams across different functions.
• Building inclusive and diverse team and prioritising staff wellbeing.
• Leading income generation functions in a mission-driven organisation, ideally in the charity, education, or youth sectors.
• Designing and delivering successful fundraising and/or business development strategies.
• Managing relationships with high-value donors and corporate partners, ensuring long-term engagement and strategic alignment.
• Working as part of a senior leadership team and contributing to organisational strategy.
• Managing budgets, forecasting income, and reporting to boards or governance bodies.
• Building and scaling teams within growing or evolving organisations.
• Confident and compelling public speaker, representing the organisation at high-profile events, donor engagements, and corporate partnership meetings, with the ability to inspire and influence diverse audiences.
Knowledge:
• Deep understanding of donor journeys, stewardship, and impact reporting.
• Understanding of how to package and sell programmes to corporate clients.
• In-depth understanding of the change management process and how individuals experience and adapt to change
• Understanding of the UK fundraising landscape, including philanthropic trends and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices.
• Familiarity with the social mobility sector and the systemic barriers facing young people from lowincome backgrounds, particularly those eligible for Free School Meals.
• Knowledge of impact measurement and how to communicate social value to funders and partners.
• Awareness of safeguarding principles and ethical fundraising standards.
• Understanding of CRM systems, ideally Microsoft 360 Dynamics, and data-driven fundraising approaches.
How to Apply
To apply for the role please upload your CV together with a supporting statement (maximum of 1000 words) on the Prospectus website at the link below.
At Prospectus we believe passionately that a truly inclusive workplace leads to increased social impact. We are committed to supporting our clients build more inclusive teams. To understand how we are performing, we ask that you kindly complete the brief equal opportunities questionnaire when you submit your application via our website.
Please be assured that your responses are kept confidential, separate from your candidate record, are not part of any application you make, and that the consultants never see individual responses to the questionnaire.
Applications should be made via the Prospectus website at: https://www.prospect-us.co.uk/job/192782
Queries
If you wish to have an informal discussion about the opportunity, please contact our retained advisor at Prospectus via email: Rhiannon.Mehta@prospect-us.co.uk
Key dates
If you are invited to interview and are unavailable on one or both dates, please let the recruiter know, we will do our best to offer an alternative.
If you require any reasonable adjustments to support you during the interview process, please don’t hesitate to let the recruiter know when contacted.
Closing date: 2nd October
Preliminary interviews with Prospectus: w/c 13th October
Panel interviews with EY Foundation – Stage one: w/c 20th October
Panel interviews with EY Foundation – Stage two: w/c 27th October
Recruitment process
Initial interviews with our recruitment agency Prospectus.
Followed by a first round interview with members of the Leadership Team.
Second round will comprise of an informal coffee with a member of the income team and a young person.
Followed by an interview with the CEO and a trustee member.
Our organisation is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible experience for all candidates. If you require any adjustments or support during the recruitment, selection, or onboarding process, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
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The EY Foundation is a UK registered charity that works directly with young people, employers and social entrepreneurs to create or support pathways to education, employment or enterprise. EY Foundation operates and is incorporated independently of EY and is governed by a separate trustee board.
The EY Foundation is a charitable company registered in England and Wales and Scotland with registered charity number 1157154 and SC045076. It is also a member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited. The EY Foundation, 1 More London Place, London SE1 2AF
eyfoundation.com
