Regional Fundraising Manager

Working at the RFU means being part of the ‘bigger picture’ at England Rugby: to be rooted in our purpose, which is to enrich lives, introduce more people to rugby union & develop the sport for future generations. If our purpose resonates with you, and you recognise the value that sport can bring to people’s lives, we’d love to work with you. An opportunity has arisen for eight Regional Fundraising Managers to join our Rugby Development team on a 3yr FTC basis.

Job Title : Regional Fundraising Manager
Department : Rugby Development
Reports to : Regional Partnerships Manager
Direct report(s) : None
Salary : c.£45,000-£47,000 per annum
Job Level : Implement
Location : Homebased, covering a region (North, North West, Midlands West, Midlands East, South Central, London & South East, South West) 
Travel Requirements : Regular travel within region, and occasional travel to Allianz stadium, as required
Employment Type : 3-year Fixed Term Contract
Working Hours : This is a full-time role, covering 35hrs per week on any five out of the seven days of the week (from Monday to Sunday inclusive)

Application Information:

• Please submit an anonymised CV (i.e. remove personal details). You do not need to submit a cover letter.
• Vacancy closing date: 3rd May at 5pm

To help us get to know your unique experience and voice, we kindly ask that you complete your application without the use of AI‑generated content. This ensures we can fairly and accurately understand your skills, perspective, and suitability for the role. 

The Role:

The RFU has recently launched Plan 2030: ‘More Than A Game’, which is our strategy to grow rugby across England for the next five years.

Our strategy contains four big goals that support and connect to one another - Play, Perform, Follow and Fund. In ‘Play’ we’re aiming to have an additional 50,000 registered players and have more people playing rugby for longer. 

One of the ways we are planning to unlock this growth is through a transformation in how the RFU delivers community rugby by creating seven Regional Growth Partnership Boards tasked with driving participation, building partnerships, and unlocking funding opportunities within their region.

The RFU has launched a new plan focused on the growth of Community Rugby in England. The goal is simple: introduce more people to rugby, and help them keep playing for longer.

To support this, the RFU is creating seven new Regional Growth Partnership Boards. Each board will focus on promoting and growing rugby in its area. Their main responsibilities are to:

• Create new opportunities for people to play rugby in more places
• Build strong regional relationships that help the sport
• Manage RFU funding for local growth projects
• Bring in additional external income to support more opportunities

Each region will have a Regional Fundraising Manager who will lead fundraising and revenue‑generating activity to support these growth plans.

What the role will do:

• Lead fundraising across multiple income streams (e.g., public sector grants, trusts, foundations, philanthropy, events, and ESG/commercial funding)
• Work closely with the Regional Partnerships Manager and Regional Board to support the development and delivery of the regional growth plan
• Identify local opportunities and challenges and turn them into successful funding proposals

Impact / Outcomes:

• Brings in new external income that directly enables new rugby activity and programmes
• Ensures the region can fund innovative projects that increase participation
• Builds long‑term funding relationships that strengthen community rugby

The Team:

Each region will have a small team made up of a Regional Partnerships Manager and a Fundraising Manager, supported by central staff including a Head of Regional Partnerships, a National Fundraising Manager, and Data and Insights Manager.

This team will work closely with a Regional Board made up of independent members, RFU representatives, and people from the community game. Together, they will create and deliver a plan to help more people in the region experience Rugby Union. This is a new team, so you will have the chance to help shape how it works and contribute to building something from the ground up.

Although this role is home‑based, you will spend some time travelling around the region to secure funding opportunities.

Some key responsibilities include:

• Work closely with the Regional Partnerships Manager and Regional Board to help develop and deliver the Regional Rugby Promotion & Growth Plan. 
• Create and deliver the region’s external funding strategy, securing income from public, private, and charitable sources. 
• Lead all fundraising activity, including writing funding applications, running events, and developing early‑stage prospects. 
• Bring new, creative ideas to identify and pursue additional fundraising opportunities. 
• Track, manage, and report all funding information, from identifying prospects through to receiving and spending funds. 
• Build strong relationships and collaborate with colleagues across regions and departments to share learning and best practice.
• Acting as an ambassador for, and promoting the best interests of the RFU, including the promotion of our culture and core values – This Rose Means Everyone: Put The Team First, Shape The Future, Respect Each Other.
• Undertaking other duties as may be required from time to time as are consistent with the responsibilities of the post and the needs of the organisation.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience:

The skills and attributes outlined in this description are not exhaustive and we welcome candidates who can bring different relevant experiences to the role.

Essential:

• Proven experience running successful fundraising programmes across public and private sectors.
• Track record of meeting income targets and KPIs.
• Experience planning and delivering fundraising events.
• Good understanding of how charities work.
• Strong knowledge of best‑practice fundraising at local and regional levels.
• Experience producing accurate financial reports for fundraising activity.
• Experience delivering projects with a range of internal and external partners.
• Confident working with stakeholders at all levels.
• Strong communication and relationship‑building skills, both written and verbal.
• Excellent organisation and time‑management skills, with the ability to handle multiple projects at once.
• Able to work independently and take initiative.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Creative problem‑solver with a positive, proactive attitude.
• Confident using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• A passion for the positive impact sport can have in communities.
• Full UK driving licence.
• Committed to embodying the ethos our culture by using our three core values – Put The Team First, Shape The Future, Respect Each Other – to guide your day-to-day decisions, actions and interactions.
• Committed to actively contributing and building an inclusive culture in your role and day to day behaviours.

Desirable:

• An understanding of community sport/rugby landscape in England would be an advantage, but is not essential.
• Proficiency with Smartsheet.
• Degree level education or higher desirable, but not essential.
• An effective team member, with sufficient flexibility and willingness to take on roles outside their normal functional responsibility when required.

Additional Information:

About England Rugby

England Rugby or Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby in England. We deliver three core activities, and our purpose is to enrich lives, introduce more people to rugby union and develop the sport for future generations.

Our core activities are:

• Rugby – supporting rugby from grassroots to performance level
• Commercial – building partnerships and hosting matches and events
• Running the business - ensuring our organization and people can thrive

Our Culture

At England Rugby, one of our core objectives is to drive rugby union to better reflect the diversity of society. We are aware that rugby, and sports in general, has not always been as welcoming an environment for everyone as we would like, and we are working hard to make rugby a more inclusive space for all identities.

We believe hiring people from underrepresented groups into positions at all levels is vital to creating spaces and initiatives that better support those identities. We would love to see applications from disabled people, LGBTQIA+ people, people from ethnically diverse communities, people of faith, people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and women and non-binary people.

We know that representation is more than just getting people through the door, it’s about keeping people by responding to structural barriers relating to identities and valuing the insights that different lived experiences bring. We have network groups that provide peer-to-peer support and drive forward change internally. We support colleagues to develop, and each colleague has access to a personal coaching platform that can provide same-day one-to-one coaching. We are pushing ourselves to create a more inclusive culture every day through role modelling our culture and core values; This Rose Means Everyone: Put The Team First, Shape The Future, Respect Each Other.

We know that flexible working is important to our colleagues, so our guiding principles are designed to support everyone to work in the way that suits them, their teams, and the organisation in the best way.

What we can offer you

We are proud of the range of benefits we can provide: