Imperial College London’s Advancement Division is seeking an enthusiastic and dedicated Project Officer to join the Gift Accounting and Administration team. This is an incredible opportunity for someone who might already be familiar with fundraising operations and wishes to expand their experience further.

As a key member of the team, you will be responsible for supporting our fundraisers in designing new income-generating activities. You will oversee gift administration and accounting projects, fostering agreement and consensus across team members, collaborating with significant stakeholders to ensure donations are utilised in line with donors’ wishes, and ensuring our activities adhere to internal policies and financial regulations.

As a member of the Advancement team, which values collaboration, you will be able to engage in a wide range of Imperial College's fundraising initiatives and establish connections throughout the university.

Duties and responsibilities

• You will manage gift administration improvement projects, leading the communication with stakeholders and liaising with team members to ensure projects succeed whilst adhering to scope, schedule and implementation plans.
• You will build buy-in and consensus on gift administration strategies and plans across the Division and the wider College, identifying and engaging key stakeholders as appropriate.
• Regularly, you will review philanthropic income received to ensure the funds are being utilised and in line with the restrictions outlined in the gift documentation, with a particular focus on endowment accounts.
• You will keep an updated record of donations that present risks or challenges. Contribute to the reduction of these risks by communicating with key financial stakeholders, when necessary, in collaboration with colleagues across Advancement.
• Working closely with colleagues in the Gift Accounting team, you will contribute to the identification of philanthropic research grants to enable accurate reporting on funds raised.
• You will be expected to stay abreast of developments in legislation, regulations and College policies which have an impact on fundraising and gift administration processes.
• You will oversee the Gift Accounting’s training programme. You will develop and implement training plans and materials to guide the Advancement Division and other relevant colleagues on all matters relating to gift acceptance and gift administration, including tax-efficient giving, different ways to give, and internal processes.

Essential requirements

• Demonstrable experience managing projects to completion involving internal and external stakeholders.
• Significant experience using a relational database/CRM product, ideally Raiser’s Edge, to input, import, extract and analyse financial data.
• Experience developing and providing training and guidance to internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills, both in writing and in person and the ability to interact with people at all levels of an organisation and build effective working relationships.
• Demonstrates commitment to continuous service improvement and is a creative problem-solver focused on results and impact.
• Ability to work independently and to prioritise work effectively and accurately to tight deadlines.
• Demonstrable understanding of PCI DSS, Gift Aid, tax-efficient giving and financial accounting regulations.
• Some knowledge and understanding of donation administration processes, methods of giving and relevant legislation is desirable, but not an essential requirement.

Further information

This is a full-time, open-ended position (permanent), and you will be based in the South Kensington Campus. The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate relevant experience in building strong relationships, good attention to detail and a can-do attitude.

Imperial College London employees enjoy a range of benefits, including generous annual leave, subsidised leisure facilities and an excellent professional development programme.

The Advancement Division at Imperial College London has set out to define the values and behaviours we aspire to uphold, to create an inclusive, collaborative and successful working culture.

For more information or if you wish to informally discuss this post, please contact Marta Bel, Head of Gift Accounting at m.bel@imperial.ac.uk

The College is currently trialling a Work Location Framework until early 2023. Hybrid working may be considered for this role and the role holder may be expected to work 60% or more of their time onsite, with 40% the minimum time spent onsite. The opportunity for hybrid working will be discussed at interview.

Documents

• Appendix A - Advancement Values and Behaviours.pdf
• JD - Gift Accounting Project Officer.pdf