Job Description

Job Scope:

We are the independent scientific academy of the UK, founded in 1660. The Society has a long history of philanthropic support and in 2015 ran a successful 350th anniversary fundraising campaign which raised 100m. We count many well-known philanthropists, foundations and corporates within our list of current supporters who fund a range of activities including Science 2040, Brian Cox Videos, a Science Book Prize, Wolfson Fellowships and an annual bilateral meeting with India. Due to a convening power and reach that is globally unique, our philanthropic potential is enormous. This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing team and the next two to five years will be formative in enabling the Society to galvanise philanthropy in support of our founding mission: to promote excellence in Science for the benefit of humanity.

The Operations Officer underpins the success of the Development Department and plays an important role in supporting the growth and success of an ambitious fundraising team. The role will involve working with and supporting the Development Operations Manager to ensure the department's systems, processes and data are managed effectively. The postholder will primarily act as the main point of contact in the department for support with gift processing and the CRM database. The ideal candidate will therefore be familiar with CRM systems (preferably MS Dynamics), have strong IT skills, a knowledge of the operational needs of a busy fundraising department, and be highly organised.

Please note that we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Reports to

: Development Operations Manager

Line manages

: N/A

Pay band

: C

Salary

: 33k-42k per annum

Contract type

: Permanent

Hours:

35 hours per week

Location:

Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG plus the option for some hybrid remote working

Closing date for applications: midnight of 12 November 2025

Interviews will be held: 25 and 26 November 2025

Responsibilities:

Gift management and finance

Undertake all aspects of the receipt, batching, checking, logging and banking of donations to the Society. Responsibility for the administration of the Society's giving mechanisms including CAF and Paypal, including liaising with external suppliers. Processing expenses, invoices and organising payments as required. Logging all Development expenditure. Preparing quarterly and end of year financial updates on philanthropy income and expenditure for the Development team. Maximise the Royal Society's yearly Gift Aid claim by ensuring all Gift Aid forms are signed, collected and filed. Liaising with Development's management accountant to ensure financial records are kept correctly and assist in the monthly reconciliation of philanthropic income as required. Overseeing income plan records in the Development CRM and raising gift payment requests as needed. Drafting and producing acknowledgement letters and receipts for single and regular gifts and other donor communications as required.

Database and systems

Act as a point of contact for the CRM and champion its use as a donor and stakeholder tool. Support the Development Team with collating data for internal and external reporting and invitations to events. Support the Development team to maintain and update the CRM in accordance with data protection legislation and Royal Society policy and procedures. Take responsibility for specific data cleaning exercises. Provide assistance on data segmentation.

General

Monitor incoming post. Maintain an efficient record keeping system for the team, including current and archived files. Coordinate the Development team meetings. Be an ambassador for the Royal Society through maintaining a professional approach at all times. Undertake any other activities that may be reasonably required.

Key Knowledge and Skills Required:

Key knowledge

Experience of using a database to record information and produce reports. - Essential Experience of using Microsoft Office, particularly Excel. - Essential Knowledge of UK fundraising regulations and GDPR compliance. - Desirable Knowledge of the core principles of Gift Aid and tax efficiency. - Desirable Understanding of fundraising from high-net-worth individuals, trusts and foundations, and companies. - Desirable

Skills required

Excellent interpersonal skills to communicate with a diverse range of people. - Essential Planning and organising - determines priorities, allocates time and resources effectively, to enable completion of objectives. - Essential Able to use their own initiative when required. - Essential Decision making - makes good quality, objective and timely decisions having considered available courses of action. - Essential Ability to deal with information in a confidential manner and respond with sensitivity - Essential Administrative and IT skills, and an ability to maintain accurate records and produce clear written and oral reports. - Essential

Competencies:

At Band C you will hold a specialist role. Pay Band C roles are described in the following dimensions:

Decision-making -

Your work is varied and you have a range of administrative or technical tasks. You take decisions in line with specific routines, guidelines or procedures. You plan your own work and coordinate with others on how their work fits into the broader plan of activities. Supervision is available for issues that fall outside of existing operating guidelines or your realm of knowledge

Thinking challenges -

The solutions to issues or problems are not always obvious and investigation is needed before choosing a way forward. Your initiative is required to help find ways to improve working practices and procedures in your area of work, in sorting out problems that occur in day-to-day work or improvements to work processes.

Communicating -

You maintain relationships which involve liaison or coordinating with a range of internal and/or external contacts on mainly transactional issues.

Developing people -

You may be responsible for allocating work to, or checking the work of less experienced colleagues

Managing Resources -

You may perform activities such as reconciling information/data or analyses of expenditure or income, adhering to agreed procedures

Applying knowledge & expertise -

You require proficiency in, and keeping up to date with, skills required for your area of work or technical skills acquired through relevant work experience and/or vocational qualification.

The competency levels for a pay Band C role are described below.

Self-management

Works unsupervised and can motivate self Produces results under pressure Can manage in stressful situations Pushes for the best results

Working with others

Contributes ideas and identifies opportunities to work with others both within the team and across the organisation Willing to provide feedback to sectional colleagues when requested Produces succinct presentations and papers for senior colleagues Understands when to seek senior advice on potentially delicate negotiations

Resource management

Makes the best of internal/external resources and coordinates well with external partners to best meet the needs of the Society Builds contingency into projects taking into account possible outside factors Sets and monitors performance against quality and results orientated targets. Focuses on both short and long-term goals

Critical thinking

Determines and clarifies the exact requirements of any situation Checks information for accuracy and raises concerns if information is inaccurate Extracts the key points succinctly, clearly and accurately Puts forward suggestions for improvement concerning current processes or systems Tries different ways of doing things to get the best results

Adaptability

Overcomes obstacles and is not deterred by setbacks; checks assumptions and first principles and works out alternative approaches Reacts proactively to new challenges and works in a flexible manner to produce solutions Provides feedback and participates in discussions surrounding new ideas approaches or projects

Managing people and relationships

Delegates effectively, setting clear expectations and authority Monitors results and feedbacks to team on a regular basis Recognises others' contributions and acknowledges their limits Helps others to identify ways to improve their performance Prioritises supervisory responsibilities and carries them out in a timely fashion * Understands and can identify client/stakeholder/staff needs and looks for opportunities to improve their experiences