Regional Engagement Lead (South West)

Home based with extensive travel across the South West region

About the role

This role saves lives at sea by inspiring and motivating a team of supporter-focused professionals who deliver fantastic experiences and respond to volunteer needs in order to secure the vital income that powers our lifesaving delivery. This will suit someone who has an expanse of fundraising and leadership experience as the job will involve overseeing the community branches, shops, regional partnerships and visits delivery plans for the region as well as matrix oversight of other fundraising functions.

As the Regional Engagement Lead, you will lead engagement activity for the South West region. The South West region covers Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, West Dorset, Wiltshire, Isles of Scilly and the Channel Islands with regular travel to the Regional Base in Saltash (applicants must live within the region).

As part of the Regional Leadership Team, you will provide leadership, guidance, vision and direction to ensure your region delivers its core service in a safe, efficient, and effective manner.

In this role, you will be responsible for and accountable for ensuring that the RNLI is the most loved and best-supported charity. You will also be responsible for the achievement of the income target in your region. You will ensure that our supporters, donors, volunteers and the public have a great experience and feel valued whenever they interact with us so that they join us, stay with us, advocate for us and feel part of the RNLI family. This will mean that your region has enough funds, supporters, and volunteers to keep the RNLI afloat for the future.

About you

We are looking for a visionary, natural leader who loves to inspire people. Perhaps you’ve worked in a variety of fundraising leadership roles in areas such as community fundraising, charity retail and/or partnerships in other charities or organisations. Or, you may have been a Head of Fundraising in a local charity. If yes is the answer to any of these, then the Regional Engagement Lead could be the role for you.

We are looking for:

• Extensive experience of people leadership and of engaging supporters, volunteers and the general public in order to generate funds.
• Experience in leading field-based teams.
• Previous experience of being part of a senior leadership team.
• Experience working in a matrix style management organisation, adaptable to change.
• Experience in delivering and achieving a regional strategy with the flexibility to travel throughout the region at short notice.
• The ability to create, deliver and continually review a regional engagement or fundraising strategy.
• The ability to execute and deliver income targets, appropriately managing expenditure, increasing engagement and supporter conversions, cultivating relationships and experience of diversifying income streams for fundraising, retail and visitable assets.

About us

Our purpose is simple, to save lives at sea. The Engagement team saves lives at sea by knowing, recognising, supporting and empowering every one of our amazing volunteers in our coastal and inland communities, delivering a strong and robust fundraising portfolio that recruits new supporters, and engages them through a supporter centric journey to become a dedicated ‘one crew’ member and ultimately a legacy pledger.

Some of the benefits

• Flexible working
• 26 days’ annual leave plus Bank Holidays
• Outstanding pension scheme (contributions of up to 16% of basic salary)
• Life assurance
• Health and dental cash plan option

This post requires a valid driving licence.

If you would like to use your skills and experience to help us save lives at sea, we would love to hear from you! For more information and to apply, please go to our jobs page.

Previous candidates need not apply.

Closing date: 22 June 2025.

The RNLI is committed to safeguarding; protecting a person’s health, wellbeing, and human rights, enabling them to live free from harm, abuse, and neglect. We expect all employees and volunteers to share this commitment and have a zero-tolerance approach. The suitability of all prospective employees and volunteers will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment. This will include relevant criminal record checks being carried out dependent on the eligibility of the role. (England & Wales; DBS check, Scotland; Disclosure Scotland PVG, Northern Ireland; Access NI, Republic of Ireland; Garda Vetting; International, International Child Protection Certificate process).

Our staff and volunteers have been saving lives at sea without prejudice for 200 years. We respect and value diversity of background, skills and perspectives within our teams, and consider it essential to help us deliver a world-class lifesaving service. We are an inclusive organisation and welcome applications from everyone. In addition to having the skills needed for the role, we also look for applicants who share our commitment to living our RNLI values (trustworthy, courageous, selfless, and dependable), and helping us work towards Our Vision: To save Every One.