Director of Growth

Impact Europe

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Impact Europe is seeking a Director of Growth to bring membership, fundraising, partnerships and value proposition work under one leader and deliver a joined-up growth strategy. The role grows and engages the membership, leads fundraising to support the organisation’s long-term financial sustainability, renews the value offered to members and funders, and manages the team responsible for these areas. It combines strategic leadership with hands-on delivery, including personally developing and stewarding important funder relationships. The Director will lead membership and community growth, fundraising and partnerships, innovation and development of the organisation’s value proposition, and the Growth team. As a member of the leadership team, the Director will also contribute to organisational strategy, coordinate priorities and resources across teams, manage the department budget, and report results to the CEO and Board. The position is based in Brussels, with travel across Europe, and may be full-time or part-time at 80%.

Requirements

Proven fundraising track record, including securing significant multi-year grants and partnerships from foundations, corporates or other institutional funders.
Senior leadership experience, including leading and developing a team and managing a budget.
Experience growing a membership network, community or client base, with a focus on engagement and retention.
Experience working with boards, CEOs and senior funders, including briefing them for funder approaches.
Ability to build a compelling case for support and communicate impact clearly.
Experience working collaboratively in a matrix environment.
Fluent professional English.
An established network among European foundations, philanthropists or impact investors.
Modern, inclusive leadership based on trust, empowerment and accountability, with an ability to co-create solutions.
Strategic thinking combined with pragmatism and a results-driven approach.
Excellent relationship-building, networking and communication skills.
Analytical mindset and ability to identify growth opportunities and barriers.
Curiosity and entrepreneurialism, including comfort with testing ideas and learning from unsuccessful attempts.
Strong prioritisation skills and an agile, goal-oriented approach.
Team-oriented and passionate about accelerating positive change and ecosystem building.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in or with a philanthropic foundation, ideally on the grant-making or partnerships side.
Knowledge of impact investing, venture philanthropy or sustainable finance.
Experience building a fundraising function or programme from scratch.
Experience developing and launching new products, services or membership offers, ideally in a network, association or mission-driven organisation.
Fluency in European languages in addition to English.

Responsibilities

Define and deliver a membership strategy that grows a network representative of the European impact market across relevant segments.
Own membership growth, engagement, retention and satisfaction targets, as well as the membership fee income they generate.
Ensure members’ needs, insights and input shape Impact Europe’s plans, programmes and events.
Identify untapped segments and markets for attracting new members and capital for impact.
Represent Impact Europe and the investing for impact community to members, the wider sector and public stakeholders.
Develop and lead a fundraising strategy that diversifies income across foundations, corporates, public funders and partners, securing long-term financial sustainability.
Lead major funder relationships, particularly with private and corporate foundations, from prospecting through proposals, negotiation and renewal.
Develop funding propositions and cases for support with programme colleagues.
Support the CEO and Board in approaching and briefing key funders.
Set up programmes and products so funders and partners are informed and enthusiastic about the organisation’s mission and impact.
Work with Finance & Operations on funding agreements, pledge tracking, income forecasting and funder reporting.
Own the value proposition for each member and funder segment and clarify why organisations should join, stay, fund and partner.
Use member and market insights, feedback, data and retention trends to identify strengths and gaps in the organisation’s offer.
Design, pilot and launch products, services and membership models with programme colleagues, including segment-specific or tiered memberships, peer-learning formats, data and benchmarking services, and digital community tools.
Develop mission-aligned income streams beyond membership fees and grants, such as sponsorship, paid programmes, events and earned-income services.
Review the portfolio of offers, scaling what works, adapting what could work better and retiring what no longer adds value.
Track trends in impact investing, philanthropy and sustainable finance to keep the organisation’s offer relevant to market needs.
Build a team culture of experimentation by testing ideas, measuring results and sharing learning.
Lead, coach and develop the Growth team with clear goals, trust, empowerment and accountability.
Improve team processes and workflows and coordinate effectively with other departments.
Attract, retain and develop key talent.
Serve as a thought partner to the CEO and contribute to organisational strategy as a member of the leadership team.
Work across teams in a matrix environment to align objectives, priorities and resources.
Manage the department budget and report results to the CEO and Board.
Deliver performance against indicators including fundraising income and renewals, new funding partnerships, membership growth and retention, network diversity, uptake and income from new offers, member and funder value ratings, organisational presence and credibility, and team engagement and development.