Trusts and Foundations Manager

Role/Job Title: Trusts and Foundations Manager
Location: Hybrid role / Cornford Lane, Pembury, TN2 4QU
Hours:  37 hours per week (Monday – Friday)
Salary: £36,000 - £46,000 per annum (Dependent on experience)

Closing date for applications: Tuesday 21^st July 2026
Interview Date (please ensure you are available): Friday 31^st July 2026

 

FULL JOB DESCRIPTION

Equal Opportunity/Accessibility and Accommodations Statement:
As a Disability Confident employer, Aspens Charities is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for individuals with disabilities. We actively promote the recruitment, retention, and career development of people with disabilities, recognising the invaluable contributions they make to our organisation. We are dedicated to ensuring an accessible recruitment process for all candidates. If you require any accommodations during the application or interview process, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Aspens’ mission is to provide high-quality care and support to individuals on the autism spectrum and with learning disabilities; meeting their needs and aspirations and empowering them to learn and grow through an integrated network of services across the South-East.

Help shape the future of a growing charity!

We're looking for an experienced and ambitious Trusts and Foundations Manager to lead and grow one of our most exciting income streams.

This is an opportunity to build on existing success and play a key strategic role in securing funding that enables us to deliver life-changing services. Working across the organisation, you'll identify inspiring projects, develop compelling funding proposals and build lasting relationships with charitable trusts and foundations.

If you're passionate about creating funding opportunities that make a genuine difference and enjoy working collaboratively to turn great ideas into fundable projects, we'd love to hear from you.

About the Role:
Reporting to the Head of Income Generation, you'll take ownership of our trusts and foundations fundraising programme, leading the development of a strong pipeline of funding opportunities that support our strategic priorities.

You'll work closely with colleagues across Operations, Finance, Marketing and senior leadership to develop high-quality bids, manage funder relationships and ensure successful grant management from application through to reporting.

This is a strategic role with significant opportunity to shape and grow an important area of fundraising, with responsibility for delivering an initial income target of approximately £100,000 in year one, alongside developing the foundations for long-term growth.


What you'll be doing

• Developing and implementing our trusts and foundations fundraising strategy.
• Identifying and researching new funding opportunities.
• Working with colleagues to shape innovative, fundable projects.
• Writing compelling funding applications for charitable trusts and foundations.
• Building and stewarding strong relationships with funders.
• Managing grant reporting, compliance and impact reporting.
• Working collaboratively across the organisation to maximise funding opportunities.
• Championing best practice in trusts and foundations fundraising.

What We Offer:

• Comprehensive paid training and excellent career progression opportunities, including recognised qualifications in health and social care
• Paid DBS check
• Flexible work arrangements, with the option to take on additional bank shifts
• Nest Pension and Death in Service benefit
• Access to a dedicated Employee Assistance Programme and Mental Health First Aiders
• Blue Light Card discounts
• 20% discount at Aspens High Street Stores for all staff
• Discounted staff menu available at the Bluebell Café (Pembury)
• Refer a Friend scheme - earn up to £250 for every successful referral
• Employee recognition programmes, including ‘Employee of the Month’

What We’re Looking For:

You'll be an experienced trusts fundraiser with a proven ability to secure significant grant income and build strong relationships with funders.

You'll also have:

• A successful track record of securing five and six-figure grants.
• Experience developing persuasive, high-quality funding applications.
• Knowledge of major grant funders, such as The National Lottery, Lloyds Bank Foundation and Garfield Weston Foundation.
• Excellent relationship-building and stakeholder management skills.
• The ability to influence and collaborate across teams without direct line management responsibility.
• Strong project management and organisational skills.
• Experience managing grant reporting, budgets and funding compliance.
• Experience using a CRM system such as Salesforce (or similar).
  
  

Experience within the charity, health, social care or disability sectors would be advantageous, although we welcome applicants with transferable experience from other sectors.

Apply now and one of our team members will reach out to discuss the role further.

If shortlisted, we will contact you directly to schedule an interview. We strive to respond to all applicants; however, if you have not received a response within a reasonable timeframe, please feel free to contact us for a status update or feedback (where available). After the interview, you will be notified of the outcome. If successful, you’ll receive a formal offer in writing. Upon acceptance, we’ll guide you through the onboarding process, providing you with all the details you need

Please note, any offer of employment will be subject to Disclosure and Barring checks (which we will arrange on your behalf if you don’t already have one) and satisfactory employment references.