Salary Circa £44,000 per annum

Contract type Permanent

Location Great Abington, Cambridge CB21 6AD (Agile; approximately 2 days a week from our office)

Published

9 hours ago

Closing

in a month

This is a Permanent, , Full Time vacancy that will close in a month at 23:59 GMT.

The Vacancy

You will develop and oversee a specialist area of direct response marketing, taking responsibility for paid media activity resulting in giving and prize-led support, and the associated programme and products. You will ensure the highest standard of quality and compliance, across a diverse programme mix. You’ll manage significant income and expenditure budgets and deliver exceptional fundraising campaigns to drive an ambitious growth plan, accelerating progress towards a cure.

Collaborating with different teams across the charity, you’ll be planning, managing and delivering the direct marketing programme across a range of media including digital, TV, telephone, and print. Activities in the acquisition portfolio are diverse; from delivering an established, successful core programme to playing an important role in exciting cross-organisational projects.

You’ll work with a team of three across a range of channels, media and projects at the charity; speaking to range of audiences with one theme in common – compelling people to stand with us for a cure.

MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

Programme and campaign management

• Lead the development and delivery of the direct marketing acquisition programme and strategy, with a particular focus on the direct response elements.
• To be responsible for reviewing and developing our Weekly Lottery Strategy to maximize income.
• Oversee the delivery of the direct response acquisition campaigns; ensuring they are in market on time, on budget and on brand.
• Deliver consistent, structured testing to ensure continuous improvement. Where appropriate and worthwhile, ensure testing is applied to all activity and reviewed with recommendations acted upon.
• Involvement in charity-wide projects and groups; putting supporters at the heart of what we do, as well as playing a key role in the delivery of our Fundraising & Marketing Strategy.
• Management of all key acquisition suppliers including routine reviews, briefing, optimisation and general relationship management.
• Annual planning of acquisition direct marketing; including input to operational planning and development of relevant marketing plans.
• Ensure the campaign planning and delivery cycle is adhered to across the team, and all stakeholders are well managed.
• Ensure routine end of campaign reviews and analysis (with suppliers as well as your own), with proactive adaptation of plans to optimise results.
• Ensure contingency plans and activities are in place to close any expected income gaps.

People management

• Management and development of a team of three, with two direct reports.
• Empowering team members to succeed and grow with clear, SMART goals and development plans in place.
• Complete routine 1-1 meetings and annual appraisals with direct reports.
• Developing a high performing team who work collaboratively across the charity.
• Agency relationship management across a variety of partners and suppliers, from building relationships and negotiating, to contract and routine performance reviews.
• Working closely with the Supporter Care and Data teams to ensure the acquisition activity and processes are well understood and that they can support the team as best possible.

Budget management and reporting

• Annual budgeting of direct marketing programmes and campaigns.
• Regular forecasting in line with the annual cycle, making recommendations around budget allocation and managing expectations throughout.
• KPI tracking, trend analysis and interrogation of results at all levels.

• Regular financial performance reporting.
• Programme optimisation to ensure contribution targets are met and contingency planning as required.
• Detailed reporting geared towards a longer-term view of performance, covering long-term & ROI modelling, lifetime value and considering supporter experience and engagement.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

What we are looking for:

• Budget management experience – preferably across expenditure and income
• Campaign management – specifically direct marketing campaigns
• Media planning experience – across a range of media types
• Agency management – including creative and professional acquisition fundraising agencies as well as others such as printers and market researchers
• Demonstrable people management experience
• Ability to understand complex data sets and compile meaningful reports and analysis
• Excellent attention to detail
• Strategic and critical thinking
• Getting the best out of people and agencies
• Understanding of compliance in direct marketing

The closing date for applications is the 4th January 2026, with interviews being arrange once shortlisting has been completed. Please indicate in your covering letter if you are unable to attend an interview on a certain date. We would encourage you to submit your application at the earliest opportunity, as on occasion we may have to bring forward the interview date and/or the closing date based on the needs of the business. Although a possibility, this will only happen in exceptional circumstances. Please indicate in your covering letter if you are unable to attend an interview on a certain date.

The Company has experienced unprecedented growth over the past few years. We have a vast number of employees, and provide support to clients from all over the country. Recently, the company has won multiple workplace environment awards and has an outstanding record of employee satisfaction.

The Benefits

Benefit 1

Benefit 2

Benefit 3

Benefit 4

The Values

• Innovation

We are creative and fearless in our work.

• Accountability

We take ownership of our work and lead from the front.

• Teamwork

We collaborate widely and build supportive environments.

The Charity

Alzheimer's Research UK is the UK's leading dementia research charity. Our mission is to accelerate progress towards a cure. Today 1 in 2 people will be impacted by dementia, either through caring for a loved one, developing it themselves or tragically both. But there is hope.

There has never been a more important and exciting time in dementia research. With promising new drugs in clinical trials that slow the progression of the diseases that cause it, and revolutionary new ways to diagnose them on the horizon, we are now at a tipping point. Working with the smartest minds globally and across the UK, with industry and academia, Alzheimer’s Research UK is uniquely placed to invest in the very best research identifying barriers to a cure and knocking them down so that there are more and better treatments for everyone with dementia. For the first time in history, we can see a future where people with dementia can get a swift and accurate diagnosis, and effective treatments that could slow or even stop their disease. We stand for everyone affected by dementia. We stand for a cure.

We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone can be themselves and reach their full potential.  We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.  Any offer of employment is however subject to you having the right to work in the UK.

The Benefits

It is important to offer a range of benefits which are designed to meet both the organisational and individual needs, are market competitive and designed to attract and retain employees.

For more details on working for Alzheimer's Research UK click here.

Holiday entitlement

Healthcare

Sick pay

Pension

Cycle to work scheme

Family friendly policies

Learning & development

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