Director of Development
(maternity cover)
Job Pack 2025

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Koestler Arts is an arts charity. We work with people in
custody or on community sentences.

Our vision is that the power of the arts unlocks
hope, talent and potential in the lives of people
in the criminal justice system.

We are looking for a Development Director (maternity
cover) to join us in making this happen.

About Koestler Arts

Koestler Arts is renowned for its impactful work within the criminal justice system. From our
new premises just outside HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs in East Acton, our team collaborates to
deliver our mission — to inspire participation in the arts among people in prisons and beyond,
and to build public recognition of their creative work, thereby fostering communities that
support rehabilitation.

We provide an annual awards programme — the Koestler Awards — open to people in prisons,
secure mental health hospitals, immigration removal centres, and more; a post-release arts
mentoring scheme; arts membership for people in prison; family engagement opportunities; and
a programme of exhibitions, events and publications. We work in partnership with other
organisations and art world experts; recent show curators include Ai Weiwei, Jeremy Deller &
John Costi, and women in prison. We have no endowment; each year, our Development Team
and Chief Executive raise funds from a range of income streams to continue delivering this
work.

Our main funders are Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Arts Council England (we are an NPO), and the
Ministry of Justice.

About the Role:

As our Director of Development (maternity cover), you'll be a key member of the leadership
team, helping to deliver against our strategy. You will lead all our fundraising efforts across
business, charitable trusts, individual giving and legacies, as well as our communications output
(which supports our individual giving) and marketing.

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We have a diverse portfolio of income streams, ensuring the successful candidate will therefore
enjoy a varied role that consolidates and develops their skills. We have fundraising and
organisational strategies in place; a unique position in the arts; and inspirational artwork and
beneficiaries, as well as the evidence and tools needed to fundraise effectively in a challenging
climate. We recognise the role that Communications plays in fundraising, and the successful
candidate should enjoy working to produce impactful and engaging programmes and materials.

What You'll Do:

•  Development. The main purpose of the role is to help sustain Koestler Arts’ income

through fundraising. This is focused on individual giving (inc. Patrons, Friends and Legacy
Giving Schemes), trusts and foundations and corporate funding, with some support to the
CEO on public sector funding.

•  Financial data. Manage accurate records of our income, liaising with the Finance

Manager and our auditors as required. Report on income generation results to our board,
regularly preparing detailed financial reports and projections.

•  Communications. Support press work (with external consultancy help), managing our

messaging and branding across the website, newsletters and social media.

•  Management. Line-manage the Development team, which comprises the Communications
& Patrons Officer and Fundraising & Executive Administrator, as well as any temporary
support/volunteers. Assist in leading the rest of the Koestler Arts team, as a member of
our leadership team.

Who We're Looking For:

•  Previous experience in fundraising, in one or more of these areas: Corporate

partnerships, Trust & Foundations, Individual and Legacy Giving.

•  An understanding of communications for supporters and/or beneficiaries.

•  Financial skills, detail-oriented, proactive and adaptable.

We can discuss external support or training with the right candidate to ensure they can
deliver the wide range of activities in the job description.

Contract:

Duration:
Salary:
Hours:

Line Manager:
Location:

Holidays:
Pension:

Temporary (10 months, with potential to extend).
£45,000 – £50,000 per annum, depending on experience.
Mon – Fri, Full-time, 35 hours a week (we will consider a part-time, pro-rata
role for the right candidate).
Chief Executive
Based at our offices in London, W12. Some remote working is possible, but
as you will be managing office-based staff, this will be limited to 2 days a
week. Occasionally, you will work off-site at meetings, events and
exhibitions.
25 days a year + bank holidays.
Eligible staff will be auto-enrolled into the charity’s pension scheme.

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Start date:

Aiming for around 5 January 2026.

How to apply:

Read through the Job Description and Person Specification. Apply by email to
recruitment@koestlerarts.org.uk, including:

1)  Your CV, which should detail if roles were full or part time, and paid or voluntary.

2)  The completed Application Form, available to download from our website. Please

make sure you complete all sections, including the application question.

3)  A PDF file with up to 8 slides presenting a fundraising campaign or initiative you have
led. This might include the objectives, challenges and results. It can consist of visuals
or links.

Please mark the email: “Application - Director of Development”
Closing Date: 9 am on Wednesday, 15 October 2025.

Applications will be assessed against the Essential and Desirable Criteria (outlined in the person
specification table, page 10).

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Artwork: Home Strict Home, HM Prison Wayland, Gold Award for Drawing

Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to building an inclusive team that shares a passion for the charity’s 60-year
legacy inspiring life-changing art. Every time we add to our small team is an opportunity for us
to bring in a new perspective, and to better represent our diverse range of participants and
audiences. We strongly encourage candidates of all backgrounds and identities to apply.

We have a guaranteed interview scheme for people with recent lived experience of prison who
meet the ‘essential’ requirements of the role. Please mark the relevant section of the
application form, if you’d like to apply through this scheme.

If there’s anything we can do to make our recruitment process more open to you please let us
know.

Location:

This is an office-based role. As a small team, everyone is asked to support with visitors and
calls, so you’ll need to be present most of the week (3 of 5 days). Some remote work is possible,
in agreement with the line manager. Our events and exhibitions are usually off-site, and you
will be required to work at these, usually in the evenings, with time off in lieu.

Pre-Employment Screening:

Applicants must demonstrate eligibility to work in the UK and undergo a basic Disclosure and
Barring Service (DBS) check.

Equal Opportunities and Safeguarding:

We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, with zero tolerance for any form of abuse
or discrimination.

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Director of Development (maternity cover) —
Job Description

Main aim of the post

•  To oversee all fundraising and communications work for Koestler Arts.

Main Duties

1.  To have lead responsibility for fundraising across Koestler Arts, maintaining an overview of

activities, and supporting the delivery of our strategy. The Chief Executive also supports and
collaborates on fundraising, especially public sector.

2.  To record, predict and interrogate fundraising income to comply with the charity’s reporting
requirements, including reporting quarterly to the board and sub-committee, as well as to
our auditors.

3.  To oversee Koestler Arts communications, including marketing and branding, social media,
the website, newsletters, and press (alongside the exhibitions team), and produce the
annual impact statement.

4.  To develop and manage an annual programme of fundraising events, cultivation events and

fundraising campaigns.

5.  To write and coordinate applications to charitable trusts and foundations, including

identifying potential funders, writing bids and reporting.

6.  To manage the charity’s donor engagement programmes – ‘Patrons’, ‘Friends’, and

Mentoring Scholarships.

7.  To manage the charity’s existing partnerships with businesses and develop new partnerships.

8.  To support the Chief Executive in maintaining and developing the Trust's income from public

sector bodies, currently from the Ministry of Justice and Arts Council England.

9.  To ensure Gift Aid claims are submitted accurately and on time.

10. To ensure our fundraising database (Beacon) is kept accurate and up to date.

11. To line manage the Communications & Patrons Officer and the Fundraising & Executive

Administrator, and as part of the leadership team, to provide leadership to the wider team.

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12. To ensure all policies and procedures are followed and updated where appropriate. For

example, Fundraising Policy, Social Media Policy, Showcasing Policy, and Data Protection
Policy.

13. To work with the rest of the team at events, exhibitors’ family days, and lead tours of our

exhibitions.

The job description gives an outline of key duties and is not intended to be an exhaustive
list.

As a small charity, each staff member is required to help with a range of
additional tasks for which guidance and any appropriate training is given (for
example, online shop, info@ email address, Fire Marshal, Health & Safety
contact, IT contact). The post-holder may be asked to take on other
responsibilities as reasonably requested by her/his manager.

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Person Specification – Development Director (maternity cover)

Everyone applying for the job will be assessed against the following criteria:

Essential

Desirable

Qualifications
1. A degree that helped build your knowledge of
business, charities, finance, arts administration,
communications or writing. OR significant work
experience that has provided you with similar
knowledge.
Experience
2. Paid fundraising experience in at least one
applicable form of fundraising (we can provide
external support to the right candidate for areas
that are new to you).
3. Experience of managing staff/volunteers.
4. Experience of producing proposals and reports
for funders that use quantitative and qualitative
data to persuade and demonstrate impact.

Skills and Abilities
5. Research and analytical skills that give you the
ability to quickly grasp our strategy, challenges
and priorities, so you can respond accordingly.
6. Strong interpersonal skills, adept at winning
support from a wide range of people, including
those at a senior level.
7. Independent and highly organised with
attention to detail in managing a complex
workload and meeting numerous deadlines.
8. Advanced knowledge of Excel, with the ability
to use calculations and automation to process
data relevant to business tasks.
9. Strong written and verbal communication
skills. You will use these to write proposals and
reports, as well as for presentations,
communications materials and negotiations.

Attitudes and Values
11. Excellent timekeeping and reliability
12. Outstanding attention to detail in all aspects
of your work.
13. Flexibility and willingness to learn, with a
can-do attitude to solving problems.
14. Enthusiasm for the aims of Koestler Arts, and
the arts in criminal justice system.

1b. Professional training in fundraising,
finance or communications.

2b. Familiarity with the work involved to
prospect and cultivate Corporate partners,
Major Donors and/or Legacy donors.

4b. Experience of producing public
communications materials that persuade and
demonstrate impact. May include press
releases, social media campaigns, and
impact statements.

5b.  Comfortable working with numbers,
communicating numeric data, and reviewing
financial reports.

8b. Previous experience working with a
database or CRM.

14b. First-hand experience of being in prison
or another secure establishment related to
our work.

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Artwork: Angel by a Starry Starry Night,
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HM Prison Northumberland,
Commended Award for Painting, 2023