Philanthropy Officer

The National Archives (TNA) is looking for an enthusiastic and creative Philanthropy Officer to work within its newly established Philanthropy team.

The Philanthropy Officer will sit within The National Archives Research, Grants and Academic Engagement department, the central locus for our: 

1. Research strategy and delivery 

2. Research impact, culture and engagement

3. Grant fundraising and philanthropy

4. Management and assurance of external funding 

5. Grant-making to the archives and GLAM sectors. 

The National Archives has a strong track record of securing external funding and holds a grant portfolio of over 16m. Our per-annum grant income has grown by nearly 500% since 2022-23, and in April 2026, we consolidated our fundraising operations with The National Archives Trust. The National Archives has a strategic priority to secure new charitable and philanthropic funding, and this post is one of three new roles being advertised in Autumn 2026 to deliver on that goal. We want to grow our research income, including particularly beyond the arts and humanities; reach a wider breadth of funders both nationally and internationally; and raise our profile, through more creative and targeted public engagement and learning programmes with national reach.

Reporting to the Head of Philanthropy and working closely with the Philanthropy Manager, the Philanthropy Officer will support income generation and help to strengthen The National Archives profile in the philanthropic community.

The Philanthropy Officer will manage a portfolio of donors and prospects at various stages to secure support for priority projects, working collaboratively with colleagues across The National Archives. They will also support the Head of Philanthropy and the Philanthropy Manager to develop proposals and reports for multi-year programmes, and annual exhibition, digitisation and conservation projects.

The Philanthropy Officer will support the delivery of cultivation and engagement activities, work closely with the Projects and Process team to monitor funded projects and maintain accurate records on The National Archives CRM database.

The postholder will work closely with The National Archives Trust, a registered charity that supports The National Archives to engage and educate the public, and conserve and preserve the collection. The Philanthropy Officer will also work with the Grant Development team to achieve shared goals.

For the full list of responsibilities, please see the job description attached at the bottom of this page.

Essential criteria:

• Graduate-level education or equivalent experience, with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience in a fundraising role with trusts and foundations and/or individuals.
• Strong time management skills, with ability to prioritise and maintain momentum across a variety of tasks and meet multiple and simultaneous deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal and liaison skills, with the ability to work collaboratively as part of a team and build relationships with a wide range of colleagues and external stakeholders.
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to maintain accurate and up-to-date records.
• Good judgement as to when to progress an issue independently, and when to escalate to line manager or other senior staff.
• Excellent IT skills, including working with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), and the ability to use or learn CRM databases (such as Donorfy, Raisers Edge, Microsoft Dynamics).
• Interest in arts, culture and heritage, and ability to advocate for the work of The National Archives.

Desirable criteria:

• Prior experience in an academic or arts, culture and heritage organisation.
• Experience using design software (such as InDesign) to prepare high-quality visual materials such as proposals and presentations.

This is a full time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department.

A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for a minimum of 60% of their work time.