Development Officer

The Howard League for Penal Reform is the world’s oldest prison reform charity. Our overriding ambition is to move the dial on punishment towards building a more humane and effective response to crime, that provides justice to all and helps to reduce reoffending.

The Howard League recognises the importance of building an inclusive, diverse workforce. We welcome applications from marginalised groups and from candidates with personal experience of the criminal justice system.

The post holder will play a key role in driving sustainable income by supporting trust and foundation fundraising, including identifying funding opportunities, developing high-quality applications, and strengthening the funding pipeline. They will also contribute to broader fundraising activity such as work with corporates and CRM stewardship. This role is suited to a proactive, analytical individual with excellent writing skills and a deep commitment to social justice.

Role description

Key responsibilities

Trusts and Foundations

• Identify, research and assess prospective trust and foundation funders aligned with our work and strategy.
• Support the development of a strong funding pipeline by tracking opportunities, deadlines and outcomes.
• Write, draft and proofread funding applications, proposals and supporting documents, ensuring accuracy, clarity and compelling narrative.
• Contribute to funder reporting, including drafting impact updates, gathering supporting evidence and coordinating internal information.
• Build high-quality donor profiles by researching background information, interests, priorities and funding history.
• Maintain positive communication with funders where appropriate, supporting relationship management and responding to information requests.
• Monitor trends in the funding landscape to inform the income generation strategy and identify emerging opportunities.

Database and Supporter Management

• Maintain accurate, consistent and well-organised records within the CRM database (Raiser’s Edge)
• Input, update and analyse supporter and funder data to improve insight, engagement and fundraising planning.
• Ensure supporter records, pipeline notes and interactions are logged clearly to support team coordination and reporting.

Major Donor and Corporate Support

• Provide support to major donor and corporate engagement, including prospect research, preparation of briefings, note-taking and supporting materials for meetings and engagement activities.

Team and Operational Support

• Assist with cross-team collaboration, information gathering and other tasks needed to support organisational fundraising objectives.
• Contribute to a well-organised, efficient fundraising function by supporting planning, record-keeping and internal processes.
• Working as part of the whole office team

Selection criteria

Application process

To apply, please complete the application form which can be found here.

If for any reason you can’t use the application form, please provide an up-to-date CV and supporting statement. The supporting statement should address your skills and experience in relation to each of the essential and desirable selection criteria. CVs without a supporting statement will not be considered.

The deadline for applications is 1 December 2025.

First round interviews will be held in the week beginning 8 December 2025. The interview panel will comprise two to three people, who will each ask questions to enable you to demonstrate how you meet the essential and desirable requirements of the role. All candidates will be asked a uniform set of questions and may also be asked follow-up questions to clarify or expand on individual answers. Candidates will also have an opportunity to ask any questions about the job that they may have. Candidates may be required to complete a test as part of the interview process and a second round of interviews may be conducted, depending on the outcome of the first.

If you would like to have an informal discussion about the role, please contact the Howard League’s Development Manager, Sophie Lumsden, by email.

If you require any reasonable adjustments to any part of the recruitment process, please contact us at [email protected] to discuss this further.

Applicants who have not been short listed will be notified by email. Unfortunately, due to our limited resources, we are unable to provide feedback on applications from candidates who are not interviewed.

Applicants must have the current right to work in the UK, which will be checked prior to interview.

We encourage applications from candidates with personal experience of the criminal justice system.

Documents

Recruitment pack
Application form
Equal opportunities monitoring form