Description
Head of Advancement Events
Grade and Salary: £65,091 - £74,163 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance
Department: Proposition Dev & Supporter Engagement
Job ID: 130025
About Us
King’s College London is an internationally renowned university delivering exceptional education and world-leading research. The university is dedicatedto driving positive and sustainable change in society and realising our vision of making the world a better place. Through its commitment to exceptional education, impactful research and genuine service to society, King’s College London is creating positive change in its communities, both in London and on the world stage. The Strategic Vision 2029 looks forward to King’s College London’s 200thanniversary in 2029 and sets out ambitious plans in five key areas:
Educating the next generation of change-makers
Challenging ideas and driving change through research
Giving back to society through meaningful service
Working with our local communities in London
Fostering global citizens with an international perspective
About the role
As King’s College London approaches a landmark period—launching a new Philanthropy and Engagement Campaign in 2027 and celebrating our Bicentenary in 2029—events will play an increasingly pivotal role in connecting our community of supporters with King’s and driving clear and measurable growth in philanthropic giving and engagement.
The Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement (P&A) Directorate is seeking an exceptional individual to establish and lead the Advancement Events team, bringing together UK and overseas philanthropy and alumni engagement event management and delivery under one unified, strategic function in order to support the University’s overarching alumni engagement and philanthropy goals and priorities.
Reporting to the Director of Advancement Communications & Engagement, the Head of Advancement Events will work closely with the Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement Leadership Team and other senior colleagues to develop the vision, strategy, and operational framework for a world-class events programme that engages our global community of alumni, donors and supporters.
The portfolio will include a diverse range of in-person, hybrid and digital activities—spanning large-scale donor engagement and recognition events, awards dinners, cultivation events for high-net-worth individuals, public engagement lectures, alumni and student networking events, donor recognition occasions, and major institutional milestones in the lead-up to 2029 and beyond.
The successful candidate will be an experienced and dynamic events leader with a proven record of delivering complex, integrated and high-profile programmes both in the UK and overseas. You will bring creative vision, operational excellence, strong decision-making and problem-solving skills and a proven ability to influence, challenge and inspire at all levels of an organisation. You will be able to use analysis and research to support the development of the Events strategy.
Your team will also have a key role to play in engaging the entire King’s community—including staff and students—in support of the forthcoming Campaign through a series of pop-up engagement and awareness events.
This is an exciting moment to look afresh at how we deliver events at King’s—an opportunity to reimagine our programme and ensure it reflects our growing ambitions, inspires our community, and brings to life the transformative power of philanthropy and engagement.
About You
To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:
Essential criteria
Significant experience leading large-scale and strategic events programmes in the UK and overseas, ideally within a higher education, non-profit, or cultural institution
Strong strategic and creative planning skills, with the ability to translate institutional objectives into impactful event experiences
Excellent stakeholder management and written and oral communication skills, including experience working with senior executives and major donors
Influencing skills and ability to navigate different priorities and viewpoints
Exceptional leadership and team management skills, with a track record of developing and motivating high-performing teams
Strong budget management and resource planning capabilities
Strong understanding of event metrics, evaluation frameworks, and data-informed decision-making
Experience using CRM and event management systems
Desirable criteria
Demonstrated success at managing, delivering and executing events overseas, that are aligned with institutional priorities, working effectively across different cultures and markets
Proven experience of collaborating with central communications teams to create events that drive engagement and giving
Further Information
We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.
We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's. We are open to discussing flexible working arrangements, including part-time, compressed hours and/or job shares, as appropriate.
We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.
To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘ How we Recruit’ pages.
We offer the opportunity of an “Ask Us Anything” Teams call on 11th November at 10.15am-11.00am. During this call you will be able to ask any questions you might have about the role, the selection process, our department, our core values and work culture, our current hybrid work policy, or simply listen to others’ questions. To join please email sarah.carter@kcl.ac.uk
This role will have three interview stages - a standard skills-based first-stage interview; a second-stage follow-up interview to include a presentation; and a third stage (for up to two appointable candidates) Core Values interview.
Closing Date: 19th November 2025
First stage interviews are due to be held on 27th November with second interviews the following week.
