Job Introduction

The Development Administrator will provide administrative and practical support for a range of fundraising and constituent relations activities, ranging from fundraising appeals and communications to donor meetings and events. They will support all aspects of the department’s work and contribute to the smooth running of the office and the programmes on which it leads, through serving as a key administrative point of contact. 

Specific activities on which the role holder will lead include reviewing and routing correspondence to the Development Office, supporting budget management and contributing to gift administration (e.g. processing donations and receipts/thank you letters etc.). They will undertake PA duties, supporting the Director of Development with diary management, organising UK and overseas travel and trips, and preparing written information including, but not limited to, print and electronic correspondence. They will support work with external constituents and lay leaders/groups. They will also undertake special projects supporting Development Office programmes.  

We are seeking a highly organised and capable candidate to join the team. This role provides an outstanding opportunity for the right candidate to advance their career, working as part of a dynamic and friendly team as the Development Office expands its fundraising and constituent engagement activities. 

Role Responsibility

Administrative/office support 

• Serve as a key administrative point of contact for the Development Office, supporting fundraising, alumni (Old Westminsters) and constituent engagement activities and ensuring the smooth running of the office.  

• Manage the office, including overseeing the team calendar, ordering and overseeing stock of stationery/print materials and improving and enhancing electronic and hard copy filing systems. 

• Respond to email, post and phone enquiries. 

• Monitor Development and Alumni inboxes, ensuring that correspondence is answered in a timely manner and routed to colleagues as appropriate.  

• Undertake data entry onto the Raiser’s Edge database, including regularly updating constituent records and supporting other projects as required. 

• Undertake budget tracking (expenditure and income) and oversee specific, delegated areas including liaising with suppliers, processing invoices and completing expenses claims.  

• Provide budget monitoring information to the Director of Development, including monthly reporting and other tasks as required, pulling reports from the new Finance system and liaising with colleagues in the Finance Department, as necessary.  

• Work with the Database and Operations Manager to support gift administration and stewardship, including timely production of thank you letters/receipts for lifetime and legacy donors and reconciling information from the Development database (the Raiser’s Edge) with Finance records.  

• Support a range of Development Office events, participating in a range of fundraising and alumni relations events and undertaking key tasks including managing responses, and supporting briefings and de-briefings.  

• Help to maintain Development webpages, working with colleagues to ensure that content is up-to-date, and the secure, online alumni platform OWConnect, by updating membership and user profile details. 

• Collate news stories from across the community to be included in annual digital and printed publications for both donors and Old Westminsters.  

• Support the activities of the Development Advisory Board and other key groups, through arranging meetings, taking minutes and other duties.  

PA support to the Director of Development 

• Serve as the first point of contact for the Director, managing enquiries and correspondence. 

• Provide diary management and support. 

• Organise meetings and trips, and associated duties including making bookings and preparing expenses claims.  

• Draft correspondence and other written information to support the Director’s work with alumni, donors and other contacts.  

• Work with colleagues to prepare briefings and data insight reports, including prospect/attendee profiles, campaign summaries and other information required to support meetings, events and fundraising activities.  

• Co-ordinate internal and external stakeholders to arrange meetings and other activities. 

General responsibilities 

• Maintain confidentiality of information in compliance with GDPR and other relevant legislation pertaining to Development Office areas of responsibility and the charity’s engagement in fundraising. 

• Develop and maintain full awareness of UK and overseas legislation pertaining to administering philanthropic giving, including tax-effective giving and other matters. 

• Undertake work outside of office hours, on occasional weekday evenings and weekends, where required (TOIL will be given). 

• Support colleagues and contribute to a happy, productive working environment.  

• Champion the charity’s work and mission, and be a good ambassador, both internally and externally, for the work of the Development Office and the School as a whole. 

• Undertake any additional work as may be required by the Director of Development.  

Line Management 

The Development Administrator will report to the Director of Development. 

Hours of work 

09:00 – 17:00, Monday to Friday, with an hour unpaid lunch break. This is a full-time role required throughout the year. The role holder will occasionally be expected to work evenings, as required for special events and other activities. 

The Ideal Candidate

Please refer to the below (attached) person specification.

Equal Opportunities

We are an equal opportunities employer. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender identity, sex or sexual orientation.

Safeguarding and Child Protection

Westminster School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Package Description

Required for: as soon as possible

Location: Dean's Yard, Westminster School

Contract: full-time, permanent

Salary: £37,000 per annum

Additional benefits:

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays and discretionary Christmas stand-down period. Leave should be taken when convenient with the workload and deadlines
• Pension – Contributory Defined Contribution Scheme
• Private medical health scheme
• Free school lunch is provided
• Use of School gym (restricted hours)

The deadline for applications is midday, Tuesday 11th June 2024. Interviews will follow shortly after the closing date.

About the School

Working at Westminster

Westminster School is a busy, purposeful and vibrant place to be and an excellent workplace. The community is made up of 750 pupils, 120 teaching staff and 108 support staff.

Westminster School is friendly and welcoming, and all newcomers quickly become part of the rhythm of life here.

There is a real sense of community here as, being a boarding school many members of staff and pupils live on site and the School’s premises are very much treated as a home away from home. School life starts before breakfast and continues way beyond the working day; as a result, there is always a lively atmosphere in and around School and always someone to share a tea and biscuit with in the Common Room. Support staff as much as teaching staff are encouraged to embrace the School’s day-to-day activities, whether that be attending an evening concert or a morning service in the Abbey.

At Westminster we will always select the best candidate for every position. We do know, however, that we can only truly choose the best person on every occasion if a broad and diverse pool of candidates see the job advertised and are encouraged to apply.

As such, we continue to work on how our job roles are encountered, and particularly welcome applications from groups who have traditionally been underrepresented here.

Westminster School is for everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic. We hope you are encouraged to apply.

The School

Westminster School is a selective day and boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 and girls aged 16 to 18. There are approximately 360 boys in the Lower School (Years 9 to 11) and 400 boys and girls in the Upper School (Years 12 and 13). One quarter of the pupils board, and the School is structured and run as a boarding school, with an extended day and week and a strong House-based system of pastoral welfare, for boarding and day pupils alike.

Westminster is an ancient school, whose origins can be traced to a charity school established by the Benedictine monks of Westminster Abbey. Its continuous existence is certain from the early 14th century. Henry VIII personally ensured the School’s survival by statute and Elizabeth I, who confirmed royal patronage in 1560, is celebrated as the School’s foundress. Westminster is rare amongst long-established schools in remaining on its original site in the centre of London. Its proximity to Parliament and Westminster Abbey, and the use of the Abbey for its chapel, together with the stimulating diversity of the South Bank and West End, account in part for its special atmosphere and outlook.

The School is one of the foremost centres of academic excellence both in this country and internationally. Central to its academic ethos is the dialogue between teachers and their pupils, whether in the classroom or in tutorials, inspiring enjoyment of intellectual enquiry, debate and search for explanation and the development of skills of rational, independent thought well beyond any standard examination syllabus. The desired environment is happy, busy and purposeful; the pupils are intellectually, socially, ethically and politically engaged, with plenty of opportunities to develop initiatives and to articulate and defend their views, in line with the enduring values of the liberal tradition reflected in the School’s Charter. That tradition is fully committed also to the nurture of each pupil’s spiritual, moral, emotional and physical development and wellbeing – with a particular emphasis on drawing out individual talent wherever it lies - and to the preparation of young people for fulfilled private and public lives beyond School.

Westminster School