Development Relations Manager

Development Relations Manager
Full-time 41 hours per week

Hybrid - at least 4 days per week on-site in Bloomsbury, London
Permanent contract
£35,928 - £40,038 per annum
Application deadline: 31 August 2026

About the role

The British Museum is embarking on one of the most ambitious cultural fundraising programmes in the world, supporting a transformational £1bn+ capital campaign that will redefine how millions of visitors experience the Museum for generations to come.

As Development Relations Manager, you will play a central role in supporting the Museum's most important philanthropic relationships. Working closely with the Director of Development and senior colleagues across the Museum, you will help coordinate donor engagement, steward key supporters, manage high-profile visits, and ensure strategic communications are delivered to the highest standard.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced relationship manager who thrives in a fast-paced environment and enjoys working with senior stakeholders, supporters, and colleagues to help deliver meaningful impact.

About you

You are an organised and proactive relationship manager with exceptional communication skills and a talent for building strong partnerships. Comfortable working with senior stakeholders, you can balance multiple priorities while maintaining outstanding attention to detail.

You will bring experience of managing internal and external relationships, producing high-quality written communications, and coordinating activity across a complex organisation. You are confident, diplomatic, and able to anticipate needs, ensuring stakeholders receive an excellent experience at every stage of their engagement.

Experience within fundraising, philanthropy, arts, heritage, or cultural organisations would be advantageous, as would familiarity with donor database systems such as Raiser's Edge.

Key areas of responsibility

• Manage and develop relationships with key supporters, prospective donors, and VIP stakeholders, helping to strengthen engagement with the British Museum's ambitious fundraising campaign.
• Coordinate donor visits, meetings, and engagement opportunities, working closely with the Director's Office and colleagues across the Museum to deliver an exceptional supporter experience.
• Support the Director of Development with donor stewardship, prospect engagement, and the follow-up of introductions and relationship-building opportunities.
• Produce tailored communications, briefings, and correspondence for supporters and senior stakeholders, ensuring messaging is strategic, timely, and impactful.
• Maintain accurate records of supporter engagement activity and proactively identify opportunities to enhance communications, relationships, and development outcomes.

The Masterplan

The British Museum is undertaking its biggest transformation since its founding nearly 300 years ago. This physical and intellectual transformation includes large scale building and gallery transformation, new ways of connecting with audiences and different ways of working. As we look towards this exciting future, we remain guided by the words of our founder Hans Sloane - who dreamed of a museum connecting all arts and sciences, which would be accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Benefits

At the British Museum, we believe our people are at the heart of everything we do and have designed a benefits package that goes beyond the ordinary. Our full list of benefits can be found here, but we've outlined some highlights below:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme defined benefit with 28.97% employer contribution.
• Free exhibition entry for you and guests, exclusive private views, ICOM and reciprocal museum access.
• 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays and 2.5 privilege days (and +5 days after 10 years).
• Social and wellbeing perks including Staff parties, social clubs, CSSC sports and leisure, and support from the Civil Service Retirement Fellowship.
• Learning and development through courses, mentoring and Athena as well as support for professional qualifications.
• Employee Assistance Programme available 24/7 for counselling, wellbeing support and more.
• Enhanced parental leave including maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave.
• Support for carers through Employers for Carers.

Our Values

Our values drive everything we do, from how we handle our objects to how we work in our team to fostering a culture where everyone feels heard and empowered:

• Care Deeply
• Embrace the Unknown
• Spark Curiosity
• Value Many Voices

These are a core part of how we recruit. Throughout the application, interview and selection process, we look for examples of how candidates demonstrate these behaviours in their own work and experiences. We encourage you to familiarise yourself with our values and reflect them in your application.

Additional details

If you have any additional needs that we should be aware of to support you with your application, please provide details

Right to Work: The British Museum holds a Skilled Worker sponsor licence. Applicants are responsible for determining whether the advertised salary and role meet current UKVI sponsorship requirements and for ensuring they have, or can obtain, the appropriate right to work in the UK. The Museum cannot provide immigration advice, and eligibility should be checked before submitting an application.

Internal Applicants: We welcome internal applicants regardless of background, department or length of service but encourage you to let your manager know before applying. If you are on a permanent contract and want the fixed-term contract to be treated as a secondment, you will need to obtain your manager's support before submitting an application.

The Museum also adheres to the HMG Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) for pre-employment screening of Civil Servants.