Senior Challenge and Virtual Events Manager
| Posting date: | 28 August 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £43,657.25 to £56,130.75 per year |
| Additional salary information: | Plus £312 Office at Home Allowance |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 08 September 2025 |
| Location: | Barkingside, Ilford |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 2 days per week |
| Company: | Barnardo's |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 21559 |
Summary
Barnardo's are seeking an experienced and passionate Challenge Events fundraiser to take up a fixed term contract as our Senior Challenge and Virtual Events Manager. This is a full time position but we would consider part time candidates too.
You will lead the development and implementation of Barnardo's established Challenge Events programme, with a focus on growing our income and deepening our relationships with our supporters to build lifetime connections.
Key responsibilities include:
Leading the development and delivery of Barnardo's Challenge Events programme to deliver and grow agreed income targets.
Managing a team of Events Fundraising professionals and overseeing a budget with an income target of £1 million.
Collaborating across the Fundraising and Marketing team and across departments to integrate Challenge Events into our communications and supporter journeys.
Working closely with colleagues within our Relationship Fundraising team to deliver bespoke opportunities to add value to corporate partnerships.
Managing relationships with internal teams, external agencies and event partners to deliver high-quality events, acquisition campaigns and supporter experiences.
Monitoring trends in the Challenge Events landscape and using data and insights to inform growth plans and innovation.
Champion Challenge Events across the charity, building awareness and engagement internally.
We're looking for someone with:
Proven events experience working across a portfolio of third party and bespoke Challenge Events.
Strong strategic thinking and planning skills, with a track record of delivering and exceeding targets, and utilising KPIs to measure and improve effectiveness.
Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to build strong internal and external relationships to achieve mutual goals.
Experience managing budgets and working with external agencies and suppliers.
A collaborative and proactive approach to leadership and team development.
Passion for Barnardo's mission and a commitment to delivering exceptional supporter experiences.
Join us in growing our exciting events programme at Barnardo's and help us change childhoods and change lives.
Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.
Pay & Reward Framework
We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.
For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.
Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.
About Barnardo's
We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.
Our basis and values
You will lead the development and implementation of Barnardo's established Challenge Events programme, with a focus on growing our income and deepening our relationships with our supporters to build lifetime connections.
Key responsibilities include:
Leading the development and delivery of Barnardo's Challenge Events programme to deliver and grow agreed income targets.
Managing a team of Events Fundraising professionals and overseeing a budget with an income target of £1 million.
Collaborating across the Fundraising and Marketing team and across departments to integrate Challenge Events into our communications and supporter journeys.
Working closely with colleagues within our Relationship Fundraising team to deliver bespoke opportunities to add value to corporate partnerships.
Managing relationships with internal teams, external agencies and event partners to deliver high-quality events, acquisition campaigns and supporter experiences.
Monitoring trends in the Challenge Events landscape and using data and insights to inform growth plans and innovation.
Champion Challenge Events across the charity, building awareness and engagement internally.
We're looking for someone with:
Proven events experience working across a portfolio of third party and bespoke Challenge Events.
Strong strategic thinking and planning skills, with a track record of delivering and exceeding targets, and utilising KPIs to measure and improve effectiveness.
Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to build strong internal and external relationships to achieve mutual goals.
Experience managing budgets and working with external agencies and suppliers.
A collaborative and proactive approach to leadership and team development.
Passion for Barnardo's mission and a commitment to delivering exceptional supporter experiences.
Join us in growing our exciting events programme at Barnardo's and help us change childhoods and change lives.
Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.
Pay & Reward Framework
We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.
For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.
Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.
About Barnardo's
We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.
Our basis and values
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.