Prospect Research Manager

Our sector leading Philanthropy team has an exciting opportunity to join as Prospect Research Manager. We are looking for a diligent, detail-orientated individual with strong communication skills to join our well established and proactive Prospect Development team. The Prospect Research Manager delivers a proactive, insight-led prospect development function across the Philanthropy Directorate, supporting both Principal Giving and Leadership Giving.
Partnering with fundraisers across a range of portfolios and priority areas, the role identifies and develops high-value prospects tailored to specific funding opportunities. You'll build and nurture strong relationships with fundraisers and stakeholders to ensure insight is relevant, actionable, and drives income growth.
The role is responsible for proactive and reactive research, strengthening the prospect pipeline, and supporting a structured approach to prospect identification, qualification, and engagement planning. This includes delivering high-quality research outputs such as biographical profiles, prospect ratings, portfolio allocation, network mapping and regular pipeline, and portfolio reviews.
As a part of the wider CRUK fundraising efforts, the Philanthropy Directorate is one of the largest and most successful high value fundraising teams in the UK. An ambitious and innovative team of 60 talented philanthropy professionals, our focus is the £400m ' (MRLC) campaign which has four key priorities: the Francis Crick Institute, Cancer Grand Challenges, Translation & Innovation, and our Future Leaders' programme. We've recently reached the milestone of £200m.
This is a great opportunity for someone from a prospect research background, whether this is through major gift fundraising, sales, business development or academia. You'll be curious, diligent, and analytical in your approach. In return you'll join an award-winning team and have the chance to feel the impact of your work in our mission to beat cancer.
What will you be doing?
Support prospect development for philanthropy by delivering high-quality research, insights, and actionable recommendations to inform engagement and income generation; taking the lead on specific relationships and associated workstreams as they develop.
Partner closely with fundraisers to manage portfolios, allocate prospects, prioritise activity, and track pipeline progression.
Produce high-quality research profiles, briefings, and network insights to strengthen donor engagement, and maximise fundraising success.
Proactively identify and develop high-potential prospects aligned to strategic priorities, KPIs, and income targets.
Contribute to and refine prospecting strategies, ensuring a sustainable and effective pipeline of opportunities.
Manage multiple research requests with agility, ensuring timely delivery to agreed service standards.
Support the continuous improvement of prospect management processes, systems, and team KPIs.
Collaborate across teams, sharing knowledge and providing guidance to enhance overall prospect development capability.
Maintain high standards of accuracy, data integrity, and presentation in all outputs and database records.
Champion effective use of the CRM database, ensuring data is consistently captured and maintained to agreed standards.
Contribute to team planning, strategy development, and key organisational initiatives as an active member of the Prospect Development function.

Demonstrable track record of success in prospect research, using a variety of research resources.
Strong understanding of major gift fundraising and the role that prospect research should play within it.
Strong research and analytical skills, including ability to produce profiles and network lists for individuals and trusts.
Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to manage personal workload alongside coordinating external stakeholders' requests, driving progress and ensuring delivery against targets.
Ability to collect and assess information rapidly, identifying key points and drawing conclusions.
Innovative and always ready to take initiative, solve problems and think laterally.
Strong relationship-building and collaboration skills across teams with the ability to influence and challenge constructively.
Familiarity with fundraising databases and prospect management systems (CRM).
Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.
Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination
Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism
Human: Act to have a positive impact on people

We're looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and use them to drive forward progress in our mission to beat cancer.
If you're interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience, we'd still love to hear from you.
What will I gain?
We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities, and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career, and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.