Lead and transform some of Australia’s most iconic national community fundraising campaigns, driving participation, engagement and income across a high-impact portfolio.

• Senior leadership role overseeing nationally recognised fundraising programs including Jeans for Genes and Great Cycle Challenge
• Opportunity to reshape digital, peer-to-peer and community fundraising strategy at scale
• Westmead | Flexible working arrangements available | Hybrid

Impact of the organisation

Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) is Australia’s first dedicated paediatric research institute and one of the world’s leading independent medical research organisations. CMRI’s work spans cancer, genomics, neurobiology and embryology, with world-leading programs such as ProCan transforming how cancer is diagnosed and treated globally.

CMRI’s life-changing research is powered not only by scientific excellence, but by a highly engaged community of supporters, donors and partners. Flagship fundraising programs such as Jeans for Genes and Great Cycle Challenge have historically generated millions in vital funding and remain central to CMRI’s national visibility, community engagement and income generation.

As CMRI continues to evolve its fundraising model, there is a clear opportunity to reinvigorate participation-based fundraising, strengthen digital capability, and build deeper, more sustainable community and organisational partnerships.

Impact you will have in this role

This is a senior leadership role responsible for the strategic direction, growth and transformation of CMRI’s Community Fundraising and Partnerships portfolio.

Reporting to the Director of Fundraising, you will lead a team of four and hold accountability for some of CMRI’s most visible and high-profile national campaigns, including Jeans for Genes and Great Cycle Challenge. These programs are at an important inflection point, with strong brand recognition and significant opportunity for further innovation and growth.

You will bring a modern, digitally enabled and data-driven approach to community fundraising, with responsibility for reimagining participation models, strengthening supporter journeys, and working closely with agencies and internal teams to deliver high-performing, integrated campaigns.

A key focus of this role will be driving the evolution of CMRI’s community fundraising strategy, balancing mass participation campaigns with broader organisational and corporate partnerships.

In addition, you will play a key role in strengthening CMRI’s partnerships capability, guiding the development of sustainable, high-value relationships with organisations that engage in or support community fundraising initiatives, while also identifying pathways into deeper engagement such as workplace giving, sponsorship and philanthropic support.

This is both a strategic and hands-on leadership role, requiring someone who can balance big-picture vision with operational delivery, while leading a team through change and transformation.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the strategic direction and growth of CMRI’s Community Fundraising and Partnerships portfolio, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities and balancing income, engagement and brand impact
• Reinvigorate flagship national campaigns including Jeans for Genes and Great Cycle Challenge, driving growth through digital, peer-to-peer and data-led fundraising strategies
• Develop and execute a digital-first community fundraising strategy that strengthens participation, expands audience reach and enhances supporter engagement and retention
• Lead, coach and develop a small high-performing team, building capability across campaign delivery, partnerships and digital fundraising
• Oversee end-to-end planning, delivery and optimisation of national community fundraising campaigns, ensuring strong execution across digital platforms and continuous performance improvement
• Use data, digital insights and campaign analytics to monitor performance (acquisition, conversion, participation and retention) and drive ongoing optimisation
• Work closely with CRM systems, digital fundraising platforms and external agencies to improve campaign effectiveness, automation, supporter journeys and operational performance
• Lead CMRI’s community partnerships strategy across corporate, workplace and community organisations, growing participation-based and digitally enabled fundraising partnerships and income streams
• Develop and maintain relationships with key community stakeholders including committees, ambassadors, clubs and partner organisations
• Manage budgets, monitor income and expenditure, and report on performance against KPIs to senior leadership

Skills and experience

• Proven experience driving innovative community fundraising, mass participation or peer-to-peer fundraising programs
• Strong experience managing or leading large-scale campaigns with digital components
• A track record of driving engagement, participation and income growth across fundraising programs
• Experience working with digital fundraising platforms, CRM systems (Salesforce & Funraisin highly regarded), and agencies
• A confident and collaborative leader who thrives in complex, multi-stakeholder environments, and has experience managing and developing teams
• A strategic thinker with strong commercial and fundraising acumen
• Ability to interpret data and insights to improve campaign performance and supporter outcomes
• Strong understanding of supporter journeys, engagement strategies and retention models
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including working with committees, partners and internal teams
• Passionate about CMRI’s mission and impact in children’s medical research

Applications

To submit your application, please click 'Apply Now' by the closing date.

Please direct all enquiries to Nadia Pachon at Impact Advising on [email protected] using the subject line: Head of Community Fundraising & Partnerships - Children’s Medical Research Institute enquiry via EthicalJobs.

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