Face to Face Fundraising Festivals and Events Manager

MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES UK

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) provides life-saving emergency relief and longer-term medical care to some of the most vulnerable and excluded communities around the world. As an independent medical humanitarian organisation, we deliver care based only on need, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, religion or political affiliation. MSF relies on donations from private individuals and organisations for the majority of its income. This private funding gives MSF the freedom to respond where needs are greatest and to speak out publicly, free from any political interference.

MSF has around 67,000 local and international staff working in over 70 countries, in some of the most challenging places in the world. Our medical humanitarian projects are supported by offices in 44 countries, including the UK and Ireland. These teams recruit staff, organise fundraising, and raise awareness on the humanitarian crises our colleagues are witnessing, as well as running different and diverse support activities. MSF offices are spread across Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia.

At MSF UK/IE, we support MSF's operations by building relationships with our supporters, increasing awareness of our work, raising funds, providing specialist medical expertise, ensuring MSF staff have access to relevant higher education programmes, catalysing change on medical humanitarian issues, and recruiting field staff.

MSF UK/IE personnel are dynamic, hard-working, enthusiastic and committed to MSF's values and aims. In addition MSF continues to build upon its presence in Ireland to become a widely recognised, accepted and respected humanitarian organisation among Irish audiences, and within the Irish humanitarian and political sector.

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ BEFORE APPLYING - If you are applying for a role and have applied for us before in the last 12 months, please email recruitment.uk@london.msf.org before applying so that we can re-set your applicant account. Please title your email “Reapplication request”. If this is your first application, there is no action to take – Thank you – The recruitment team

Position:

Join MSF UK as our Face-to-Face Festivals and Events Manager and take a leading role in delivering and evolving a high-impact national fundraising programme. This is an exciting opportunity for a driven and experienced face-to-face fundraising Manager with Festivals and Events experience who thrives in fast-paced environments and is passionate about both performance and purpose. You’ll lead, coach and inspire teams on the ground at some of the UK’s most vibrant festivals and events, while also playing a key role in shaping the future of our F2F programme—contributing ideas, improving ways of working, and driving innovation across delivery, training and operations. Ideal candidates will combine strong operational and people management skills with resilience, adaptability and a commitment to high standards of safeguarding and supporter engagement. In return, you’ll join a globally respected humanitarian organisation, directly connect the public with MSF’s life-saving work, and have the opportunity to influence and grow a programme that is central to our income and impact.

Hours: Full-Time (37.5 hours per week) This role is not limited to Monday–Friday and will require regular weekend work. Variable days over festival season including overnights and weekends

Duration: Fixed term - 12 months

Location: London - hybrid, and on-site at festivals across the UK

Salary: £41,902.62 - £51,214.32 per annum | Salary is offered in line with our pay framework and typically starts at the entry point of the band. Salary increases are considered annually and are subject to our appraisal and performance review process.

Job Purpose:

Manage the on-site delivery of MSF UK’s Face-to-Face (F2F) fundraising activity across Festivals and Events, ensuring high-performing, safe and professional fundraising operations that maximise income and public engagement.

Provide day-to-day management and development of Team Leaders, Fundraisers and Coordinator-level roles, driving performance through coaching, monitoring and clear accountability against targets.

Coordinate and deliver on-site operational and logistics activity across up to 60 festivals and events annually, working in close partnership with the Logistics Manager, who is responsible for logistics planning and infrastructure.

Act as the most senior on-site representative for MSF, ensuring all festival and event activity runs smoothly, maintaining strong relationships with event organisers, suppliers and stakeholders, and ensuring a high-quality, self-sufficient operational presence.

Work closely with the F2F Programme Lead and wider F2F management team to deliver the Festivals and Events plan, contribute to programme development and support the ongoing growth of the events portfolio.

Support the recruitment, onboarding and effective deployment of F2F agency workers and MSF UK staff, ensuring teams are equipped to deliver high-quality fundraising and meet performance expectations.

Take responsibility for on-site operational planning, including rota management and oversight of timesheet accuracy, ensuring effective resource allocation across activity.

Ensure all team activity adheres to MSF’s standards for behaviour, safeguarding, safety and compliance, creating a positive and professional working environment.

Outside of festival periods, take responsibility for the delivery of Private Sites activity, maintaining the same standards of leadership, performance and target achievement. The role is accountable for delivering annual Festivals and Events income targets and contributes to the overall success of the Face-to-Face programme.

Please download the full job and person specification below for further details.

Requirements:

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Demonstrable experience delivering or managing face‑to‑face fundraising activity, ideally within Festivals and Events or other large‑scale, public‑facing environments
• Expert knowledge of F2F Fundraising techniques and best practice
• Excellent interpersonal skills with an ability to build relationships, rapport with supporters and work within a team environment
• Experience overseeing live delivery and operational coordination for events, with an understanding of the logistical and people‑management challenges associated with high‑footfall environments.
• Demonstrated track record of achieving fundraising or performance targets and maintaining delivery standards under pressure.
• Strong understanding of people, safety and safeguarding principles and common risks within face‑to‑face fundraising, with confidence acting as a senior escalation point.
• Experience upholding Codes of Conduct, behavioural standards and professional expectations across teams.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to represent MSF’s work clearly and confidently to the public and provide clear guidance and feedback to staff/agency workers.
• IT‑literate, with experience using fundraising platforms and reporting tools, and competence in standard Microsoft Office applications.
• Ability to work independently while contributing effectively as part of a wider management team.
• Flexible and resilient approach, with the ability to manage competing priorities during intensive delivery periods.
• Fluency in spoken and written English.
• Willingness and ability to travel extensively across the UK and work evenings and weekends during the festival season.
• Strong commitment to the aims, values and principles of Médecins Sans Frontières.
• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Commitment to the aims and values of Médecins Sans Frontières
• Ability and flexibility to travel in London and the UK and to work over weekends
• Good knowledge and understanding of most common safeguarding needs and risks of a F2F team.
• Full UK driving licence is required for this role

Other information:

HOW TO APPLY

Please apply on our website by submitting a copy of your CV together with a letter of motivation.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. We encourage early applications as we reserve the right to close applications once a suitable candidate is appointed.

Recruitment timetable:

• Interviews will be held on a rolling basis for candidates who meet the person specification.
• First round interviews: remote via teams
• Second round interviews: in-person interview
• Projected Strat date: As soon as possible

Accessibility

We are committed to removing barriers for people with specific accessibility needs. If you need an adjustment to the recruitment process to be considered for the role, please let us know by contacting recruitment.UK@london.msf.org.

Examples of adjustments we can make:

• offering you an alternative if you are unable to use our online application system
• providing necessary information, such as the job description or assessment materials, in an alternate format
• allowing you to have someone with you during an interview for example, a Sign Language interpreter.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We are a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive organisation. MSF UK thrives when everyone feels comfortable bringing their best self to work. We celebrate difference, whilst striving to create an environment where colleagues feel respected and valued for their unique potential. We are committed to our values on equity, diversity, and inclusion. Please read our Equality & Diversity policy for more information.

MSF UK is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to diversity and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We encourage applications from all sections of our diverse community.

Safeguarding

MSF UK/IE is dedicated to safeguarding everyone who comes into contact with the organisation, for whatever reason and however brief. All posts are subject to safer recruitment process which include robust reference requests, scrutiny of employment history and where applicable criminal record and barring checks.

Our safeguarding commitment is underpinned by policies and procedures which encourage and promote safe working practice across the organisation. On joining MSF UK/IE you will be required to attend safeguarding training to ensure responsibility for and maintaining safe working practice and to safeguard our teams, beneficiaries, and communities.

Right to work in the UK

Candidates must have the right to work in the UK. Employment sponsorship will NOT be offered by MSF UK for this role. Please click here to check whether you have the right to work in the UK.

For questions, issues or further information, please contact Recruitment.UK@london.msf.org.

We look forward to receiving your application!