Founded in 1837, the Royal College of Art (RCA) is the world’s largest community of postgraduate art and design students. It is also the oldest art and design university in continuous operation and has been ranked as the world’s number one art & design university for a remarkable eight consecutive years. We are a research-led institution, recognised internationally for our world-leading research, with a dynamic and creative community of nearly 3,000 students.  Our inspiring network of more than 20,000 alumni spans the globe, forming a unique community of artists, designers, creators and innovators whose work shapes the world that we live in.

Our ambitious Strategic Plan 2022 – 27 outlines our plans to grow, and increase further our influence on the world stage of globally ranked universities. We want to continue to attract, support and convene the world’s most talented faculty, artists, designers and creative leaders and develop further our focused and distinctive research, and to deliver on this we are reliant on the ongoing success of our capital campaign. This programme campaign – Generation RCA – is the largest in our history – and has made significant progress towards our goal of raising £100m. Generation RCA has supported major capital projects, professorial posts, student financial aid and scholarships, but we must go further to secure our future and realise our potential.

We are seeking a passionate and dynamic Director of Development and Alumni Relations to work closely with our community to build on the success of our campaign, expand our supporter base, and increase philanthropic income while working to shape the next phase of major philanthropic support for the next decade. We are seeking candidates with a proven track record in raising seven and eight-figure donations as part of a comprehensive capital campaign, with a strong commitment to higher education and culture, and a deep affinity with our ethos as a world-leading creative institution. This is a career-defining opportunity to help shape the future of the RCA.  

Applications should consist of a full curriculum vitae detailing professional qualifications and experience, accompanied by a cover letter describing briefly how candidates meet the candidate specification outlined in this document, why the appointment is of interest, and what they believe they can bring to the role.

The closing date for applications is midnight (BST) on Sunday 25th June 2023.

Salary: Competitive for the role.       

Location: London.

Inclusion

Perrett Laver believes that excellence will be achieved through recognising the value of every individual. A broad range of perspectives, backgrounds and opinions amongst our global community of colleagues is crucial in maintaining our culture of openness, intellectual curiosity, and creativity. We take an active role in supporting under-represented communities and groups in becoming better and more fairly represented in the leadership of all organisations. We also know that diverse and inclusive teams have a positive impact on our ability to identify, engage and secure candidates from these groups.

Our commitment to inclusion across race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, identity, and experience drives us every day – for clients, for candidate identification and in the recruitment, development and retention of colleagues. 

To ensure inclusion on the basis of age, disability, ethnic or national origin, family circumstance, gender, gender identity, marital status, nationality, political or religious beliefs, race, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, we would like to specifically invite applications from under-represented groups.

Accessibility

For a conversation in confidence, or should you require access to these documents in alternative formats, please contact Trinity Willett.

If you have comments that would support us to improve access to documentation, or our application processes more generally, please do not hesitate to contact us via accessibility@perrettlaver.com.

GDPR

Protecting your personal data is of the utmost importance to Perrett Laver and we take this responsibility very seriously. Any information obtained by our trading divisions is held and processed in accordance with the relevant data protection legislation. The data you provide us with is securely stored on our computerised database and transferred to our clients for the purposes of presenting you as a candidate and/or considering your suitability for a role you have registered interest in. 

As defined under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Perrett Laver is a Data Controller and a Data Processor, and our legal basis for processing your personal data is ‘Legitimate Interests’.  You have the right to object to us processing your data in this way. For more information about this, your rights, and our approach to Data Protection and Privacy, please visit our website.