At Rethink Mental Illness and Mental Health UK, we’re transforming what support looks like for people severely affected by mental illness. To help us reach even more people, we’re looking for a Prospect Research Manager to shape and lead our prospect research function—providing the intelligence, insight and strategic direction that will fuel our fundraising growth.
If you’re a curious, analytical thinker with a passion for uncovering opportunities and turning insight into impact, this could be your next step.
About The Role
As our Prospect Research Manager, you’ll be the driving force behind our high-value prospecting strategy across Philanthropy, Trusts & Grants, and Corporate Partnerships.
You Will
* Lead a proactive research strategy that identifies, qualifies and prioritises high‑value prospects
* Deliver high‑quality profiles, briefings, due diligence and portfolio insights
* Build connection maps to uncover warm pathways into potential partners
* Champion best practice in data, insight, and CRM usage (HIVE & Salesforce)
* Stay ahead of trends in philanthropy, corporate giving and grant‑making
* Guide and develop our Prospect Researcher—fostering a culture of curiosity, integrity and collaboration
* Work closely with senior fundraisers to shape portfolios, pipelines and long‑term strategy
In short: you’ll make sure our fundraisers have the intelligence they need to build strong, meaningful relationships that change lives.
Who You’ll Work With
You’ll collaborate across our high‑performing Fundraising team, including:
* Trusts & Grants Managers
* Philanthropy Manager
* Corporate Partnerships
* Senior leadership across External Affairs
This is a role where your insight will influence decisions at every level.
About You
You’ll thrive in this role if you bring:
Essential Skills & Experience
* Significant experience in prospect research for fundraising
* Strong knowledge of Philanthropy, Trusts & Grants, and Corporate fundraising
* Ability to lead complex research projects with strategic focus
* Outstanding analytical and communication skills
* CRM confidence (Salesforce experience a big plus)
* Experience with due diligence, connection mapping and portfolio management
* A collaborative, proactive approach to working with teams and stakeholders
* Sound understanding of GDPR, ethics, and the Fundraising Code of Practice
* Commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion—and our mission
Desirable, But Not Essential
* Knowledge of the mental health or wider health/social care sector
* Experience with wealth screening tools or AI in prospect research
Why join us?
Working across both Rethink Mental Illness and Mental Health UK means you’ll be part of a team that generates nearly £6 million annually to support life‑changing services, campaigns, and programmes. Your insight and leadership will directly contribute to better outcomes for people living with mental illness—and that’s something you can feel proud of every day.
Ready to make a difference?
If you’re excited by the thought of leading insight‑driven fundraising research—and want to help us create a world where everyone affected by mental illness gets the support they deserve we’d love to hear from you.
Apply today and help us drive meaningful, lasting change.
Benefits
* Inclusive Culture: Join staff networks that champion diversity and inclusion.
* Wellbeing Support: Access our Wellbeing Hub, Employee Assistance Programme, and the Unmind mental health app.
* Recognition & Rewards: Enjoy discounts, cashback offers, and celebrate achievements through our PULSE platform.
* Flexible Working & Generous Leave: Starting at 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays and your birthday off), with options to buy or sell extra days.
* Learning & Development: Grow your career with structured onboarding and training opportunities.
* Financial & Family Support: Contributory pension scheme, enhanced family leave, and travel benefits like season ticket loans and cycle‑to‑work schemes.
* Referral Bonus: Earn up to £300 for introducing someone to our team.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Diversity is important to us, and we appreciate difference through difference, inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer. We recognise and support staff networks and support groups for our ethnically diverse and LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter. We aim for our workforce to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve; for those who work for us to feel heard, valued and feel they belong; and for our work to help tackle wider mental health inequalities. We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience of mental illness, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and any other gender identity not expressed here (LGBTQIA+); people who are neurodiverse, have a health condition, or a disability or hidden disability and people from an ethnically diverse background - regardless of your age, religious or spiritual belief, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, political view or socio‑economic status.
Becoming a truly anti‑racist organisation
We have an ambition of becoming a truly anti‑racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider—and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti‑racist statement. We have designed a multi‑year anti‑racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrates our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti‑racist organisation.
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