All jobs Location type: Remote
Reporting to: CEO
Manages: A team of 3
Annual salary: Starting at £70K GBP
Contract type: Permanent
Working hours: Full-time
Candidate level: Director
Closing date: Monday 19th January 2026, 9:00 am CET
Background
Sea Shepherd Global is an international ocean conservation movement and direct-action organisation dedicated to defending, conserving, and protecting the world’s oceans and marine wildlife. Founded to intervene where existing conservation laws are not enforced, Sea Shepherd uses innovative, hands-on strategies to confront illegal fishing, poaching, habitat destruction, and other threats to marine ecosystems. Rather than focusing solely on advocacy or awareness campaigns, Sea Shepherd actively patrols marine areas, partners with national law enforcement, and takes direct action at sea to stop illegal activities, safeguard biodiversity, and uphold international and national conservation laws.
Purpose of role
The Director of Development will play a central role in building a strong, scalable, and high-performing global fundraising operation for Sea Shepherd. As the organisation continues to expand its impact and partnerships around the world, we are seeking a leader with a start-up mindset who is motivated by creating order out of complexity and by establishing the systems, processes, and structures that support long-term revenue growth.
This role will provide the strategic direction and operational discipline needed to strengthen our development function. The Director of Development will design and implement a comprehensive fundraising strategy, develop effective workflows, and introduce best-practice approaches across all areas of development. They will also support and empower a talented team by mentoring, coaching, and creating an environment in which people can do their best work.
Sea Shepherd operates on the front line of ocean conservation and works closely with global partners, including law-enforcement agencies, coast guards, regulatory bodies, and other governmental entities, to help uphold conservation laws and protect marine wildlife. As a result of these collaborations, our work often intersects with complex political landscapes. The Director of Development must therefore be comfortable operating within this context and able to navigate it with professionalism, discretion, and a strong commitment to our mission.
Above all, the purpose of this role is to ensure that Sea Shepherd’s development operations are efficient, strategic, and positioned to generate the resources required to defend, conserve, and protect the world’s oceans. The ideal candidate is a builder of systems, a strategic thinker, and a values-driven leader who cares deeply about ocean conservation and is motivated by the opportunity to strengthen and scale an organisation that is delivering measurable impact on marine protection worldwide.
Primary responsibilities
Strategic leadership & team management
- Establish annual fundraising budgets, goals, and strategic plans with the Sea Shepherd Global Leadership Team.
- Lead and execute revenue growth strategy, aligning with strategic priorities and long-term sustainability goals.
- Oversee cross-channel fundraising efforts, including major gifts, institutional giving, digital campaigns, and new revenue streams.
- Lead, manage, and grow (as appropriate) the current Development Team, providing mentorship, support, and direction.
- Create and implement comprehensive development policies, procedures, and best practices.
- Build a donor-centric culture across all fundraising and organisational activities.
- Work closely with other Sea Shepherd national affiliates to help develop fundraising programmes, share tools, knowledge, and resources, and to support country-specific fundraising projects.
- Oversee foundation and major gift fundraising through the direct management of the Philanthropy and Foundations Manager.
- Represent the organisation at donor events and external fundraising functions.
- Work closely with campaigns leadership on developing cases for support, donor reporting, and messaging for campaigns with institutional funders.
- Provide strategic oversight of annual fund activities coordinated by the Digital Fundraising Coordinator.
- Collaborate closely with the Communications Department and campaigns leadership to ensure aligned messaging and donor stewardship.
- Develop integrated fundraising campaigns across multiple channels.
- Create donor acquisition and retention strategies.
- Establish a planned giving program framework.
- Optimise CRM utilisation across the team to enhance donor tracking, engagement, and reporting capabilities.
- Implement donor journey mapping and stewardship protocols.
- Create robust reporting systems for tracking progress against goals and ROI analysis.
Experience & skills
Essential:
- Minimum 6-10 years of progressive fundraising experience.
- Proven track record of building and managing thriving development teams.
- Experience establishing development operations and processes in growth-stage organisations.
- Strong background in CRM management and data-driven fundraising approaches (Salesforce experience highly preferred).
- Openness to leveraging AI tools and technologies to maximise fundraising efficiency.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- English native speaker or professional proficiency.
- Strategic thinking with hands-on execution capabilities.
- Open to international time zone flexibility when responding to important or time sensitive matters.
Preferred:
- Experience in startups or rapid-growth environments.
- Knowledge of the UK and European philanthropic landscape.
- Background in marine conservation, environmental, or animal welfare fundraising.
- Experience with the Salesforce CRM platform and non-profit cloud solutions.
Personal traits desired
- An entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to work in flexible, fast-paced environments, a person who can zoom out and get their hands dirty.
- Strong management and interpersonal skills.
- Results-oriented with attention to detail.
- Collaborative leadership style.
- Process creator with a systematic approach to building efficient operations.
- Passion for marine conservation and Sea Shepherd's mission to defend ocean wildlife.
If you have any questions about the role or organisation and would like an informal chat ahead of submitting a formal application, please reach out to Ruth at ruth@upsallinternational.com. To note: in order to keep your application safe and ensure your data is GDPR compliant, applications will not be accepted via email.
· The deadline for applications is Monday 19th January, 9:00 am CET ·
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Upsall International actively promotes equality, diversity, and inclusion. In recruiting candidates, we seek candidates with the proven skills required, irrespective of race, gender, religion or belief, age, disability, or sexual orientation.