Head of Supporter Engagement

Are you a strategic fundraising leader with expertise in supporter engagement, Regular Giving and Digital Fundraising? Do you thrive in fast-paced environments where innovation, leadership and supporter experience drive long-term income growth? 

At Dogs Trust Ireland, you’ll play a key leadership role shaping the future of supporter engagement and individual giving, helping to create a better world for dogs and the people who love them. 

As Head of Supporter Engagement, you’ll lead the strategy, performance and development of our largest sustainable income portfolio across Regular Giving, Digital Fundraising, legacy marketing, direct mail, retail and customer experience. Working closely with senior leadership, you’ll drive supporter acquisition, retention and long-term value growth while leading a high-performing multi-disciplinary team. 

What you'll be doing: 

• Supporting, leading, and delivering the Supporter Engagement strategy across Regular Giving, Digital Fundraising, legacy marketing, direct mail, retail and wider individual giving activity
• Driving income growth through supporter acquisition, retention, upgrade, reactivation and long-term donor development strategies
• Taking ownership of portfolio income, expenditure, forecasting, performance reporting and recovery planning
• Providing strategic leadership for the Regular Giving programme, focusing on recruitment quality, retention, attrition reduction and supporter lifetime value growth
• Leading digital fundraising activity across paid acquisition, audience targeting, supporter journeys, conversion optimisation, testing and digital ROI
• Ensuring supporter journeys are integrated across digital, telemarketing, direct mail and legacy channels to deliver a consistent donor experience
• Leading, developing and performance-managing a multi-disciplinary team including managers, fundraising specialists, agencies and suppliers
• Building a high-performance culture through coaching, accountability, feedback and structured development planning
• Using data, insight and supporter behaviour analysis to improve campaign performance, decision-making and long-term income sustainability
• Managing agency and supplier relationships to ensure quality, value and measurable fundraising performance
• Collaborating across departments to ensure integrated planning, alignment and delivery of fundraising activity
• Acting as a champion for supporter care, compliance, GDPR and ethical fundraising practices 

We’re Looking for Someone Who Has: 

✅ Significant senior leadership experience within individual giving, supporter engagement or fundraising growth environments 
✅ Proven expertise managing large-scale Regular Giving programmes with responsibility for acquisition, retention and supporter value growth 
✅ Strong senior-level experience in Digital Fundraising, including paid acquisition, conversion optimisation and digital performance analysis 
✅ A track record of delivering and managing multi-million-euro income targets and budgets 
✅ Experience leading and developing managers and high-performing multi-disciplinary teams 
✅ Strong understanding of fundraising metrics including ROI, CPA, retention, attrition, conversion and lifetime value 
✅ Experience using CRM systems, segmentation and supporter insight to drive performance and supporter engagement 
✅ Excellent stakeholder management, communication and influencing skills 
✅ Experience managing agencies and external suppliers to deliver measurable outcomes 
✅ Strong knowledge of fundraising compliance, GDPR and donor care best practice 
✅ A genuine passion for the mission and values of Dogs Trust Ireland 

Why Join Us? 

• A senior leadership role with the opportunity to shape the future of supporter engagement at Dogs Trust Ireland
• The chance to lead one of the organisation’s most significant and strategically important income portfolios
• A collaborative, ambitious and values-driven working environment
• The opportunity to lead innovation and growth across digital and individual giving fundraising
• The chance to make a direct and meaningful impact for dogs and the people who love them 

Ready to lead supporter engagement for a cause that matters?