Lead global change for children by driving income, influence and partnerships to help end orphanages worldwide.
Who we are
For over 30 years, hope has driven Hope and Homes for Children to fight for every child to grow up in the love of a safe, family home and to inspire the world to close the doors of orphanages forever.
Because orphanages harm children.
Across the world, millions of children are confined in institutions where they are isolated from their communities and denied the care they need to thrive. Many experience neglect. Too many experience violence. These systems are not designed around children; they are run as institutions, not families.
But this can change.
Hope and Homes for Children works with governments and partners to transform childcare systems, closing orphanages and supporting family and community-based care. This approach has already led to the dramatic reduction of institutional care in countries such as Romania, Bulgaria and Rwanda.
Our vision is undimmed: a world in which children no longer suffer in orphanages.
Learn more about what we doAbout the role
This is a mission-critical leadership role at the heart of Hope and Homes for Children’s global ambition.
As Director of Global Marketing, Communications and Fundraising, you will ensure the organisation is positioned as a catalyst for the global elimination of orphanages — and that this positioning drives significant, sustainable income growth.
You will lead a diverse global function spanning philanthropy, corporate partnerships, supporter development, campaigns and events, setting and delivering a multi-year strategy that strengthens brand, influence and financial resilience.
You will:
- Lead and deliver a multi-year marketing, communications and fundraising strategy.
- Grow a resilient and sustainable income mix aligned to organisational ambition.
- Build and enhance strategic partnerships and high-value relationships globally.
- Position the organisation as a leading voice in childcare reform.
- Lead, inspire and develop a high-performing, multi-disciplinary team.
- Work in close partnership across programmes, advocacy and resources.
- Represent the organisation at the highest levels externally.
Your leadership will directly enable the organisation to accelerate progress towards ending the institutionalisation of children worldwide.
Who we are looking for
We are looking for an exceptional leader who combines strategic insight, entrepreneurial drive and a deep commitment to our mission.
You will bring significant senior experience across fundraising, marketing and communications, with a proven track record of growing income and building impactful partnerships in complex environments.
You will:
- Demonstrate the ability to develop and deliver ambitious, multi-year strategies.
- Bring a strong track record of securing and growing income across diverse streams.
- Be an exceptional communicator, able to influence and engage at the highest levels.
- Have experience leading and developing high-performing, multi-disciplinary teams.
- Use data, insight and innovation to inform decision-making and drive performance.
- Show sound judgement, rigour and the ability to navigate complexity.
You will be values-led and collaborative, with the credibility and presence to act as a senior ambassador for the organisation.
Above all, you will be motivated by the opportunity to deliver lasting change for children.
EDI at Hope and Homes for Children
We’re fully committed to working actively against all forms of discrimination and providing equal opportunities for everyone, regardless of their background.
We aim to provide an inclusive and empathetic environment where all staff feel that they can be their authentic selves, that they don’t need to change who they are to be accepted by others and that they are equally supported to achieve their potential.
Hope and Homes for Children actively encourages diversity, equity and inclusion and we look to recruit a diverse range of people to reflect the communities in which we live, as we believe this will strengthen our ability to deliver our mission of eliminating orphanages.
To view the role description and person specification, please go to the ‘How to Apply’ tab above, fill in your details and download the candidate pack.
For further information or to arrange a confidential discussion, please contact our advising consultants at Peridot Partners:
Emily Birch | emily@peridotpartners.co.uk | 07398 901458
Katie Booth | katie@peridotpartners.co.uk | 07399 749956
Welcome from the CEO
Dear Candidate,
Thank you for your interest in this role. It is a role that carries responsibility for the lives of some of the most overlooked children in the world.
Global development programmers and funders, humanitarian agencies, politicians and the media largely ignore, or worse, do not know about the millions of children confined in orphanages. That lack of transparency, monitoring and concern means there is little to no accountability for their well-being.
Nevertheless, the science is conclusive. The estimated 5.4 million children confined in orphanages globally are far more likely to die than children in family care settings. The reason? Delays in growth and development as a consequence of staff shift working, lack of named accountability for individual children, and care regimes run as systems, not as human nurture, are a direct predictor of elevated mortality. These factors are compounded by higher levels of cross-infection in congregate care, poor nutrition and delays in illness detection, as well as by higher levels of neglect, violence and isolation. For the one million of these children living in conflict-affected countries, their confinement in orphanages multiplies their risk of mortality dramatically by some 340%. We have seen this first-hand in Ukraine.
But HHC leans into this reality with purpose and hope. We have proven we can transform entire national systems of care and protection. In Romania, we have played a leading role in reducing the number of children institutionalised from over 100,000 to less than 500. In Bulgaria, from 33,000 to less than 100 and in Rwanda, from 5,000 to less than 350. We are on track to deliver a similar impact in South Africa, Kenya, Moldova, Nepal and, in time, India.
Our ground-breaking work in Ukraine is defining how emergency family strengthening and care are proving to be a critical driver in improving humanitarian outcomes. We were the key architects of the recently launched Global Charter on Child Care Reform, which commits its 37 signatory countries to eliminating their orphanages and ensuring that all children can grow up with the love and protection of a family.
We commence a three-year campaign this year, focusing on children confined in orphanages in conflict-affected locations. We have a compelling ask and lead donations already secured, amounting to £3 million before launch.
So, we are looking for an exceptional leader for our marketing, communications and fundraising team. You will have the can-do, pro-active commitment needed to drive a fierce sales mentality that cuts through to position the children we exist to serve as a priority for new donor prospects and existing supporters alike.
You will be able to balance your infectious entrepreneurial energy with strategic insight and the ability to lead a team of 20. You will work effectively with allies across our wider organisation and networks to establish a posture that all-but ensures long-term support for global childcare reform and funding for our work — because systems change, even in humanitarian settings; it takes time and cannot be resolved through one-off projects.
You will be accountable for your performance and will ensure that a culture of accountability is successfully driven throughout the whole MCF team. You will achieve this by listening, understanding and ensuring colleagues have the support they need to be successful. This rigour, however, will not betray nor diminish your commitment to operating in a kind and generous way.
We pride ourselves on the culture of kindness we are committed to. And this will require you to be a leader and champion of our values; deeply human, because children are at the centre of everything we do; courageous, because much of the world still resists the change we are seeking; integrity, because we need the confidence and trust of people to win the case for that change; excellence, because the children we exist to serve deserve nothing less.
As an exceptionally experienced senior fundraiser with marketing and comms expertise, you will provide clear direction on prospecting effectiveness, organisational positioning and pipeline development — along with successful conversion and exceptional stewardship across all key fundraising disciplines.
You will bring a balance of what you know works with an appetite for pursuing innovation, including by harnessing AI within and throughout our fundraising. And you will pursue that innovation in ways that continue to ensure we really are deeply human in how we engage those who generously support our work with children.
You will have my full support and together, we will explore and agree on what you require to enable you to fulfil your mandate so that you are genuinely set up for success. Because your success will be HHC’s success. So, if you share a profound commitment to our cause and are inspired by what we can achieve, then we would like to hear from you.
Very best wishes,
Mark Waddington CBE
CEO, Hope and Homes for Children
About us
Since 1994, Hope and Homes for Children have been working to stop the institutionalisation of children.
Today, an estimated 5.4 million children are confined in orphanages around the world. The vast majority are not orphans — they have families who could care for them with the right support.
But orphanages harm children.
They isolate children from their communities, restrict their development and too often expose them to neglect, violence and exploitation. They are systems that cannot provide the love, protection and individual care that every child needs.
It’s not right. And it must stop.
Hope and Homes for Children exist to change this. We work with governments and partners to close orphanages and build strong, sustainable systems of family and community-based care. This includes strengthening social services, reforming policy and working directly with children and families to prevent separation and enable reunification.
Our 2022-2030 strategy, Alive with Hope, sets out how change happens: by building political will, strengthening systems, developing workforce capacity and unlocking sustainable financing. Together, these create the conditions to end institutional care at scale.
Our impact
We’ve proven our approach is effective across a wide variety of contexts, moving children out of orphanages to safety and reforming childcare systems from the top down to make family-based care the norm.
- In Romania, we contributed to reducing the number of children in institutions by 97% and galvanised government commitment to close all remaining institutions by 2027.
- With our support, the government of Bulgaria is reforming its child protection system and now has only two large orphanages left to close nationally.
- In Rwanda, our strategic direction led to the first orphanage closure in the country. Now, the government has agreed on a national strategy to close the remaining institutions.
At supranational level:
- Our global advocacy team influenced governments on a 2019 UN Resolution on the Rights of the Child, which led to 193 member states of the UN agreeing for the first time in history that orphanages need to be eliminated.
- We supported the Government of Rwanda to develop the Kigali Declaration in June 2022, which commits to the elimination of orphanages and investment in family and community-based care across all 54 countries of the Commonwealth.
Our vision is a world in which children no longer suffer institutional care.
Our mission is to be the catalyst for the global elimination of institutional care for children.
Our aim is that by December 2030, worldwide, we will be approaching a consensus that orphanages are an unacceptable way of looking after children.
Our work in numbers since 1994:
167: The number of orphanages we’ve closed.
20,459: The number of children we’ve helped transition into loving, family-based or alternative care.
291,406: The number of children we’ve prevented from entering orphanages and separation from their families.
We will continue transforming systems, inspiring change and ensuring every child can grow up in the love of a family.
Thank you for your interest in this role. Please download the Role Description and Person Specification.
To formally apply, please submit a CV and supporting statement (ideally maximum 2 sides of A4 each) that clearly outlines your suitability for the role against the criteria provided in the person specification, including your interest and motivation in applying for this position.
Please include your home address, contact email and mobile.
Please ensure that your application is emailed to response@peridotpartners.co.uk, inserting “Application: Hope and Homes for Children — Director of Global Marketing, Communications and Fundraising” into the subject field. You will receive an acknowledgement of receipt within 2-3 days. If you do not receive an acknowledgement, please contact our admin team.
For further information or to arrange a confidential discussion, please contact our advising consultants at Peridot Partners:
Emily Birch | emily@peridotpartners.co.uk | 07398 901458
Katie Booth | katie@peridotpartners.co.uk | 07399 749956
As a sector-leading executive search consultancy, we know the importance of creating recruitment processes that are fair, inclusive and free from bias. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a process that values differences.
If you require any job information in an alternative format (e.g. large print), please contact the lead consultant. Please also let us know if you would like to submit your application in an alternative format.
Applicants with disabilities are welcome to contact us in confidence at any stage of the recruitment process to discuss any reasonable adjustments or support that may be required to ensure fair and equal participation.
Recruitment selection processes are based on evidence of competence stated in the person specification and in relation to our values.
Timetable
Closing date: 9 a.m. Monday 15th June 2026
First stage interviews (online): Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th July 2026
Psychometrics and informal stakeholder conversations: Friday 10th to Friday 17th July 2026
Second stage interviews (in person, London): Tuesday 21st July 2026
Equal Opportunities Monitoring
Peridot and Hope and Homes for Children are committed to promoting equality and diversity. To help us raise awareness and support a culture that is diverse and recognises and develops the potential of all, we need to appreciate the profile of candidates who apply for positions. We will send you an equality monitoring survey at the point of receiving your application and at the time of placement. This ensures that our processes remain inclusive and equitable throughout and provides us with important data to help us showcase our impact.
The information will be treated confidentially and anonymously and will help us to support our commitment to fair recruitment practice. All information provided will be held in the strictest confidence and will not be shared with anyone, in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 launched on 25 May 2018.
The information provided does not form part of the decision-making process and will not affect your application. Learn more about why we collect this data here.
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