Director of Development and Community Engagement, King’s College
King's College
Auckland
Posted on: 28 May 2026
Closing date: 9 June, 2026
Established in 1896, King’s College is one of New Zealand’s leading independent schools, recognised for its strong sense of community, rich heritage, and commitment to excellence. With ambitious future plans and a highly engaged network of alumni, families, and supporters, the College is well positioned for its next phase of growth and philanthropic development.
This is a rare opportunity for an experienced fundraising and relationship management leader to join King’s College as Director of Development & Community Engagement, playing a pivotal role in the ongoing growth of the College.
Reporting directly to the Headmaster, this senior leadership role will lead the strategy and execution of major fundraising initiatives, capital campaigns, and community engagement activities. The focus of the role is securing significant philanthropic investment through cultivating meaningful relationships with high-net-worth individuals, alumni, trusts, and wider community stakeholders.
The successful candidate will be a strategic and commercially astute relationship builder who can engage confidently at executive and board level, articulate a compelling vision, and inspire support through authentic and impactful storytelling.
What you will be responsible for:
• Leading and executing fundraising and capital campaign strategies
• Building and managing a pipeline of major donor opportunities
• Securing significant philanthropic gifts
• Developing strong relationships across alumni, donor and affiliate networks
• Working closely with senior leadership and governance groups
• Acting as a visible and credible ambassador for the College, communicating its vision and future aspirations to stakeholders and donors
• Leading a small high-performing engagement and community team
• Enhancing visibility, engagement and long-term community support
Your background:
• Proven experience leading fundraising, development, philanthropy, or stakeholder engagement initiatives
• Demonstrated success securing major gifts, sponsorships, or strategic funding partnerships
• Experience fundraising within education, charities, foundations, arts organisations, or other large-scale fundraising environments
• Experience operating within complex, relationship-driven or high-profile environments
• Strong commercial acumen and strategic capability
• Leadership experience managing teams, projects, or key stakeholder programmes
Your personal attributes:
• An exceptional relationship builder with high emotional intelligence
• Confident engaging with senior leaders, board members, donors and community stakeholders
• A compelling communicator and storyteller, with the ability to articulate vision, purpose and impact in a meaningful and engaging way
• Strategic, proactive and confident identifying opportunities
• Professional, diplomatic and discreet, with sound judgement and a high level of confidentiality
• Brings sophistication, professionalism and an appropriate sense of occasion to stakeholder engagement and events
• Positive, self-directed and collaborative in approach
This role requires a high level of professionalism, initiative and relationship capability, along with the ability to balance commercial understanding with genuine philanthropic purpose.
For a confidential discussion, please contact Cohesion – Nichola Rawlence on +64 21 621 712 or Rachel McNaughton on +64 277 333 819, click here or follow the link to apply: https://nz.seek.com/job/92218756?ref=cm
