Head of Legacy Income

Head of Legacy Income
Fixed Term Contract (12 months)  
Full time (34.5 hours) - we are open to a conversation about how you work these hours 
Hybrid - Split between home and our London Office / Shipley Office / Glasgow office

Salary – £70000 - £78000 benefits and recognition 

About us

At Macmillan you'll find talented people working together to do whatever it takes to support people living with cancer. We're going all out to find even better ways to help even more people who need our support. Our values are at the heart of who we are and everything we do, inspiring our thinking and guiding our actions. 

About the role 

At Macmillan Cancer Support, every gift left in a Will helps us do whatever it takes for people living with cancer. Legacy gifts are one of our largest and most important sources of income, enabling us to be there for people today while securing our future impact.

We're looking for an experienced and inspiring leader to join us as Head of Legacy Income. This is an opportunity to lead a high-performing team responsible for managing one of the charity sector's largest legacy portfolios, ensuring that every gift entrusted to Macmillan is managed with professionalism, care and integrity.

This is a strategically important leadership role where you'll combine operational excellence, financial stewardship and people leadership to maximise legacy income while delivering an exceptional experience for everyone connected to a gift in a Will.

What you'll be doing

As Head of Legacy Income, you'll lead and develop a talented team responsible for managing 4,500 open legacy cases and supporting the accurate administration and forecasting of more than £100 million in legacy income.

You'll:

• Inspire, coach and develop a high-performing team, creating an inclusive culture where people can thrive.
• Lead the management of Macmillan's legacy portfolio, ensuring gifts are administered accurately, efficiently and in line with supporters' wishes.
• Work closely with Finance to produce robust short and long-term income forecasts that support organisational planning.
• Make informed decisions on complex and sensitive legacy and probate cases, balancing legal obligations, supporter intent, financial outcomes and Macmillan's reputation.
• Build trusted relationships with solicitors, executors, families and other external stakeholders, ensuring every interaction reflects Macmillan's values.
• Collaborate across Fundraising, Finance, Legal and other teams to deliver organisational priorities and champion our Legacy Strategy.
• Identify opportunities to improve systems, processes and ways of working, embedding a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
• Keep abreast of legal, regulatory and sector developments, ensuring compliance and helping shape best practice across the charity sector.
• Play an active role within the Directorate Leadership Team, contributing to the wider leadership of Macmillan and modelling our behaviours every day.

About you

You'll be an experienced leader with a strong background in legacy administration, probate or charity legacy management, alongside the ability to lead people, influence stakeholders and make sound commercial and ethical decisions.

You'll bring:

• Significant experience managing complex charity legacy or probate casework.
• Proven leadership experience, with the ability to motivate, develop and support high-performing teams.
• Strong financial acumen, including responsibility for large income budgets and producing accurate financial forecasts.
• Experience handling complex negotiations involving multiple internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with confidence working at all levels.
• Experience assessing risk and making balanced, evidence-based decisions.
• A collaborative leadership style with the ability to build strong partnerships across organisational boundaries.
• A commitment to continuous improvement, innovation and delivering outstanding supporter experiences.

Recruitment Process 
Application deadline: July 23rd
First interview dates: TBC

To ensure fairness and consistency to select the best candidate for this role, all our applications are anonymised up until an interview has been confirmed. 

We are an organisation that is committed to setting candidates up for success, so we can support you to be at your best during the application or selection process, please contact Macmillan TA Team TATeam@macmillan.org.uk for advice, or a conversation on reasonable adjustments.  

We welcome applications from everyone who meet the criteria and strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Macmillan. Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy here along with our internal employee representation body, ‘Our Voice’ and 8 Employee Network groups help us promote fairness and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people.