Senior Challenge Events Manager – Maternity Cover

CoppaFeel!
About CoppaFeel!

CoppaFeel! are the UK s only youth focused breast cancer awareness charity, and we re on a mission to get every 18-24 year old checking their chest. We educate people on the signs of breast cancer and encourage them to check their chests monthly, so that if they notice something unusual they are empowered to contact their GP and advocate for themselves.

We do this because when diagnosed early, breast cancer treatments are more effective and survival rates are higher. Early detection can save lives.

Breast cancer does not need to be detected late, and as long as we are here and continue to be supported by people like you, we will do all we can to make sure this doesn t continue to happen.

The Role

The Senior Challenge Events Manager maternity cover role is crucial to ensure a smooth delivery of a busy portfolio of challenge events in 2026, forecast to bring in £2.8million – plus some planning for 2027. We need someone to step into this role to continue driving our growth strategy where we are one year into a three year plan. This department s work is vital for the continual diversification of our income, through expanding our portfolio of challenge events and recruitment of new participants. This department includes all of our third party challenge events, including the London marathon, as well as our bespoke CoppaTrek! programme.

Leading a team of five, the Senior Challenge Events Manager will need to hit the ground running to oversee all events booked in, providing hands-on support for these events. Unusually, the Bespoke Challenge Events Manager (the manager covering the work on treks at CoppaFeel!, a direct report for this role) will also be a maternity cover role for the same period of time. This elevates the need for clean, organised and focused delivery of our events.

The Senior Challenge Events Manager will also need to represent the challenge events team internally to integrate them into the wider organisational goals, contributing to a fundraising culture at CoppaFeel!.

In addition to overseeing the delivery of 2026, the Senior Challenge Events Manager will need to prepare and plan for 2027, and work with other teams to successfully launch them towards the end of 2026. They will be required to create the budget for 2027 s events including all phased income and expenditure.

As this is an events role, you will be required to attend events out of hours and can take TOIL according to our policy. This includes attending multi day treks which we host both in the UK and abroad. In 2026, there will be three multi day treks (June, July and September one in UK and two abroad) and two One Day treks (on weekends in June and September). There will be many challenge events in the Spring and Autumn seasons. Therefore, please bear in mind that as part of this role, you will be expected to travel and stay away from home for up to 9 days at a time. The benefit being you get to see some incredible parts of the world and meet amazing people.

In terms of the office, it is a hybrid role, with the expectation that you will attend the London office two days per week.

This is a fixed term contract for 12 months.

Duties and Responsibilities

Portfolio Delivery

• Deliver the challenge events programme and support the team to raise 2.8 million pounds in 2026.
• Oversee the planning and delivery of our CoppaTrek! Events to raise income target of 2.3 million pounds, with direct input and management when required.
• Oversee the planning and delivery of our Sporting Challenge Events, to raise £500,000, often attending events and supporting on-the-day when required.
• Oversee and support with delivery of the current strategies in place to grow the portfolio of Challenge Events, driving the increase in the number of participants and revenue.
• Oversee and support with delivery of the current strategies in place to grow the income from CoppaTrek! In 2026 and beyond.
• Manage the budget for the full events department, working closely with the Director of Fundraising.
• Maximise on any opportunities to improve our Treks and making them more efficient/sustainable year-on-year.
• Be embedded in the management of the treks day-to-day, to celebrity recruitment and retention, and volunteer management.
• Plan 2027 portfolio in line with growth strategy, and support Bespoke Challenge Events Manager with 2027 trek launch towards the end of 2026.

Managing Key Stakeholders

• Liaise with and support all celebrities signed up for our treks, and potentially support in sourcing celebrities.
• Lead on the PR for challenge events, working with the PR and Marketing team to publicise events throughout the year, often working closely with high profile supporters to do so.
• Harness excellent relationships with key suppliers (such as Charity Challenge, our trek supplier) to ensure CoppaFeel! Receive the best support and prices for 2026 and beyond.
• Work with partnerships team to secure trek sponsors and support with year-round relationships.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Monitor, analyse and ensure donor journeys/supporter experiences are appropriate and successful for both Challenge Events and Treks.
• Ensure CoppaFeel! s events reflect sector trends and are able to compete with other charity portfolios where possible.
• Understand and advocate for supporters, inspiring them to engage and fundraise, ensuring our thanking and engagement strategies encourage long term support and repeat giving.
• Ensure ROI and key performance metrics are used to make evidence based decisions and are kept to the best we can manage.
• Report on events to the Heads of Department to update and alert them to all opportunities for cross team working.

Team Support and Management

• Lead and inspire the Challenge Events Team to meet their objectives and live the CoppaFeel! values.
• Line manage the Challenge Events Manager and Bespoke Challenge Events Manager, and oversee the management of our more junior team members ensuring they have an annual performance review, learning and development plans, KPI s, and are supported to meet their fundraising targets.
• Champion cross team collaboration, finding a way to embed fundraising across the CoppaFeel! culture whilst also demonstrating an understanding of other team s priorities and strategies.
• Responsible for the knowledge of regulation relevant to Challenge Events including GDPR, Gift Aid, VAT and fundraising best practice.
• Work with the Head of Finance on budgeting, reporting, re-forecasting income and ROI.
• Produce progress reports as required to the Director of Fundraising.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

• Lead on initiatives to improve EDI across CoppaFeel! s challenge event portfolio, working close with our Senior Engagement and Inclusion Manager
• Support team with promoting diversity in participant recruitment, with a focus on engaging underrepresented groups.
• Ensure a supportive and inclusive environment for all participants, volunteers, and staff.

Administration

• Develop dashboards with the Database Executive for ease of reporting KPI s for Challenge Events and Treks at CoppaFeel!.
• Ensure systems are kept up to date including Beacon CRM, and CoppaFeel! shared Google Drive.
• Excellent record keeping at all times of all Challenge Events, Treks and communications on the CoppaFeel! shared Google Drive.
• Keep diary and shared calendar up-to-date, shared communications across the organisation including desk booking systems, People HR, Weekly Round Up and contribute to team meetings.
• Ensure excellent financial records are kept including invoicing, contracts for suppliers, cheques and cash collections, and team expenses, following CoppaFeel! finance policies.

Skills, Experience and Qualifications

Essential

• 4-5 years of experience working for a charity in challenge events
• Must have attended and completed numerous Treks and Challenge Events, representing a charity
• Proven record of managing a busy events calendar with numerous events
• Experience of providing excellent stewardship and donor journeys, inspiring supporters and making improvements on processes
• Experience of managing a team at different levels
• A creative thinker with excellent relationship building skills
• Experience of delivering strategies for Challenge Events, with a good understanding of opportunities in the marketplace
• Experience of working with income and expenditure budgets
• Excellent relationship building skills – from celebrities to fundraisers
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to balance competing priorities and deliver high-quality outcomes
• Strong team-player who is self-motivated, enthusiastic and passionate about working for CoppaFeel!
• Commitment to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion within the fundraising team

Desirable

• Experience of monitoring and evaluating effectiveness of fundraising activities, partnerships or programmes
• Experience of public speaking and presenting to different groups of people, both in person and online
• Experience of working with celebrities

Application information

Applications will close at 9am on 3rd November 2025.

CoppaFeel! reserves the right to close the vacancy early in the event that we receive a high number of applications before the closing date . click apply for full job details