Eric Grounds is to leave his position as director of fundraising at Sue Ryder Care to seek a new role as a chief executive, and will be replaced by Andy Taylor.

Grounds will hand over the reins to Taylor, currently director of fundraising and marketing at Action for Blind People, at the end of this month after a five-year stay at the charity.

The outgoing director told Civil Society that he had intended to stay in post for only three years, but was encouraged to stay on to see the charity through the depths of the recession.

“This is a carefully planned departure. I started it two years ago,” he said. “I’m currently juggling with two or three opportunities to become a chief executive somewhere.”

Noting how few directors of fundraising move on to become chief executive, Grounds said that he is “bloody well going to break the mould”. “I’m fed up with people thinking that we’re only one-track people,” he said.

Grounds said he is looking to work in a charity in the same causal area as Sue Ryder Care.

During Grounds’ leadership of fundraising at the charity, the fundraising team has developed a clear management structure and swelled from under 40 staff to more than 100, although Grounds emphasised that he is more concerned with the quality of his staff rather than their numbers.

“Sue Ryder Care has been such fun,” he said, adding that he had been drawn to the charity – despite being reluctant to join a major national organisation – because of its genuine commitment to openness and honesty. “There is no whingeing here,” he said.