Grants Manager

Role Description 

This is an exciting role, to provide additional leadership and management to support the growth in our grant-making.  The Grants Manager will work closely with the Grants Director to build strong relationships with staff, grantees, donors and funders, to encourage more investment into the local community through the Community Foundation.

The Grants Manager will be responsible for supporting the Grants Director to coordinate the day to day administration of a large range of the Foundation’s grant programmes and funds, making effective grants that support the objectives of the Foundation; and meeting community needs and donor priorities.

About You

You will be someone who has excellent leadership skills and significant experience of managing and leading a staff team.  You will have the knowledge, skills and experience to build a strong team that can deliver a high quality service.  You will be motivated and committed to our values, vision and mission.  You will have excellent communication skills, with the ability to deal with people from diverse backgrounds and be able to build relationships with staff and stakeholders.  

We expect you to have strong administrative skills and be highly organised, with the ability to manage a large volume of different funds and programmes.  You should be able to plan and manage your time effectively and prioritise your workload and/or work under pressure.  We expect all our staff to have strong IT skills and be competent in using MS Office or Google Workspace and databases.

We also expect that you will identify improvements and efficiencies to help us improve our services and live our culture and values.

Main Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Grants Manager will include:

Leadership and staff management   

• Supporting the Grants Director to ensure the Grants and Donor Care Team are working to clear outcomes which are in line with the vision, mission and values of the Foundation;

• Enabling and supporting the team to deliver an excellent grants and donor care service and build relationships with donors and funders which result in increased income for the Foundation;

• Line managing the Grants & Donor Care Support Officers, providing support and supervision to these staff, monitoring their performance and ensuring they meet individual and team KPI’s. 

Grant Management

Co-ordinate the day to day operations of the grant funds, programmes, processes and budgets.  In particular:

• Supporting the review of the grant process and implementing improvements to ensure effectiveness and efficiency, alongside the Grants Director and Grants Team;

• Supporting the Grants Director and team to identify and develop, innovative and creative grant making opportunities, particularly to ensure more effective engagement with grantees;

• Managing the day to day administration of the grant programmes including scheduling fund opening and closing dates, overseeing financial monitoring, and monitoring/evaluation processes for our funds;

• Ensuring the CRM database is up to date and working effectively to support grant-making;
• Coordinating and overseeing the assessment of grant applications;

• Lead on allocated funds, developing plans for rollout of fund/s, assessing       applications, presenting to grant panels, and reporting and monitoring                    impact of fund/s;

• Attending grant panel meetings, ensuring papers are issued in advance, and

presenting relevant information at the meetings.

Donor Care

• Developing and maintaining good relationships with funders and donors in order to provide an excellent, quality donor service and donor care;

• Act as the key Relationship Manager with some donors and funders, providing excellent donor care to ensure continued investment in the local community through the Community Foundation;

• Supporting the Grants Director and Team to ensure high quality donor relationships;

• Identifying and supporting events which showcase our work and impact and encouraging donors and funders to invest.

Monitoring Impact

• Support the development of reports and updating the grant making scorecard outlining the impact of projects in receipt of grants allocated under the wide variety of Funds and Programmes administered by the Community Foundation;

• Ensure that funds and programmes meet targets and objectives and returns and reports are submitted accurately and on time.

Policy, Knowledge and Learning

• Support and identify policy issues arising from applications and delivery of grants, and liaise with the Grants Director on how these may influence the direction of grant-making and the wider policy work of the Community Foundation;

• Being informed about the community and voluntary sector and relevant policy issues and how this impacts upon the sector;

• Participating in and contributing to the overall work of the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland as required;

• Identifying opportunities for personal development and learning.

Networking & Communications

• Liaising with CFNI’s communications team on funds and projects of interest;

• Support the delivery of grant information events and funding fairs, seeing is believing visits, conferences and seminars, where appropriate.

General

All staff are required to: 

• Carry out their work in accordance with the organisational values and ensure that their behaviours are in keeping with our values;
• Be aware of, understand and comply with all of the Foundations policies and procedures;
• Manage their workload effectively while ensuring the efficient use of office resources and in particular Google Workspace and the Foundation’s database, Salesforce;
• Maintain at all times the confidentiality of information received;
• Carry out such other appropriate tasks and work as requested;
• Attend and participate in staff meetings, team meetings and relevant training;
• Attend some of the Foundation events each year;

This Job Description is not intended to comprehensively list the responsibilities of the post, but to indicate the main areas which at this stage appear to be the essential requirements of the post.
 

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

A minimum of 4 years experience in a management role, which includes:

(i)responsibility for line managing staff and

(ii) managing a department or function to deliver a high quality service and

(iii) leading, supporting and developing a high performing team.

At least 4 years experience of building strong external relationships with key stakeholders.

KNOWLEDGE/ SKILLS

Knowledge of the community and voluntary sector and the current issues that the sector is facing, particularly in Northern Ireland.

A working knowledge of MS Office, plus strong IT skills including the ability to use IT systems to implement, manage and monitor processes and workloads.

Excellent communication skills including the ability to communicate orally and in writing in a clear and concise manner, including writing reports.

Excellent organisational and time management skills, with the ability to deliver on high volumes of work, to tight deadlines.

The ability to draw out the policy implications of grant programmes.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Committed to the Foundation’s vision, mission and values;

Committed to Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and to working with a diverse range of people and communities across Northern Ireland.

Able to attend events and meetings across Northern Ireland, including occasional evening events and meetings

DESIRABLE CRITERIA

A relevant degree or leadership qualification

Experience of using a customer relationship management systems such as Salesforce