Funding Officer, North West Region

We are looking for a Funding Officer to join the enthusiastic, friendly Lancashire team in the North West Region.  You will play a major role in ensuring our funding supports a wide variety of communities and places across Lancashire and the North West region.

12 month Fixed Term Contract - based in Lancashire

As a member of the funding team you will assess applications for funding and manage grants from our Reaching Communities and Partnerships programmes. You will use your local knowledge and experience, and the experience of our grant holders and local stakeholders, to ensure we are making the best decisions on the grants we make. By working closely with people and communities from a defined geographical area, you will understand what matters to them and where our funding can make the biggest difference.  
In your role you will work within the Fund’s policies and procedures and the necessary legislation, in line with our vision and principles.  You will gain an understanding of our vision, our commitment to equity and inclusion and our funding programmes. 

The role is varied and will require you to: 

• Be responsible for your own caseload: visiting projects, liaising with grant recipients, identify and manage risks and supporting organisations to delivery their projects and measure their impact
• Understand and respond to the different needs of our applicants and grant holders by providing advice and feedback and be willing to have challenging but constructive conversations.  
• Represent the Fund within your local area, at funding fairs and external meetings and create opportunities for people to come together.  
• Share learning from your conversations, events, grant holder reports and evaluations to support the Fund in maximining our impact as a grant maker. 

• Communication skills: Strong listening, written and verbal communication with an emphasis on written communication for assessment purposes.
• Relational skills: Ability to nurture, develop and promote effective relationships and communication with colleagues, community organisations and other external agencies with a strong commitment to equity and inclusion
• Analytical skills: Ability to assess a high volume of applications, make good judgements, challenge when appropriate and manage risk. 
•  Knowledge of the local areas you would be covering and their charity sectors.  

• Experience working with under-represented communities in the area of Lancashire
• Understanding of financial planning and business plans, ability to analyse accounts and numerical data.
• Demonstrable IT skills and the ability to learn detailed processes quickly and accurately.
• An ability to manage your own workload with minimal supervision

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion  

Communities in the UK come in all shapes and sizes. National Lottery funding is for everyone – therefore, we are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and we work hard to ensure our funding reaches where it is needed.  

We also believe our people should represent the communities, organisations and individuals we work with. That’s why The National Lottery Community Fund is committed to being an inclusive employer and a great place to work. We recognise and celebrate the fact that our people come from diverse backgrounds. We positively welcome applications from people from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities or longstanding health conditions, people who are LGBTQ+, and people from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds, as well as people of all ages. 

As a Disability Confident Employer, we take a proactive approach in making reasonable adjustments, if needed, throughout the recruitment process and during employment. (This can be related to a physical and mental health condition.)