The National Lottery Community Fund is the largest community funder in the UK. We distribute over £600m a year to communities across the UK, raised by players of the National Lottery.
We support people and communities to prosper and thrive. We fund the things that matter to communities and, in a typical year, our grant holders collectively support around 5.2 million beneficiaries. We reach every parliamentary constituency in the UK and over 90% of all wards.
We support a wide range of health, educational, environmental, and charitable projects with grants ranging from as little as £500 to multi-million-pound programmes. 86% of our new grants were for less than £10k.
Social connections and community activities are at the heart of creating healthier, happier lives and a flourishing society. That’s why through The National Lottery Community Fund Strategy 2023-2030 we’re looking to make a bigger difference in the years ahead, by listening and responding to communities and by focusing on supporting bolder change.
Thanks to National Lottery players, we plan to distribute at least £4 billion of funding by 2030. Supporting projects that will create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable. Projects that will strengthen society and improve lives across the UK.
We are looking to recruit a Funding Officer to join the London, Southeast and East Team, working in the North and West London area.
- As a funding officer you will assess requests for funding and work together with colleagues to make funding decisions.
- 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.
- You will manage grants using local knowledge, best practice, thematic expertise, and the experience of customers and stakeholders to improve our grant making and inform our decision making.
- Being responsible for supporting local people and communities you will have a strong understanding of our vision, our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and our funding products. You’ll also need to support our stakeholders, helping them to make connections that will help them achieve their goals.
- Being responsible for the pipeline of projects you will need to understand and respond to the different needs of our customers by providing support and considered feedback and be willing to have challenging but constructive conversations.
- As Funding Officer, you will ensure our grant management and assessment play an effective part in contributing to the Fund’s knowledge and learning as a grant maker.
- You will manage your own caseload, liaise with grant recipients, undertake project visits, identify, and manage risk and support organisations to deliver their projects and measure their impact.
- You’ll also need to work within the Fund’s policies and procedures and the necessary legislation, and in a way that is in line with our vision and principles.
- You will work with stakeholders at different levels, represent the Fund within your local area including at funding fairs and external meetings and create opportunities for people to come together. You will share learning from your conversations, events, grant holder reports and evaluations with other colleagues so that we can maximise our impact.
Team Composition: You’ll be part of a team, led by a Funding Manager, and comprised of several other Funding Officers.
Contract Type: permanent
Hours: Full time; 37 Hours per week, flexible working considered
Interview Dates: 10th, 11th or 12th June
Salary: £27,810 - £30,851
Location: London
If you would like an informal conversation about the role specifically, please contact: Ella Mizon at [email protected]
For any questions about the recruitment process, please email: [email protected]
Previous candidates should not reapply as their application will not be considered
We are looking for local talented people from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures and experiences who share our values and are passionate about making a difference through our funding.
Whether through lived or gained experience you will really understand the communities we work with. You could come to grant-making from a variety of backgrounds.
Whatever your background, we will expect you to have some skills and experience in areas such as:
- project management
- research / data gathering & insight
- presentation / report writing
- basic accounting and budget management
You will need to show an understanding of the voluntary and community sector, so you will find it helpful to have paid or unpaid work experience in these areas. You might have experience in the type of projects that we fund, for example, community work, health, arts, sports or environmental conservation.
In return we can offer the opportunity to develop relevant skills and gain experience working with one of the largest funders in the UK. You can progress to becoming a trained and skilled Funding Officer with good progression routes in the sector.
On application, please align your supporting statement to the criteria below:
Essential Criteria
- Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with colleagues, community organisations and other stakeholders at various levels.
- Ability to absorb a wide range of information including financial health, and to make judgement-based decisions with confidence, to challenge when appropriate and manage risk.
- Ability to use your initiative and manage a large workload with minimal supervision, dealing with competing priorities and deadlines and demonstrating strong self-organisation and prioritisation skills.
- Strong listening, written and verbal communication with an emphasis on report writing for assessment purposes.
- Commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and the ability to apply this when assessing applications.
You will work from several locations across the area, including your home and our office with the expectation that you will be flexible in order to get the best outcomes for our customers.
Desirable Criteria
- Previous experience of grant making
- Understanding of financial planning and business plans, ability to analyse accounts and numerical data, IT skills, database admin, project management and information gathering
- Knowledge of London and its charity sector and experience working with underrepresented communities in the region
We seek to develop our staff and offer a wide range of personal development opportunities.
We offer a wide range of generous benefits including:
- Generous annual leave and company pension scheme
- Flexible working to support staff with their work/life balance, taking into account things such as caring responsibilities, worship and attendance at religious festivals
- Enhanced paid maternity, paternity and adoption leave
- Season ticket and cycle to work loans
- Paid volunteering leave
- Employee Healthcare plan, Employee Assistance programme
In addition, for this post
- £1000 per year (taxable) mobile working allowance on top of salary
- Reimbursed travel within London patch for work purposes
- £6 per week home working allowance (subject to change)
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.)