At The National Lottery Community Fund (The Fund), we are driven by our strategy ‘It starts with community’ and its four community-led missions, as well as our commitment to tackling poverty, discrimination and disadvantage through an equity-based approach.
This is an exciting opportunity to join the UK Portfolio at an ambitious moment of shaping the next phase of our strategy. We are looking for four Funding Officers (2x 12 month FTC, 1 x FTC until March 2027 and 1x FTC until July 2027) to join us and form part of a team of around 40 in total.
The UK Portfolio supports the ambitions and potential of communities across the UK. We focus on scaling projects with a UK-wide benefit, through significant investments and partnerships, which enable systems-level change for communities. Our funding is intended to complement the work of other country portfolios: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Our Funding Officers are at the core of what we do in the UK Portfolio as we continue to develop in response to our strategy. Our team is spread across the UK, and we're looking for people from a variety of locations within the UK.
Our current work includes:
- The UK Fund: offers long term funding to support organisations to scale proven work and approaches against two main themes: connected communities and youth voice. Funded projects consistently focus on systems change, community power and voice.
- Climate Action Fund: supports UK-wide ambitious, partnership-led approaches to climate and environmental challenges, bringing together organisations to deliver long-term change at scale.
- Working in partnership with others: Examples include Communities for Children, focused on tackling child poverty, Together for Families, supporting early intervention for children and families. We are also developing new areas of work that explore the opportunities and implications of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence.
Role Expectations
Funding officers help amazing things to happen in communities. They play a vital role in ensuring we provide excellent service to communities all over the UK.
You will support organisations through the grant making process and use your knowledge and experience to make evidence informed judgements. You’ll manage key relationships with grant holders, responding to their needs, providing advice and considered feedback and be willing to have challenging but constructive conversations.
You’ll be a great team player and play an active role in ensuring the effective running of team meetings.
As a Funding Officer you will:
- Support enquirers, applicants and grant holders through our funding processes, assessing and managing a caseload of applications and grants of varying value and complexity.
- Build and maintain relationships with stakeholders at different levels, including project visits and external events.
- Produce and present clear reports which reflect sound judgement, sector knowledge and understanding of the Fund’s strategy, missions and policies
- Identify, and manage risk, supporting organisations to deliver their projects and measure their impact.
- Ensure our data is maintained, accurate and of high quality
- Ensure grant management and assessment contribute meaningfully to the Fund’s learning and impact.
- Demonstrate a commitment to, and ability to build understanding of the Fund’s ambition as an environmentally regenerative funder.
- Contribute to projects including programme development, our equity based approach to funding, impact, continuous improvement and Fund wide initiatives.
Skills & Requirements
You will use your critical thinking skills, curiosity, interest and understanding of our community-led missions to support and inform your approach to assessment and grant management.
You’ll be joining a dynamic and welcoming geographically dispersed team, working with impactful and fascinating projects that are responding to and addressing a wide range of topics across the Fund’s four community-led missions.
We are looking for talented and proactive team players from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures and experiences who share our values and are passionate about making a difference through our funding.
Whatever your background, the role would suit people who:
- are passionate about achieving social change and have a strong commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.
- have skills and experience in presentation and report writing and basic accounting and budget management.
- can apply their research, data gathering, insight and critical analysis skills to learn quickly about a range of themes and issues.
- can absorb a wide range of information and evidence and present it to others in a clear and concise manner.
- can work flexibly at pace and to tight deadlines, using their initiative to manage their time working comfortably with competing priorities and deadlines.
- are adept at building and maintaining relationships with people from a range of backgrounds and experiences.
- are strong team players committed to sharing learning with their colleagues and the wider Fund to improve our processes and practices.
- are comfortable working with an online and geographically dispersed team.
- are comfortable learning and working with different systems and data.
You’ll report to one of our Portfolio Managers and work with other Funding Officers across different areas of the team.
The role requires occasional (once a month) travel across the UK to observe and critically analyse the work of applicants and grant holders.
Interview details:
- Format: Online – MS Teams
We have a hybrid approach to working. Work pattern and location will be agreed with the successful candidate. The role can be based at any of our UK offices: Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester and Newcastle.
For an informal discussion about the role, please contact: [email protected].
To ask any questions, please email: [email protected]
How to apply:
Upload your CV in word format and write a supporting statement (1000 words) with the following criteria, we will use this to score your application.
Essential Criteria:
- Sector insight: Knowledge and understanding of the voluntary sector and communities across the UK and a well-developed appreciation of how they can respond to our strategy and missions.
- Communication skills: Strong listening, written and verbal communication skills including report writing and with the ability to communicate complex ideas in an engaging and clear manner, tailored to different audiences.
- Analytical skills: Ability to absorb a wide range of information and evidence to reach judgement-based recommendations with confidence, offering appropriate challenge and managing risk throughout the grant making lifecycle.
- Organisational skills: Ability to plan and manage a caseload of assessments and grant management, balancing competing priorities and deadlines and demonstrating strong organisation and prioritisation skills.
- Relational skills: Ability to build and maintain effective, collaborative relationships with colleagues, customers and stakeholders.
- Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: A strong understanding of our vision, our commitment and our funding products - and the ability to apply this throughout the grant making lifecycle.
Desirable Criteria:
- Continuous improvement: A learning mindset and curiosity about our work with the ability to identify opportunities for learning and improvement across the team and wider directorate through proactive problem-solving and continuous improvement.
- Data and finance: Ability to understand and assess data and financial information including business plans and accounts, and present this in an accessible way.
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.)