x 1 Funding Officer will cover Surrey, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, x1 Funding Officer  working across the London, South East and East Region.

About Us

The National Lottery Community Fund is the largest community funder in the UK - we’re proud to award money raised by players of The National Lottery  to communities across the UK. Last year alone we gave out over half a billion pounds (£508.5 million) of National Lottery funding to over 11,000 community projects across the UK, enabling even more people and communities to bring their ideas and ambitions to life. 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.

At the heart of everything we do is the belief that when people are in the lead, communities thrive. National Lottery funding is open to everyone and we’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of grassroots groups right up to large UK-wide charities. We have changed how we work across the Fund to help us serve people and communities more effectively, working flexibly and on their terms; working closer to communities.

About the Role

We are looking for 2 Funding Officers to join our London & South East Regional Team. One Funding Officer will cover Surrey, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight whereas the other position will involve working across the London, South East and East Region.

Please specify which location you are applying for in your supporting statement.

As a Funding Officer you will assess requests for funding and 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. 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.

Being responsible for supporting local people and communities you will have a strong understanding of our vision, our commitment to equity 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 advice and considered feedback and be willing to have challenging but constructive conversations.

Funding Officers 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, supporting 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 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.

You’ll be part of a team, led by a Funding Manager, and comprised of several other Funding Officers.

Contract Type: Both roles are permanent

Hours: Full time; 37 Hours per week, flexible working considered

Interview Date: Phone interviews for long listed candidates will take place during the week commencing 26 April and full interviews will take place during the week commending 3 May (due to COVID-19 interviews will be conducted remotely)

Essential Criteria

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 will have:

• Strong written and verbal communication skills and confidence to operate in a wide range of environments.
• Ability to build and maintain excellent relationships at several different levels with a strong commitment to equity and inclusion.
• Confidence to use your judgement, take initiative and challenge when appropriate.

Ideally you will live within the geographical area you are covering and have excellent knowledge of that area. You will work from several locations across the area, including your home and our offices with the expectation that you will be flexible in order to get the best outcomes for our customers. One Funding Officer will cover Surrey, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and whereas the other position will involve working across the London, South East and East region.

Desirable Criteria

• Knowledge of the region and its charity sector and experience working with underrepresented communities in the region.
• Understanding of financial planning and business plans, ability to analyse accounts and numerical data.
• Demonstrable IT skills and the ability to learn detailed processes.

For You:

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

How to Apply:

Please click 'Apply Now' for further details about the vacancy and our application process.

Equal Opportunities:

We believe our people should represent the communities, organisations and individuals we work with. As such we particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, LGBTQ+ and from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds.

Equality, diversity and inclusion in our grant-making, and amongst our people, are all vital to our success in supporting people and communities to thrive.  We believe our people should represent the communities, organisations and individuals we work with.  We are committed to being an inclusive and great place to work, and recognise our people come from diverse backgrounds. We are a Disability Confident employer and positively welcome applications from disabled people.