Associate director of finance jobs in edinburgh

Partnerships Manager: Grantmakers 

Reports to: Executive Director  
Contract: Full-time  

Role Purpose  

As Partnerships Manager: Grantmakers, you will lead the development and delivery of HOST’s Hosted Grantmaking service — ensuring that funders can move resources quickly, safely, and transparently to the people driving change.  

You will oversee funder relationships and hosted grantmaking delivery, building systems that ensure clarity, compliance, and care at every stage. Working closely with the Delivery Circle, you’ll strengthen due diligence, grant management, and reporting processes — enabling funders to trust that every pound achieves its intended impact.  

In order to respond to growing demand, you will build and manage the Hosted Grantmaking Community Support Team and liaise and coordinate with the Delivery Team, ensuring HOST has the capacity and expertise to meet growing global demand for hosted funds.  

This role is central to HOST’s ambition to become a trusted backbone for civil society infrastructure — connecting funders and change-makers through integrity, efficiency, and shared purpose.  

Core Responsibilities  

1. Hosted Grantmaking Leadership  

Lead the delivery and growth of HOST’s Hosted Grantmaking service, working closely with the Executive Director, Operations Director and other Partnership Managers, ensuring alignment between funder expectations, hosted partner needs, and internal delivery capacity.  

Co-design and coordinate the Hosted Grantmaking Delivery Team, coordinating with the Delivery Circle (Finance, Due Diligence, and Legal) to ensure seamless grant operations.  

Strategic oversight of hosted grantmaking cycles — from application to disbursement and reporting — ensuring accuracy, speed, and compliance in delivery.  

Reporting cadence: Monthly Hosted Grantmaking performance report to Executive Director and Operations Director.  

2. Hosted Grantmaking Community Support and Relationship Management  

Build and lead the Hosted Grantmaking Community Support Team, ensuring all funders and hosted funders receive consistent, proactive, and informed communication.  

Strengthen HOST’s funder community by developing engagement pathways, events, and resources that deepen relationships and mutual learning.  

Maintain high standards of care, responsiveness, and accountability across all funder interactions.  

Reporting cadence: Monthly funder community and relationship management summary.  

3. Due Diligence and Grant Facilitation  

Work with the Delivery Circle, Grants Manager, and Partnerships Manager: Funders to deliver due diligence processes that are rigorous, efficient, and scalable.  

Ensure all funder agreements, compliance documentation, and grant records are accurate, up to date, and audit-ready.  

Support the development of clear SOPs for due diligence and hosted grantmaking workflows in collaboration with the Legal Lead and Operations Team.  

Reporting cadence: Monthly compliance and due diligence report.  

4. Funder Relationship Stewardship and Growth  

Support the Partnership Team to manage relationships with key funders and philanthropic partners, ensuring HOST is recognised as a trusted, transparent delivery partner.  

Develop funder engagement plans and manage the funder relationship lifecycle from onboarding through renewal.  

Identify new funder opportunities aligned with HOST’s mission and facilitate introductions for the Partnerships Director and Executive Director.  

Reporting cadence: Quarterly relationship development review.  

5. Reporting and Communications  

Oversee funder reporting and impact communications, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and alignment with HOST’s tone of voice.  

Work with the Engagement Team to produce funder updates, case studies, and inputs to the HOST Impact Report.  

Ensure funders and partners understand the value, integrity, and impact of HOST’s services.  

Reporting cadence: Quarterly reporting and communications alignment.  

6. Systems and Process Development  

Maintain clear funder and grant records across ClickUp, Zendesk, and CRM systems.  

Develop and maintain SOPs for Hosted Grantmaking, funder engagement, and due diligence workflows.  

Ensure consistent alignment between partnership data and financial reporting.  

Reporting cadence: Quarterly systems and SOP review.  

7. Risk, Compliance, and Escalation  

Identify and escalate financial, operational, or reputational risks associated with hosted grantmaking or funder engagement.  

Collaborate with the Legal Lead, Delivery Team, and Executive Director on mitigation actions and documentation.  

Contribute to HOST’s monthly organisational risk report.  

Reporting cadence: Real-time escalation; monthly consolidation.  

8. Collaboration and Cross-Team Development  

Work with the Partnerships Manager: Funders to align Hosted Grantmaking within HOSTs wider donor engagement.   

Work with the Partnerships Manager: Changemakers to align Hosted Grantmaking with the Hosted Partner Journey.  

Collaborate with the Training Lead and Data Analyst to integrate learning, performance, and impact insights into service design.  

Contribute to the continuous improvement of HOST’s partnership management framework.  

Reporting cadence: Quarterly service development meeting.  

Key Relationships  

Internal: Executive Director, Operations Director, Partnerships Manager: Funders, Partnerships Manager: Changemakers, Finance, Legal, Operations, Communications, Data Analyst, and Training Lead.  
External: Funders, philanthropic networks, and hosted grant recipients.  

Required Experience 

• 5–8 years’ experience in funder relations, partnerships management, or programme delivery within the not-for-profit, social enterprise, or philanthropic sectors. 

• 3–5 years’ experience overseeing grantmaking, regranting, or fund distribution programmes, ideally across multiple geographies or funder types. 

• Proven ability to manage and grow funder relationships, including institutional, philanthropic, or high-net-worth funders. 

• Demonstrated experience leading or building a small team, with responsibility for coaching, supervision, and performance management. 

• Strong background in due diligence, compliance, and risk assessment, particularly in relation to funder funds and hosted grantmaking. 

• Proven success developing and maintaining systems, SOPs, and cross-team coordination for complex funder or grant processes. 

• Experience managing financial reporting and data-driven insights to meet funder and audit requirements. 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to deliver confident, values-aligned communications to funders and partners. 

• Strong organisational and project management skills — able to balance multiple grants, deadlines, and stakeholders effectively. 

• Experience working with CRM and project management platforms (e.g. ClickUp, Zendesk, Salesforce, or similar