Bid writer and project officer jobs

Overview

We’re looking for an Assistant Business Development Officer (Bid Writer) to join our national Business Development Team. This is a great opportunity for an excellent writer to start or grow your bid writing career in a successful team with progression opportunities. 

Location: London, Brighton, Manchester or Leeds. 

Salary: £27,861.26 − £32,002.35 per year. If you’re based in London, you’ll receive an additional £4,133.14 per year as Inner London Weighing. 

Contract: 12 months fixed term. 

Responsibilities

About the role 

Change Grow Live is a health and social care charity. Across the country, we support people to make positive changes in their lives, including around drug and alcohol use, smoking, homelessness and criminal justice. 

As an Assistant Business Development Officer, you’ll play a key part in helping us secure new contracts and deliver high quality services for adults, children and young people. You’ll support the development of bids and proposals by writing, researching and collaborating with colleagues across the organisation. 

Your day-to-day will include: 

• Writing and editing bid responses 
• Working with colleagues across the organisation and our partner agencies 
• Completing online research, analysing data and collating evidence 
• Creating presentations, diagrams and reports 
• Helping improve how we do things. 

This is a developmental role, and you’ll receive ongoing support, guidance and training to help you progress. 

About you 

We’re looking for excellent writers who share our passion for supporting people to make positive changes in their lives. You don’t need previous experience in business development, but experience in health and social care, writing, sales, research, or data is beneficial. 

You are: 

• A clear, concise and engaging writer 
• Motivated to learn and develop, welcoming feedback 
• Collaborative and contribute to a positive culture team 
• Curious and analytical 
• Solution-focused, creative and proactive 
• Ready to work hard to deliver on CGL’s values and mission. 

What we offer 

You’ll be able to access structured training, development and mentoring as part of a supportive team. There’s a clear progression pathway within the team. We have a great record of people quickly progressing to Business Development Officer and Senior Business Development Officer roles as they take on increased volume, complexity, and leadership across proposals. 

We also offer: 

• The option to work from home for some of the week 
• Wellbeing support, including an employee assistance programme and an hour each week for wellbeing activities of your choice (find out more here). 

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we work with. We pride ourselves on an inclusive and supportive workplace, evidenced through our Investors in People silver status. 

We’re happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that you need to be successful. Please let us know in your application or at any stage of the process if you would like to discuss this. 

Before you apply 

In the application portal, there’s a section called ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’. This is your chance to tell us about why you’re a good fit for this job – we won’t be able to consider your application unless it’s filled in. Please explain how you meet each of the person specification criteria (listed at the end of the job description). Use clear examples of your experience (this link contains some useful guidance). As guidance, written statements should not exceed 1,000 words. You can address multiple criteria together where you think it makes sense. 

Interviews will be held 16th – 23rd February 2026 via MS Teams. We’ll also ask shortlisted candidates to complete a written task online during this timeframe, at a time of your choice. We may hold a pre-qualification stage task (e.g. presentation) depending on the number of applicants. 

We encourage applications from individuals who may not meet every requirement but are excited about the role. We value lived experience of substance use, homelessness, and/or multiple disadvantages. 

We’re a Disability Confident Committed employer. Under our Disability Confident interview scheme, we will offer an interview to disabled candidates where they meet our selection criteria in their application. Some of our roles attract a high volume of applications and in some circumstances where it is not practicable or appropriate, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled candidates. Please confirm in the ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’ part of the application if you are applying under this scheme. We will provide reasonable adjustments as needed. 

Check the job description and team explainer for more information. You can contact Yasmin Gilders to discuss this role further. 

What our people say 

George, who progressed from Assistant Business Development Officer to Business Development Officer last year: 

“What was your route into the team? I came into Business Development after starting out in frontline roles in local authorities and then a housing charity, where I realised I wanted to continue having an impact on people’s lives, but on a bigger scale. The Assistant Business Development Officer role was a perfect progression, and after about a year I successfully applied for a Business Development Officer role. This felt really manageable given the space for development as an Assistant Business Development Officer. 

What are your favourite parts of the job? Winning contracts is a really great feeling, especially when I know they’ve been shaped with service users and colleague to make sure we’re designing services that offer the best support to the most people. I also value the constant opportunities to learn, feeling supported in my development, and seeing the decisions I’m involved in having a real impact on people’s lives.

What were your highlights from last year? Our team away day in Liverpool, which was great fun as well as chance to hear from the managers of our new Liverpool service. It was one of the first bids I worked on as an Assistant Business Development Officer, and it was amazing to see our bid come to life, being delivered by a passionate group of people.

What would you say to someone thinking of applying? I’d definitely say go for it, and once you start, embrace how much there is to learn! Make the most of a really knowledgeable and supportive team, of managers who genuinely want you to succeed, and of all the opportunities to try new things and develop new skills.” 

Holly, who has progressed from Assistant Business Development Officer to Senior Business Development Officer: 

“What was your route into the team? I was a psychology graduate and teacher training drop out! With my experience of working in schools and academic research into young people’s substance use, I started working as an Education Lead for one of CGL’s young person’s services. After a year I applied to join the Business Development Team, wanting to utilise my experience of working frontline and my love of research and writing. I’ve progressed from Assistant to Officer and then Senior Officer since joining the team in 2022.  

How would you describe the team? Helpful, real and full of knowledge. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and is happy to share their skills, knowledge and learning. I’ve never felt like I’ve asked a silly question, and I don’t feel like I must put a on ‘work mask’.

What would you say to someone thinking of applying? Not to think they can’t do it just because they don’t have experience in bid writing or business development. It’s more important to be able to demonstrate that they’re a confident professional writer and are really passionate about working in the drug and alcohol support sector.” 

Salary Range (pro rata if part time)

CGL points 23 to 28 (£27,861.26 - £32,002.35)

Interview Date

16/2/2026

Closing Date

8/2/2026

Overview

We’re looking for a Senior Business Development Officer to join our national Business Development Team. This is an ideal next step for you if you’re an experienced bid writer looking to grow your career in business development, make social impact, and develop your leadership skills. We’d particularly like to hear from people that have experience of writing high-scoring drug and alcohol service bids.

Location: London, Brighton, Manchester or Leeds.

Salary: £43,384.62 − £47,792.23 per year. If you’re based in London, you’ll receive an additional £4,133.14 per year for Inner London Weighting.

Contract: Permanent.

Responsibilities

About the role

Change Grow Live is a health and social care charity. Across the country, we support people to make positive changes in their lives, including around drug and alcohol use, smoking, homelessness and criminal justice.

As a Senior Business Development Officer, you’ll play a lead role in the development and writing of tenders and proposals for a variety of health and social care services. This role offers a great opportunity to learn and develop while using your established skills, and you’ll be encouraged to take on more responsibility as you progress.

This role offers a great opportunity to learn and develop while using your established skills, and you’ll be encouraged to take on more responsibility as you progress, including line management opportunities.

Your day-to-day will include:

• Writing and editing complex and highly weighted bid responses, working to short timeframes
• Project managing the writing of key tenders with support from a Business Development Manager
• Supporting the development of Assistant Business Development Officers and Business Development Officers, with the potential of providing line management
• Working with staff across the organisation and our partners to develop bids that reflect best practice respond to local needs
• Producing and coordinating detailed research for upcoming opportunities, including meeting with subject matter experts, analysing data and collating evidence
• Creating presentations, diagrams and reports
• Participating in and leading reviews of our bid and proposal processes.

About you         

We’re looking for candidates with proven experience of writing tenders, proposals or grant applications in health and social care.

You are:

• A highly competent communicator with a successful track record in bid writing, ideally for drug and alcohol treatment or related services
• Experienced in leading smaller bids and proposals
• Able to analyse data and interpret evidence, with good IT and research skills
• Solution-focused, creative and proactive
• Happy to give and receive constructive, challenging feedback
• Collaborative and contribute to a positive culture team
• Ready to work hard to deliver on CGL’s values and mission.

What we offer

You’ll be able to access structured training, development and mentoring as part of a supportive team. There’s a clear progression pathway within the team, from Senior Business Development Officer to Manager, Senior Manager, Deputy Director, and Director. Several of our current Business Development Managers were previously in the Senior Business Development Officer role.

We also offer:

• The option to work from home for some of the week
• Wellbeing support, including an employee assistance programme and an hour each week for wellbeing activities of your choice (find out more here).

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we work with. We pride ourselves on an inclusive and supportive workplace, evidenced through our Investors in People silver status.

We’re happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that you need to be successful. Please let us know in your application or at any stage of the process if you would like to discuss this.

 Before you apply

In the application portal, there’s a section called ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’. This is your chance to tell us about why you’re a good fit for this job – we won’t be able to consider your application unless it’s filled in. Please explain how you meet each of the person specification criteria (listed at the end of the job description). Use clear examples of your experience (this link contains some useful guidance). As guidance, written statements should not exceed 1,000 words. You can address multiple criteria together where you think it makes sense.

Interviews will be held 16th – 23rd February 2026 via MS Teams. We’ll also ask shortlisted candidates to complete a written task online during this timeframe, at a time of your choice. We may hold a pre-qualification stage task (e.g. presentation) depending on the number of applicants.

We encourage applications from individuals who may not meet every requirement but are excited about the role. We value lived experience of substance use, homelessness, and/or multiple disadvantages.

We’re a Disability Confident Committed employer. Under our Disability Confident interview scheme, we will offer an interview to disabled candidates where they meet our selection criteria in their application. Some of our roles attract a high volume of applications and in some circumstances where it is not practicable or appropriate, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled candidates. Please confirm in the ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’ part of the application if you are applying under this scheme. We will provide reasonable adjustments as needed.

Check the job description and team explainer for more information. Contact Yasmin Gilders to discuss this role further.

What our people say

Holly, Senior Business Development Officer said:

“What are your favourite parts of the job? The amount we learn from bid to bid. No two services are the same and I’m constantly coming across amazing individuals, teams and interventions. Being part of a team that helps share and celebrate great work, and support other services to implement new and exciting initiatives is really rewarding.

How would you describe the team? Helpful, real and full of knowledge. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and is happy to share their skills, knowledge and learning. I’ve never felt like I’ve asked a silly question, and I don’t feel like I must put a on ‘work mask’ every day.

What were your highlights from last year? Becoming a Senior and working across 7 different bids or direct awards last year. It was busy but I learnt so much, made some great connections with people across the organisation and feel excited for 2026.”

Fran, who progressed from this role to Business Development Manager last year:

“How did the role help you progress? The Senior Business Development Officer role sets you up to well to progress into a Business Development Manager role, as you begin to get involved in managing writing teams, reviewing written responses, engaging with Service Managers and Directors in model development and hold line management responsibilities. I was in the Senior Business Development Officer role for just over a year and a half before successfully applying to the Manager role.

How would you describe the team? The Business Development team are incredibly supportive and will give you the opportunity to develop in areas that you’re interested in. My manager supported to me build skills and experience that pushed me out of my comfort zone but enabled me to progress into the Business Development Manager role.

What would you say to someone thinking of applying? Alongside developing your writing skills, this role is a great place to shape your leadership and management skills. If you don’t have line management experience, don’t let this put you off.”

Salary Range (pro rata if part time)

CGL points 39 to 43 (£43,384.61 - £47,792.23)

Interview Date

16/2/2026

Closing Date

8/2/2026

STEM Learning’s vision is ‘improving lives through STEM education’ by empowering young people with the skills and knowledge to thrive through effective teaching and learning.

To achieve this, STEM Learning provides a range of support which includes subject-specific professional development for teachers and other educators, quality assured resources, STEM Ambassadors programme, and a suite of enhancement and enrichment activities.

Reporting to the Project Lead, the Account Management Officer will manage relationships with STEM Learning’s valued funders while working to ambitious targets, ensuring they have an exceptional experience. Please note that this is a 12-month FTC maternity cover role. 

This role will be mostly home-based, with one office day per month (travel costs covered) at either London (City) or York University (walking distance from York city centre). Travel for meetings will be expensed. The National STEM Learning Centre based at York University is a unique and impressive teacher CPD venue, mirroring the modern classroom and laboratory facilities, as well as housing their inspirational resources centre. 

About the role

Key responsibilities for the Account Management Officer role include:

• Stewardship of Funders: Manage and streamline communications with STEM Learning’s growing group of funders.
• Creative Engagement: Develop innovative ways to engage with funders, including strategic partnerships, commercial activities, and employee engagement through the STEM Ambassadors programme.
• Effective Communication: Correspond with funders using creative and engaging methods.
• Creating “Wow” Moments: Build personal connections between funders and STEM Learning’s mission.
• Collaboration: Work with internal stakeholders to ensure effective partnership delivery.
• Impact Evidence: Leverage STEM Learning’s impact evidence and collaborate with the Evaluation Team.
• Growth and Renewals: Ensure the growth and renewal of existing partnerships.
• New Partnerships: Work with the Fundraising Development team on pitches and ensure a smooth handover of new wins.

About you

Ideal skills and experience:

• Track record in building and sustaining exceptional relationships with supporters and funders
• Strong organisational skills, enthusiasm and tenacity
• Excellent communication skills and collaboration are a must
• Specialist knowledge of the trends and developments in the sector completed through relevant training is desirable. In the role, you will need to stay up to date on relevant press and industry news.
• You’ll also be an outstanding advocate for STEM Learning and the ENTHUSE Charity, embodying their values: Sustainable – Innovative – Proactive
• If you are a proactive and innovative individual with a passion for STEM education, we want to hear from you!

Employee benefits

STEM Learning offer an exceptional employee benefits package, including: 

• 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays (up to 5 days leave can be carried over to the following leave year)
• Excellent pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 15%
• Private health care via Benenden Health plus Healthcare Cash Plan and Dental Plan
• Annual salary review
• Electric Car Benefit Scheme via Tusker
• Interest-free season ticket loan
• Discounted gym membership and shopping discounts
• Gourmet Society and tastecard dining cards (incl. 2 for 1, 50% off food bill and 25% off total bill)
• Kids Pass
• Employee Assistance Programme

Our Second Home is the UK’s youth movement of young people with refugee backgrounds. Since 2018, we have supported over 750 young people from 53 countries to build community, develop leadership skills, and flourish into adulthood in the place they now call home.

Our work begins with transformational residential experiences, where young people form friendships, grow in confidence, and experience belonging – often for the first time since arriving in the UK. From there, many go on to take part in our Leadership Training Programme and local Youth Hubs in London and Bristol, before returning as peer leaders themselves. This cycle of engagement, growth and leadership is at the heart of our theory of change.

We are now entering a pivotal phase of our development, delivering a new 2025–2028 strategy focused on sustainable growth, deeper impact, and long-term resilience. Fundraising is central to this ambition.

The role (Read the recruitment pack for more information)

We are recruiting a Fundraising Manager to act as the organisation’s operational lead for income generation. This is a part-time role (18–24 hours per week) with significant flexibility, ideal for someone who is organised, thoughtful, and motivated by building something meaningful.

The Fundraising Manager will manage and coordinate income across five strands: trusts and foundations, major donors, corporate foundations, individual and digital giving, and statutory funding. While the role has a strong trusts and foundations focus, it offers real scope to build skills and experience across a broad fundraising portfolio.

Working closely with the CEO, a highly experienced freelance Bid Writer, and the wider team, you will be responsible for developing funding pipelines, producing high-quality proposals and applications, stewarding funder relationships, and translating programme impact into compelling narratives. You will also play a key role in donor communications, reporting, CRM management, and supporting campaigns and events.

This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys balancing writing, relationship-building, planning and delivery – and who values doing fundraising with integrity and care.

About you

We are looking for someone with experience in fundraising (particularly trusts and foundations) or strong transferable skills such as persuasive writing, project management, or stakeholder engagement. You will be comfortable managing multiple deadlines, maintaining an organised pipeline, and working independently while staying closely connected to a small team.

You will bring strong written and verbal communication skills, attention to detail, and the ability to build warm, professional relationships with funders and supporters. Experience using a CRM system is important, as is an understanding of – or willingness to learn about – the UK voluntary sector funding landscape.

Above all, we are looking for someone who aligns with our values: putting young people at the centre, acting with rather than for, creating opportunities for leadership, and building a culture of freedom, respect and acceptance. We warmly welcome applications from people with lived experience of the asylum system.

This is a role for someone who wants their fundraising work to be closely connected to real people, real programmes, and real change – and who is excited to help shape the next chapter of a growing, values-led organisation.

The Philharmonia Orchestra is seeking a talented and driven Trusts and Foundations Co-ordinator to help the Development team deliver growing, sustainable fundraised income. Working closely with an experienced senior grant-writer, the Trusts and Foundations Co-ordinator will steward existing funders and develop funding applications for:

• Our programme of 150 concerts a year, including landmark multi-disciplinary concert series; 

• Our award-winning Learning & Engagement projects that engage over 15,000 people annually;

• Our talent development programme through which we help improve representation in the talent pipeline;

• Our sector-leading visionary digital and immersive technology programme including our multi-award winning and globally recognised Virtual Orchestra (VR) immersive experiences.

This role will suit someone ready to move on from an entry-level position within a Development team, keen to work in a fast-paced environment, and enthusiastic about taking on their own set of fundraising targets and application deliverables. It is an opportunity for an enthusiastic fundraiser to work within an experienced, inspiring team, to work closely with and learn from one of the most experienced trusts and foundations fundraisers in our sector, and to play a transformative role in a thriving orchestra that on the occasion of its 80th anniversary is already looking ahead to Philharmonia at 100.

Key Responsibilities and Tasks

The primary responsibilities of the Trusts and Foundations Co-ordinator are fundraising from and stewarding Trusts and Foundations, achieved by undertaking the following tasks:

1. Delivering the Trusts and Foundations fundraising strategy, with a particular focus on:

• Identification and cultivation:

• Producing lists of prospects to share with the Development Board, via the Director of Development.

• Identifying opportunities for cultivation at projects, events and concerts.

• Application development:

• Responsibility for developing small to mid-range Trust, Foundation and statutory applications up to £25,000 including copy development, application budget creation (using signed-off source budgets), and sign-offs from project manager and line manager.

• Maintaining a strong momentum of application submissions, aiming to fundraise a year ahead of project delivery where possible.

• Collaborating with Development colleagues to agree stewarding responsibilities, review prospects, report on Trust & Foundation income vs. targets and identify prospects whose giving objectives align with the Philharmonia’s work.

• Working closely with colleagues in the Learning & Engagement, Concerts and Marketing departments to build strong, collaborative working relationships in order to source project information to support the development of funding bids.

• Stewarding

• Ensuring timely report development and submission, to maximise re-application rates.

• Ownership of accurate and comprehensive Trust, Foundation and Statutory accreditation in all collateral and online.

• Proactive and consistent conduit between prospects and the Philharmonia, managing invitations to supported projects and ensuring consistent, warm and professional relationship management.

2 Ensuring efficient administration of Trusts and Foundations fundraising, including:

• Managing all Trusts and Foundations pledges and grants on our CRM Tessitura, and ensuring data capture and processing is in line with GDPR and other privacy laws.

• Population and updating of Trusts and Foundations submissions, stewarding and reporting tracker.

• Accurate records of all correspondence held in SharePoint.

Other tasks include

• Representing the Philharmonia externally when required. 

• Undertaking any other duties reasonably required by the Philharmonia.

Skills

Essential:

• A passion for the arts and belief in their ability to have a positive transformative effect on people’s lives.

• An enthusiasm for fundraising.

• A strong work ethic.

• Excellent writing skills with the ability to form a persuasive case.

• Experience in writing fundraising communications.

• Experience of working within a team in a collaborative and supportive manner.

• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills (verbal and written), with an ability to adapt style for different audiences and members of the orchestra’s circle of supporters and senior volunteers.

• Commitment to the mission, vision and values of the Philharmonia. 

• Understanding of fundraising and data protection regulation (including GDPR and the Fundraising Regulator).

• Credible experience using a CRM system to record and report on moves management.

• High-level of IT literacy, including the Microsoft 365 suite.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of the Philharmonia and its work.

• Proficiency in fundraising databases.