Funding officer jobs

Groundwork South is seeking a motivated and experienced Senior Project Officer to lead on the delivery of our Climate Action Fund project over the next five years.

Senior Project Officer (Climate Action Fund Training and Development Lead)
Reference: CAF0626
Contract: Fixed term until June 2031
Hours: Full-Time, 37.5 hours each week
Salary: £28,000 - £32,000 per annum
Location: Home-based (with travel across England) – There is a focus on South West England during the pilot phase

About Us

Groundwork South works with communities across the south of England to transform their lives and the places where they live. We have been at the forefront of social and environmental regeneration for over 25 years, and today we have a simple mission: to create better places, improve people’s prospects, and promote greener living and working.

We are passionate about creating a future where every neighbourhood is vibrant and green, every community is strong and able to shape its own destiny, and no-one is held back by their background or circumstances. This vision drives the work that we do. Each year we deliver over 100 innovative projects, tackling the biggest issues facing our communities and creating real and lasting, positive change.

About the Project

Communities Prepared works with volunteers and communities across England to help them build the skills, confidence and knowledge needed to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies. This includes supporting communities to plan for climate-related risks such as flooding, storms, heatwaves, and severe weather.

Despite the successes we have had through our programme to date, we are not currently reaching diverse enough audiences and too often there are people missing from the resilience sector. This needs to change. To address this we are now embarking on an exciting new UK-wide partnership programme funded through the National Lottery Community Fund’s Climate Action Fund over the next five years.

The programme responds to growing evidence that climate-related emergencies, including extreme heat, flooding, fire, cold and severe weather, disproportionately impact marginalised communities, while those same communities are often excluded from resilience planning and decision-making.

The programme brings together Equally Ours, Communities Prepared (part of Groundwork South), and the VCS Emergencies Partnership (VCSEP, part of the British Red Cross) to strengthen climate resilience by ensuring that communities experiencing discrimination and disadvantage are at the heart of climate preparedness, response, recovery and policy-making.

Through a rights-based and co-produced approach, the programme seeks to shift climate resilience policy and practice away from models that frame communities as “vulnerable”, and towards approaches grounded in agency, participation, equality and shared responsibility.

Key Responsibilities

As Senior Project Officer, you will:

• Work with the project team to map stakeholders and co-develop a structured engagement plan to recruit and work with marginalised communities.
• Build a collaborative and trusting relationship with the partner organisations and other stakeholders for this project, ensuring this work meets their expectations and complements areas of the work programme led by others.
• Work with project participants and partners to co-design Communities Prepared material and delivery methods that are more accessible and relevant to diverse audiences.
• Lead on the delivery of resilience training and workshop sessions with diverse audiences, both in-person and online.
• Work with project participants and partners to co-design a train the trainer model that will enable diverse audiences to deliver resilience training within their own communities, amplifying reach and impact.
• Work with the core Communities Prepared team to adapt our offer with the long-term goal of the Programme reaching more diverse audiences, especially those seldom heard in this sector.

The role involves regular travel across the UK, with a focus on South West England during the project’s pilot phase.

We are looking for someone with:

• Experience in community engagement or community development.
• Experience delivering training or workshops.
• Strong organisational and project management skills.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, confident to engage people from a range of different backgrounds.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders or partners.
• Confidence working independently in a remote role.
• An interest in climate change, community resilience and wider community development.
• A willingness to travel across the country.

Closing date for applications: 11.59pm, 30th June 2026
Interview date: 15th July over MS Teams
Interview panel: Representatives from Groundwork South, Equally Ours and VCSEP (tbc)

Interested?

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.

Groundwork South is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all members of the community.

No agencies please.

Shape the future of heart and lung care by helping the team to manage funding that transforms patient lives through world-class research and treatment.
 
About Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospital Charity
 
Here at the Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospital Charity we fund, facilitate and champion world-class specialists to transform the lives of heart and lung patients. We provide clinicians, academics and researchers across London and beyond with the funding and resources they need to understand more, prevent more and treat more.

Our funding comes from the fundraising efforts of thousands of supporters as well as income generated by our investments in property and equity markets. We currently grant around £6 million each year – but we want to do more.
 
What you'll be doing
 
We are seeking a highly organised and proactive Programmes & Funding Officer to play a central role in providing administrative and operational support for the Charity's Special Purpose Funds (SPFs). This position is vital to ensure that all activity is recorded accurately, that systems run smoothly and stakeholders receive an exceptional level of support.
 
You will contribute to the development and delivery of a bespoke fundholder service, enabling fundholders to maximise the impact of their SPFs in advancing care for heart and lung patients.
 
What we're looking for

• Experienced administrator with a strong understanding of office systems and processes
• Excellent coordination and organisational skills
• Clear and confident communicator
• Experience establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with diverse stakeholders
• Comfortable juggling competing priorities with a practical, solutions-focused approach
• Proactive, hands-on approach and willingness to step in wherever needed

 
What we offer
 
Hours: 35 per week (full time)
Salary: £27,744 per annum
Hybrid working (minimum 2 days per week in the office – 1 The Courtyard, 151 Sydney Street, London SW2 6NT, with occasional working at our hubs in the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals)
 
Our benefits package includes: 27 days annual leave public holidays (pro rata); 6% contribution into pension scheme; life assurance cover; cash health pots; family leave policies that provide an enhanced level of pay; investment in your development; support for your physical and mental wellbeing including an employee assistance provider and access to GP, counselling and more.
 
How to apply
 
Please send a CV and cover letter (no more than 2 sides of A4) that details how you meet the requirements of the job description by 5pm on Monday 15th June 2026.
 
Please note that as a charity dedicated to improving the lives of heart and lung patients, we require our staff to make a declaration about any relevant convictions and undergo a Disclosure and Barring service check, including an ID check.
 
If a sufficient number of high quality applications are received, we may close the opportunity earlier than the 15th June. To ensure your application is considered, we strongly recommend submitting it as soon as possible.
Candidates will be notified of the next stage in the recruitment process if they are shortlisted.
 
Ready to make every pound count in the fight against heart and lung disease? Apply now and help us transform patient care through exceptional funding management.

REF-228 820

We are recruiting two permanent Funding Officers in the South West: one full-time and one 0.9FTE (33.5 hours per week). Funding Officers in these roles will primarily be part of a South West regional team delivering our Reaching Communities programme, with opportunities to be involved with other programmes and aspects of the Fund’s wider operations as they arise. As a Funding Officer for the National Lottery Community Fund you will be integral to supporting the organisation to deliver our strategy It Starts With Community.  

These roles will contribute to ensuring that vital funding reaches communities and projects who need it most in our region. As a Funding Officer you will work as part of our South West regional team, working day-to-day alongside fellow Funding Officers, supported by a Funding Manager.

Across the two posts we are looking for people who will provide support across the region, with a focus on developing relationships and being a key point of contact for either Exeter & East Devon or Swindon & Wiltshire.

Ideally (but not essentially) you will live in or near one of these areas and have good knowledge of the respective local area.

The Funding Officer role is classed as mobile working which means you will be expected to work from home primarily and visit various locations across the region, as needed. The ability to drive and have access to a vehicle is therefore beneficial, although not essential.

Responsibilities & Expectations of the Role

• You will assess applications for funding and manage grants using local knowledge, best practice and thematic expertise and you will harness 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.
   
• Being responsible for a 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.
   
• You will ensure that both grant management and application 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, support organisations to meet their grant requirements and measure their impact.
   
• You will be an active and integral member of the South West regional team, as well as the wider hub and Fund. You will contribute your skills, knowledge and expertise to a range of work and programmes as need arises. Within an organisation and sector experiencing on-going change, an agile & flexible approach to the role will be essential for success.
   
• You will represent the Fund, including at funding fairs and external meetings, creating opportunities for people to come together. You will share learning from your role with other colleagues so that we can maximise our impact.
   
• You will need to work within the Fund’s policies and procedures and relevant legislation, and in a way that is in line with our vision and values.

We have a hybrid approach to working. Work pattern and location will be agreed with the successful candidate. The SW regional office is in Exeter.

Interview details: 

• Date: 29th & 30th June 2026

• Format: Face-to-face

• Location: SW Regional Office, Exeter

We will be hosting a briefing session on Monday 1st June, 12pm. To register for the session or for any questions about the recruitment process, please email the recruitment team.

If you would like an informal conversation about the Funding Officer role, please contact the recruitment team.

How to Apply:

Upload your CV in word format and write a supporting statement (max 1,000 words) to align with the criteria below. We will use this to score your application. 

Essential criteria  

• Communication skills: Strong listening, written and verbal communication with an emphasis on written communication for assessment purposes. 
   
• Analytical skills: Ability to assess a high volume of applications, make good judgements, challenge when appropriate and manage risk. 
   
• Relational skills: Ability to build, develop and promote effective relationships with colleagues, community organisations and other external agencies with a strong commitment to equity and inclusion.
   
• Organisational skills: An ability to use your initiative and manage your own workload and time, meet deadlines with minimal supervision.
   
• Lived experience or working knowledge of the needs and priorities of communities in and across the SW, especially under-represented groups plus an understanding of the local voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.
   
• Values driven and passionate about the Fund’s purpose.

Desirable criteria  

• Demonstrable sound IT skills, in particular Microsoft Office products and the ability to learn detailed processes quickly and accurately. 
   
• Understanding of financial planning and business plans, ability to analyse accounts and numerical data.

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.)