Grant manager jobs in leicester

About Dreams Come True

We deliver moments of magic with lasting impact to children living in poverty who have a serious illness, disability, or life-limiting condition. We are the only wish granting charity focused solely on children living in social deprivation in the UK.

About the Role

Dreams Come True is seeking an ambitious, strategic and highly skilled Head of Fundraising to lead and expand its income generation and manage and drive a high performing team. This senior role prioritises the development and delivery of an ambitious major donor and individual giving strategy - cultivating, stewarding, and upgrading supporters, including high-net-worth individuals and regular donors. Reporting directly to the CEO and working closely with the Senior Leadership Team, you will diversify income streams, maximise philanthropic support, and ensure the charity's long-term sustainability whilst leading, managing, motivating and inspiring the team.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a growth-oriented fundraising strategy, with a strong focus on major donor fundraising and individual giving (regular giving, donor journeys, legacy giving).
• Build a robust pipeline of major donors, personally managing relationships with high-value supporters, cultivating new prospects, and maximising lifetime value through tailored stewardship.
• Oversee the design and execution of engaging campaigns and supporter journeys for individual and legacy donors.
• Direct and support building other fundraising streams (trusts & foundations, events, digital, community), setting ambitious yet achievable income targets.
• Monitor, analyse, and report on fundraising performance, using data-driven insights to identify opportunities and refine approaches.
• Inspire, manage, and develop the fundraising team, fostering a culture of collaboration, high performance, and innovation.
• Ensure policy, governance and compliance with all relevant fundraising legislation and sector regulation.
• Represent the charity in external meetings, building networks and leveraging senior volunteers and Trustees to extend philanthropic reach.
• Translate complex beneficiary needs into compelling cases for support, proposals, and stewardship reports that resonate with donors and partners.

Person Specification

Essential:

• Demonstrated success in major donor fundraising, including personally securing substantial gifts (five and six figures); proven ability to build from scratch, cultivate and maintain relationships with high-net-worth individuals.
• Proven expertise in individual giving, including donor journeys, donor retention and engagement, and developing bespoke campaigns.
• Strong leadership skills, with a track record of building, motivating, and developing high-performing fundraising teams.
• Up-to-date understanding of the fundraising compliance environment (Fundraising Regulator's Code, GDPR, PECR).
• Outstanding communication, negotiation, and presentation skills, both written and verbal.
• Analytical mindset and the ability to use data to inform strategy, track performance, and drive growth.
• Creative approach to stewardship, recognising, thanking, and meaningfully involving supporters at all levels.
• Passion, resilience, and integrity aligned with the charity’s mission.
• A recognised fundraising qualification (e.g. Certificate/Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Fundraising or equivalent).
• Inspiring and experienced team leader.

Desirable:

• Experience with innovative donor engagement, digital tools, and CRM/database systems.
• Background in a similar scale or mission-driven UK charity.

How to Apply

Apply by submitting a CV and covering letter via CharityJob.

About Planet Patrol

Our vision is a world where all beings can enjoy our waterways, free from pollution. We are a global community dedicated to placing people-powered environmental data at the heart of decision-making. Through our unique anywhere, anytime, anybody approach to citizen science, we gather critical evidence of water and litter pollution to drive solutions that protect both environmental and human health. Our data and citizen science methods have been featured in academic journals (Stanton, et al., 2022) and media investigations (Channel 4 and ITV), enhancing public and scientific knowledge of litter pollution.

About the role

As Director, you will oversee daily operations, including forecasting and budgeting for the entire organisation (currently c£300K per annum). As such, you will lead on developing a sustainable funding stream for our mission-driven work, ensuring we maintain a 6-month runway at all times. You will build and maintain strong external relationships to help grow and develop the organisation. The Director will provide leadership to a small, remote team (4 x PAYE) and create a happy, sustainable and productive work environment. Most importantly, the Director will ensure objectives are being met - both personal and organisational - to deliver impactful, positive change for our waterways in the UK, and abroad. 

About you

The successful candidate will be a strong leader who excels at strategic thinking, with the natural ability to analyse situations and relationships to maximise impact and return on investment. They will have experience in line management, fundraising and financial management. We are seeking candidates who have experience in senior management in a non-profit setting, ideally within the environmental sector but not essential. Critically, you must thrive in a start-up environment and have a can-do attitude to problem solving. You’ll be one of only a handful of employees and a team of excellent freelancers, so being a team player is a must! This is a great opportunity to really shape the organisation and our impact, so if you like having agency and being innovative, Planet Patrol would be a great fit.

Your top qualities as a leader

• Ambitious
• Collaborative
• Agile
• Resilient
• Resourceful

Key Responsibilities

Funding Development + Stakeholder Relationships (40%): 

• Significant responsibility for successful contractual negotiations and maintaining a healthy new funding pipeline. Secure six-to-seven figure funding opportunities to provide a sustainable revenue stream for 3+ years. 
• Strategic understanding and experience of competitive and fast changing charitable financial landscape. 
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with funders and other voluntary sector organisations.
• Ensure we are suitably represented at appropriate meetings, events, conferences, management groups etc. and that issues that impact our work are raised appropriately. 

Operational Leadership including Compliance + Budgetary Control (30%): 

• Effective leadership driving business operations and strategic targets. Inspire teams to deliver high-quality programmes and foster a culture of creativity and innovation. 
• Draw up and monitor budgets, with support from the Founder and Team Leaders, and ensure effective management and use of all resources. Ensure maximum operational efficiency and maintain a six-month runway at all times.
• Work collaboratively with the Founder and Team Leaders to build annual Business Plans and long term strategies for the organisation.
• Ensure compliance across product / project delivery, finance, human resources, IT, legal, health and safety, customer services and facilities management. Ensure that all data is collated and managed in line with data protection requirements.
• Maintain and develop effective human resource systems for the recruitment, management, support, training, and appraisal of staff and volunteers. Ensure systems are in place to monitor and evaluate the work. 

Team + Performance Management (30%): 

• Build high-performing, committed teams. This includes line managing, coaching, and supporting team members to create a positive, productive work environment. 
• Oversee the team to deliver comprehensive planning and reporting.
• Set benchmarks, monitor performance, and develop a culture of continuous improvement. 
• Proactively manage the performance of Team Leaders by carrying out inductions, regular accountability meetings, supervisions, and probation reviews, while also setting clear work and development objectives.

Person Specification 

The role is for up to 30 hours a week over 4 days - for the right person we would consider fewer hours. If you think you could do the role but do not meet all of the specification points below, we would still like to hear from you. 

Essential Experience and Ability

• Senior management experience working within a small charity or Community Interest Company (CIC).
• Track record of driving operational excellence, including organisational finances and resources.
• Experience of line management, team development and performance management.
• Experience of securing sustainable and diverse revenue streams; including  multi-year, strategic deals worth six-and-seven figures. 
• Proactive approach to risk management and maintaining compliance.
• Experience in a strategic role, including developing organisational strategy and/or developing and overseeing monitoring and evaluation frameworks.
• Experience of working with a range of stakeholders and managing stakeholder relationships.
• Ability to effectively prioritise, manage and oversee programmes of work across the organisation and lead through change. 
• Ability to work under own initiative, delegate where appropriate, prioritise work and meet strict deadlines. 
• Good general IT skills and appreciation of new platforms that can increase efficiency and effectiveness (Slack, Trello, Canva, Dext, Xero, HubSpot, SenseHR).
• Broad understanding of GDPR and other essential legislation and organisational policies, including use of AI.
• Passionate about the environment and the importance of citizen science.
• A commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion.
• Legal right to work in the UK without visa sponsorship.

What we offer

Planet Patrol values collaboration, innovation, and agility. That’s why we’re proud to be a 4-day week employer. We offer a flexible, remote working environment, paired with regular opportunities to connect as a team. We’re a vibrant, mission-driven non-profit that supports professional growth, alongside wellbeing. We offer a generous annual leave package, your birthdays off and encourage you to get out into nature whenever possible.

Application details

If you believe in the work we’re doing and think you could add something to it then we would love to hear from you.

Please submit your CV, LinkedIn profile and answers to the four questions listed on the application page. We are unable to process applications which are not complete.

Applications close midnight Sunday 23 November. 

First stage interviews will be held virtually on Wednesday 26 November.

Second stage interviews will be held in person on Wednesday 3 December.

Regional Net Zero Carbon Fundraising Officer

Salary £35,000 - £38,000 FTE

35 hours per week

Three-year fixed term contract

Are you an experienced fundraiser with a proven track record of stakeholder engagement and experience of coordinating and developing large-scale funding proposals? Do you have a passion for the environment and reducing carbon emissions? If so, read on.

The Church of England’s Net Zero Carbon (NZC) programme has been established to help the Church deliver its commitment to reaching its NZC goals. It aims to equip, resource and support all parts of the Church to reduce carbon emissions from the energy used in its buildings, schools and through work-related transport.

All parts of the Church will need to raise funds to implement this Net Zero plan. To this end, the Dioceses of Chelmsford, Ely, Norwich, St Albans and St Edmundsbury and Ipswich are collaborating on the shared ambition to achieve NZC across our diocesan estates and are looking to appoint a Fundraising Officer to work across the region to identify funding opportunities and secure funding towards delivering net carbon zero projects.

This is a new role and, as such, offers an excellent opportunity for the successful candidate to make their mark. You will develop and maintain relationships with a range of potential funders and internal and external stakeholders across the region. You’ll need drive, initiative, resilience and the ability to shape an approach to NZC fundraising across the region. Above all, you’ll need to be an excellent communicator and relationship builder with a proven ability to adapt your approach as appropriate, be this creating links with the national NZC Team, influencing and securing funding from grant-making bodies, or delivering training and advice on securing funding locally. Given the scope and nature of the role you’ll also need to be highly organised, flexible and sympathetic to the ethos of the Church of England.

We recognise that this is a specialised role, and training and support will be available for the post-holder both locally and from the national Church of England NZ Fundraising team.

A full driving licence and access to a vehicle are also required. The role will be home-based and can be anywhere within the region, with regular travel across the region required. The role will be employed by the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich so line management meetings will be in Ipswich.

The five dioceses are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All post holders and volunteers are expected to share this commitment.   
   

All appointments are subject to acceptable pre-appointment checks, including a satisfactory DBS check where required.   

Closing Date for Applications: Tuesday, 18th November 2025 

Interviews: Wednesday, 3rd December 2025 

About us

Literacy Pirates’ vision is for every child to have the literacy skills, confidence and perseverance to succeed at school and beyond. We provide free, after-school literacy support to children who are falling behind in class and who have fewer opportunities for additional support due to their personal circumstances than others. Founded in East London, Literacy Pirates’ programme now runs online and serves children anywhere in the United Kingdom.
 
Literacy Pirates is on an exciting journey of growth, rolling out our innovative learning programme to reach more children than ever before. An ambitious, fast-growing charity we have set ourselves a goal of reaching 3,000 children a year nationally, by 2030 compared with 650 this year.

What we're looking for

We are looking for a talented Bookkeeper to maintain our financial records and handle financial operations in the charity.

Core duties include processing all routing transactions encompassing supplier invoices, sales invoices, bank transactions, petty cash, credit cards and treasury management. You will also make payments, prepare our in-house payroll and submit pension returns. 

You will work closely with our Finance Director to support the month end close while complying with and upholding the Charity’s policies and procedures. 

 Our ideal candidate will have experience in a similar role, ideally have worked for a charity and be familiar with Xero. You will also have at least one of the following: 

• A relevant qualification such as an accountancy or business degree
• Part or fully qualified with an accountancy body, such as the AAT
• Demonstrative qualification by experience.

Required skills 

• Proven bookkeeping experience in a similar enviroment 
• Solid understanding of financial operations in a SME environment 
• Proven ability to calculate, post and manage accounting figures and financial records 
• Accurate data entry skills along with an eye for numbers 
• Proficiency in English and in MS Office 
• Qualified to degree level, or partly or fully qualified with an accountancy body, or demonstrable QBE 

Person specification 

• Highly organised 
• Dedicated to providing excellent service and building positive working relations 
• Able to balance speed of work with a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail 
• Strong verbal and written communication skills 
• Able to work independently at times and use initiative 

Responsibilities

Process all financial transactions in our finance IMS (Xero) accurately and promptly encompassing: 

• Accounts payable 
• Employee and volunteer expense claims 
• Sales invoices, grants, donations and other income 
• Bank transactions 
• Petty cash 
• Credit cards
• Download bank records into the IMS and reconcile all bank accounts 
• Monitor savings and move funds between accounts ensuring that we comply with our investment policy 
• Operate credit control on the sales ledger and issue payment receipts to customers and donors 
• Make payments to creditors and settle expense claims 
• Prepare payroll to draft status, pay staff and HMRC, report pension contributions 
• Electronically store all required records in line with statutory requirements 
• Update contacts and restricted fund profiles in the finance IMS 
• Make Gift Aid claims 
• Operate within the Charity’s financial procedures and prevailing accounting standards 

Support the Finance Director with any of the following: 

• Operating restricted funds 
• Balance sheet reconciliations 
• Financial reporting (internal/external) 
• Budgeting and forecasting 
• Statutory reporting 
• Supporting the annual audit process 
• Any other reasonably requested duty

We seek a Finance Officer to join our small team. You will report to the Head of Finance to provide bookkeeping and accounting support for Global Dialogue and Global Dialogue Ventures Limited. You will use Xero and be responsible for many aspects of operational finance including maintaining accurate records in the organisation’s purchase and sales ledgers; processing accounts payable and receivable; bank and other reconciliations; supporting month, quarter and year-end closes; and resolving ad hoc queries. 

This role is part-time. We are open to negotiating a working pattern that works for the successful candidate and for Global Dialogue. 

Terms Permanent, 21-28 hours per week, subject to 12-week probationary period

Location Home-based. Must have right to work in UK.

Reporting Reports to the Head of Finance 

Remuneration This role has been benchmarked at a UK salary of £33,000 (pro rata for a part time position). Global Dialogue offers a range of benefits including 25 days’ annual leave plus public holidays (pro rata), a flexible working policy, and personal development leave. We contribute 6% to our employee’s workplace pension (on qualifying earnings).

More about Global Dialogue 

We currently host seven large networks and collaborations.  Internationally, these including Ariadne, the network of European funders for social change and human rights; the Funders Initiative for Civil Society (FICS) including narrative initiative The Hive; Hamrah, an initiative to strengthen the resilience and increase the impact of a cohort of Afghan civil society organisations in exile; and the International Education Funders Group (IEFG). 

We have five organizational commitments – when you work with Global Dialogue, you will find us to be Purposeful, Accountable, Respectful, Practical, and Equitable. These are not abstract values but active principles that guide how we work together, make decisions, and support the people, programmes, and movements we serve.

Job Description

Maintaining purchase ledger: 

• Review staff and consultant expense claims 

• Reconcile monthly credit card and Soldo statements

• Help prepare for bi-monthly pay runs by reviewing bill postings, ensuring they have received appropriate approvals 

• Setting up payments in bank accounts

• Manage the posting and reconciliation of Employee of Record invoices

 Maintaining sales ledger: 

• Post grant income to Salesforce and Xero, following up any missing paperwork and queries

• Manage monthly programme income and reporting reminders 

• Maintain Salesforce to ensure accuracy of data

 Bank: 

• Bank reconciliation for organisation’s GBP, EUR, USD bank accounts, for review by Head of Finance

• Paypal processing and reconciliations

• Support Head of Finance with FX transaction adjustments

 Reconciliations and journals: 

• Support Head of Finance with a variety of monthly and quarterly reconciliations, prepayments and accruals

• Help maintain the fixed asset register and support with monthly depreciation journals

• Help to prepare a variety of other monthly journals 

Finance systems, policy and training development: 

• Work with Head of Finance to keep finance policies and other documentation up to date

• Help draft new policies and guidance notes as required

• Provide Xero training for all new-starters and work with Head of Finance to keep training needs under review

• Act as a sounding board to programmes on finance queries and manage the Finance Team inbox

• Manage staff Soldo requests

Person Specification 

• A recognised accountancy qualification and/or qualified by experience in accounting 

• Able to demonstrate strong experience of Xero accounting software

• Good MS Office skills, especially Excel

• Track record of working to deadlines without close supervision and can ‘hit the ground running’

• Detail orientated

• Strong analytical and numerical skills, including the ability to sense check your own work

• Solid understanding of processes and a commitment to continual process improvement

• Good written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain finance to non-financial staff

• Able to manage a varied workload and to work flexibly in a small team

• Good interpersonal skills, supportive of other colleagues and with the ability to build effective working relationships

• Understands the importance of confidentiality

Desirable: 

• Commitment to personal progression development in the field of finance 

• Advanced Excel skills 

• Experience of training staff in the use of finance procedures and systems 

• Experience of voluntary sector or charity accounting is not essential but would be advantageous 

• Interest in human rights and social change 

Statement of Equal Opportunities   

We value, welcome and respect all the differences that make us who we are and recognise that the intersections of our identities enrich our community. This includes age, cultural background, disability and mental health, ethnicity and race, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and social background. We also recognise that the interconnected nature of these social categorisations can lead to overlapping systems of discrimination. We have a robust Equality and Diversity Policy that is periodically reviewed, ensuring that candidates and employees are treated fairly.   

When talking to our team candidates can expect:    

• To be asked questions that are relevant to the role    

• All recruitment materials to be written in such a way that avoids direct and indirect discrimination, for example, without the use of gendered language   

• To be given a chance to ask questions ahead of the interview  

• To be given a clear understanding of what to expect in the interview  

• To be compensated if asked to undertake an exercise that requires significant input

• To be treated with kindness and respect in every stage of the recruitment process    

• Never to be asked irrelevant questions related to a protected characteristic   

• That reasonable adjustments will be offered and implemented at every stage of recruitment 

• Any concern or complaint raised to be taken seriously, investigated fully and managed in such a way that it would not negatively impact any recruitment decision.  

How to apply   

We use an online platform to manage our applications. Please follow the link to submit a CV and cover letter (not more than 2 pages) in English, detailing why you are interested in this role and how you meet the criteria set out in the person specification.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an initial online interview during the week commencing 24th November 2025.  

Thank you for your interest in working with Global Dialogue. We look forward to hearing from you.