Funding Manager (ONW)

Our client is a leading independent funder. 

They aim to improve our natural world, secure a fairer future and strengthen the bonds in communities in the UK. 

The foundation provides c. £50million annually in grants to organisations and initiatives with brilliant ideas who share their goals. They also provide social and impact investment for organisations with the aim of creating social and environmental impact.

Their strategy focuses on three interdependent aims: improving Our Natural World; tackling injustice to deliver A Fairer Future; and nurturing Creative, Confident Communities. They also want to play a more active role by using a range of tools to effect change. In addition to funding, this includes convening and brokering alliances, commissioning research, and using its influence to achieve its goals.

Prospectus is delighted to be working with the foundation to recruit a Funding Manager on a full-time (or 0.8) basis. This role will be part of the Our Natural World (ONW) programme and will primarily be focused on the foundation’s priorities: fishing in tandem with nature and space for nature (marine). This role is a maternity contract for up to 12 months. The foundation is open to potential secondments from thematically connected organisations.

A hybrid working model is in place which entails working at least 2 days per week in their office in Kings Cross (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and the remainder flexibly working from home if you wish.

The role:
This role is a key member of a friendly team of six people that hold over 250 relationships across the UK, through grants, investments and other support. The foundation works with a number of organisations across the UK, from national charities such as the Wildlife Trust, Blue Marine foundation and Oceana, to community-led organisations such as COAST and fisher led organisations such as the Scottish Creel Fishermen's Federation and the Plymouth Fishing and Seafood organisation.

The team works towards three impact goals: sustainable and ethical food, clean and healthy freshwater, and preserved and improved species health and habitats. They have five funding priorities under the current strategy: nature friendly farming, fishing in tandem with nature, freshwater, peat and space for nature. The successful candidate will be responsible for leading and managing its marine programme. This supports organisations and initiatives across key areas such as a just transition for fisheries, small-scale fisheries, achieving 30% ocean protection by 2030, seascapes, coastal communities, and building a more equitable and inclusive marine sector. In the coming year, a key priority will be to advance their seascapes work, following the recent publication of the foundation’s reflections and plans in this area.

This person will nurture relationships and ensure continuity as well as assessing new applications. Primary responsibilities of this role will be to make significant contributions to the delivery of the foundation’s strategy, identifying and building a pipeline of activities that will contribute to the delivery of the five-year roadmaps and impact goals, assessing proposals and managing a broad portfolio of activities and relationships across the sector. This role will also support social investment opportunities and will gather learning from related work inform future decision making towards achieving impact goals.

The culture at the foundation is collaborative and nurturing, so working closely with colleagues to share ideas and learn from each other will be essential in this role.

The person:
The successful candidate will have substantial experience of having worked as a practitioner in the marine environment & fisheries sector, perhaps for a charity which is embedded in this area or for a business related to the sector which has aligned aims to the impact goals of the ONW programmes. Creative, imaginative and intellectually curious, this person will understand the work undertaken by charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises in the sector but also with local authorities, businesses and the investment world connected to the same ecosystem.

This person will be able to interpret and resolve complex and sometimes conflicting information and business plans in order to assess the viability and value of grant applications and the importance of the work of organisation in matching and promoting the aims and objectives of the ONW programme. An outstanding communicator both verbally and in writing, this person will represent the foundation positively and knowledgeably to a wide range of audiences whilst convening and consulting with sector professionals at events and forums to enhance the intelligence gathering and thought leadership within the sector.

IT confident and systematic in their approach, they will also be a confident and empathetic person in addition to being an excellent communicator, both verbally and in written work. Excellent attention to detail and thorough and collaborative in their approach to work, this person will be a real team player whilst being able to work under their own steam, in a fast-paced environment. A broad understanding and experience of systems change principles and an appreciation of the nuanced intersections between the various priorities of the ONW programme will be important to success in this role.

This role represents a fantastic opportunity for someone with the right skills and experience to really effect positive change and to make a real mark in one of the leading funders in the UK.

The foundation believes that a greater diversity of views, skills, and lived experience will help generate better ideas, and will lead to better decision making. We want to encourage applicants with a diverse range of backgrounds to apply. In particular, those with lived experience of racial inequity, disability, or poverty.