Funding Manager (CCC)

Our client is a leading independent funder.  They aim to improve the natural world, secure a fairer future and strengthen the bonds in communities in the UK.  They provide c.£50million annually in grants to organisations working towards their aims. They also have an allocation of £60 million for social investment and a £10m impact investment allocation, alongside their£1.3bn endowment.

The foundation’s strategy is underpinned by the need to tackle structural inequality, racism and the causes and impacts of climate change.  They believe that we need bold action and impact like never before, so as well as funding brilliant organisations, they we will work alongside partners and collaborators to remove barriers and secure progress, using their voice to quietly influence and effect change. 

Prospectus is delighted to be working with the foundation to recruit a Funding Manager for their Creative, Confident Communities (CCC) strategic aim, which focuses on communities connected by ‘place’. Through this programme, they are working towards places where communities can fulfil their creative, human, and economic potential.  

The role:
This role will work within the Creative, Confident Communities Team in making a significant contribution to the delivery of the foundation’s strategy, specifically focused on place-based and community-led change across the UK. The primary aim of this role is to bring grant-making expertise and knowledge to add capacity to the team moving forward.

This is a unique opportunity to work with and support a range of organisations, initiatives and projects that are seeking to create place-based change, working with communities across the UK to achieve this. The foundation has independence, resources and influence that enable them to move at pace and make a positive difference for people and communities in the UK. They have ambition and an appetite for risk, to try new things and work with new and unusual partnerships to deliver their aims. A key question that guides the foundation’s work and action is “what more can we do?” – the foundation is looking for someone to join them and contribute to answering that question.

This will include identifying and building a pipeline of relevant activities aimed at delivering on the aims and objectives of the programme. This is a very relational role with emphasis on building and brokering collaborations, attending webinars, forums and conferences to further harness sector learning relevant to the aims of CCC. 

The role is full-time and candidates looking to work 0.8 full-time will also be considered.  At present, the foundation has a hybrid approach to working and the candidate will work from the Kings Cross office two or three days per week – these will include Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Occasional UK travel will be required, which may include an overnight stay.

The person:
The successful candidate will have substantial grant-making experience and will ideally have gained this within a community driven Funder or Grant-maker in the UK. An environment where the core objectives of the CCC programme are very apparent and the knowledge and understanding is there to bring to the table.

A deep understanding of the challenges faced by communities and places across the UK is essential and having hands-on experience of tackling these issues will be very valuable to this role. Being thoughtful, analytical and inquisitive, the role requires advance problem solving and synthesising sometimes quite complex information and delivering to a wide range of audiences in digestible and concise communication.

Collaboration is key to success in this role and evidence of having worked in close knit and very busy team in connected areas of work will be important in addition to being able to work independently and to manage your own time will be important.   

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.  Learn more about the Foundation’s values and how they work. We want to encourage applicants with a diverse range of backgrounds to apply.  We're particularly keen to hear from those with those with lived experience of racial inequity, disability, or poverty.

First stage interview:
Thursday 23rd April (Virtual)
Second stage interview:
Tuesday 28th April (in person) (PM)

As a specialist Recruitment Practice, we are committed to building inclusive and diverse organisations, and welcome applications from all sections of the community. We invest in your journey as a candidate and are committed to supporting you in your application.