Grant Portfolio Manager

Do you believe education is key to transforming lives and communities?  Would you like to be part of reimagining education for millions of children?  This is your chance to work at the heart of our mission: supporting changemakers across India and South Africa to unlock life-changing learning for every child.   

The Maitri Trust is looking for an experienced Grant Portfolio Manager to join our Programmes team. We're seeking someone who believes in the power of strategic philanthropy to identify and scale impactful primary education solutions that have the potential to reach millions of children. 

Preferred start date: January 2026 
Hours: Full-time (35 hours a week), flexible working possible 
Location:  Hybrid, within the UK. This role will be home based, with regular travel required to our office in Edinburgh.   
Travel requirements: Up to 20% international travel 
Reporting to:  Head of Programmes 

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE:  

The Grant Portfolio Manager plays a central role in ensuring the Maitri Trust’s grantmaking delivers maximum impact. You will manage and support a diverse portfolio of strategically aligned partners, building close and flexible relationships to strengthen capacity, track progress, and respond to challenges as they arise. Alongside this, you will co-lead on the design, delivery, and onboarding of new partners through open calls helping to identify impactful and scalable initiatives. Working closely with colleagues across the team, you will help ensure that evidence from the portfolio drives learning, decision-making, and strategic alignment.  

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES  

Management of Existing Grants & Partnerships 

• Manage a portfolio of strategically aligned partnerships – supporting them through the Maitri Trust’s grant cycle, managing risk, and monitoring impact. 
• Provide high-level advisory support and capacity building to grantees, focusing on technical assistance and strengthening partner impact. 
• Maintain oversight of active grants, ensuring compliance with contractual, financial, and reporting requirements. 
• Review grantee reports (narrative and financial) and provide constructive feedback to strengthen accountability and performance. 
• Represent the Maitri Trust in relevant partnership discussions, forums, committees and external events. 

Open Calls & Onboarding of New Partnerships 

• Work closely with the Head of Programmes, Grant Operations Manager and Impact & Engagement team to design and deliver open calls for funding. 
• Support the review of applications and prepare recommendations for decision-making. 
• Onboard new cohorts of partners, ensuring alignment with our strategy. 
• Manage ongoing partner relationships to support long-term impact.  

Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning 

• Build open and trusting relationships with partners to understand impact, successes and challenges, and share learning and adaptations. 
• Work closely with the Head of Impact & Engagement to contribute to portfolio-wide impact analysis and strategic learning reports. 
• Conduct regular in-person site visits to partners. 
• Support the development and use of partner-friendly monitoring evaluation and learning (MEL) tools and frameworks, ensuring data is meaningful, consistent, and used to drive improvement. 

Collaboration & Support 

• Collaborate closely with the Head of Programmes and Grants Operations Manager to ensure smooth operations of all grant management work. 
• Participate in partner learning and collaboration activities and workshops with the Head of Impact & Engagement and Communications & Engagement Manager. 
• Work closely with Impact and Engagement team to develop content for internal and external communications. 
• Liaise with external technical experts and sector networks to support promotion of the Maitri Trust’s work and partner capacity development. 
• At peak times (particularly during calls for proposals) provide backstop support to the Grants Operations Manager as necessary. 

YOUR SKILLS, EXPERIENCE AND PROFILE 

Essential 

• 7+ years of proven experience in grant management within an international development or philanthropic context. 
• Significant experience in providing technical assistance, capacity building, or advisory support to organisations. 
• Postgraduate degree in a relevant subject, or an undergraduate degree plus specific experience in international development or philanthropic contexts. 
• Excellent analytical and strategic thinking capabilities, with experience in impact assessment and portfolio analysis. 
• Strong relationship building skills with the ability to work effectively with diverse stakeholders across different cultural contexts. 
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience in preparing reports and recommendations.
• Experience in open call funding processes, grant application review processes, and due diligence.  
• Knowledge of monitoring, evaluation, and learning frameworks.  
• Ability to travel internationally and work across different time zones.  

Desirable 

• Experience working with educational initiatives in South Africa, India, or similar contexts. 
• Understanding of grant management systems (the Maitri Trust works with Fluxx). 
•  Understanding of government priorities in the education sector.
• Experience working in small or medium-sized NGOs, foundations, or trusts. 
• Familiarity with participatory approaches to partnership development. 

HOW TO APPLY

Please send a covering letter and CV via the link to our website below. Please use the job title in the subject line. Interviews will take place in the week commencing 8th December 2025.

The Maitri Trust reserves the right to conduct early interviews for the right candidates.

AI use: Please note, at The Maitri Trust we value authenticity and individuality in the hiring process. While we accept that the thoughtful use of AI tools can add value, we ask that applications reflect your own ideas and personal experiences. This helps us better understand your unique skills, perspectives and passion for our mission.