450 Funding jobs

About Us

The National Lottery Community Fund is the largest funder of community activity in the UK - we’re proud to award money raised by players of The National Lottery  to communities across the UK.

At the heart of everything we do is the belief that when people are in the lead, communities thrive. National Lottery funding is open to everyone and we’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of grassroots groups right up to large UK-wide charities and community groups. 

We support a wide range of projects with grants ranging from as little as £500 to multi-million-pound programmes.

Last year alone we gave out over half a billion pounds (£588.2 million) of National Lottery funding to over 14,000 community projects across the UK, enabling even more people and communities to bring their ideas and ambitions to life. Over eight in ten (83%) of our grants were for less than £10k, going to grassroots groups and charities.

We are here to support people and communities through bad times as well as good – and that has never been so important as this year. Thanks to National Lottery players, we’ve been able to respond quickly and positively to communities working hard to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. Their efforts have been humbling and inspiring and we’re delighted to have been able to help by distributing over £400 million pounds in National Lottery funding alone across the UK since the first lockdown began in March 2020.

About the Role

The North West Regional Team are looking to recruit a Funding Officer to join us in assessing requests for funding and managing grants for a 6 month period. 

You will bring local knowledge, best practice, thematic expertise, and the experience of customers and stakeholders to improve our grant making and inform our decision making. By working closely with people and communities in the North West, you will understand what matters to them and where our funding can make the biggest difference.

With strong communication skills you will support local communities sharing your strong understanding of our vision, our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and our funding products.

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.

Our Funding Officers ensure our grant management and 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, supporting organisations to deliver their projects and measure their impact.

You’ll also need to work within the Fund’s policies and procedures and the necessary legislation, and in a way that is in line with our vision and principles.

You will represent the Fund within your local area including at funding fairs and external meetings and create opportunities for people to come together. You will share learning from your conversations, events, grant holder reports and evaluations with other colleagues so that we can maximise our impact.

You’ll be part of a team, led by a Funding Manager, and comprised of several other Funding Officers.

Contract Type: 6 Month Fixed Term Contract

Hours: 37 Hours per week, flexible working considered

Interview Date: Monday 9August 2021

Essential Criteria

We are looking for talented people from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures and experiences who share our values and are passionate about making a difference through our funding. Whether through lived or gained experience you will really understand the communities we work with.

You will have:

• An ability to adapt quickly, decisively and with full commitment to new processes and systems as a self-starter and quick learner
• Analytical skills: Ability to assess a high volume of applications, make good judgements, challenge when appropriate and manage risk.  An understanding of financial planning and business plans, ability to analyse accounts and numerical data and to identify and manage risk.
• Communication skills: Strong listening, written and verbal communication with an emphasis on written communication for assessment purposes.
• Relational skills: Ability to nurture, develop and promote effective relationships and communication with colleagues, community organisations and other external agencies with a strong commitment to equity and inclusion

Ideally you will live within the geographical area of the North West or have excellent knowledge of that area. You will work from several locations across the area, including your home and occasionally our offices with the expectation that you will be flexible in order to get the best outcomes for our customers.

Desirable Criteria

Desirable criteria include:

• Demonstrate sound IT skills and the ability to learn detailed processes quickly and accurately
• Demonstrate attention to detail across all aspects of data managment
• An ability to manage your own workload with minimal supervision

The ability to drive and access to a vehicle is beneficial for this role but not essential.

For You

We seek to develop our staff and offer a wide range of personal development opportunities.

We offer a wide range of generous benefits including:

• Generous annual leave and company pension scheme
• Flexible working to support staff with their work/life balance, taking into account things such as caring responsibilities, worship and attendance at religious festivals
• Enhanced paid maternity, paternity and adoption leave
• Season ticket and cycle to work loans
• Paid volunteering leave

How to Apply

Visit our jobs page on our website The National Lottery Community Fundfor further details about the vacancy and our application process.

Equal Opportunities

We believe our people should represent the communities, organisations and individuals we work with. As such we particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, LGBTQ+ and from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds.

Equality, diversity and inclusion in our grant-making, and amongst our people, are all vital to our success in supporting people and communities to thrive.  We believe our people should represent the communities, organisations and individuals we work with.  We are committed to being an inclusive and great place to work, and recognise our people come from diverse backgrounds. We are a Disability Confident employer and positively welcome applications from disabled people.