Safeguarding senior technical expert jobs in Newcastle
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Job description
Overall purpose of role
As WeProtect Global Alliance Fundraising and Grants Manager,you will:
- Lead the day-to-day management of a multi-donor grant portfolio (restricted and unrestricted) to ensure donor obligations are met in full and on time.
- Optimise and maintain grants management systems (calendars, trackers, templates, CRM, workflows) proportionate to a small organisation operating at global scale.
- Produce and co-ordinate high-quality donor reporting and contribute to renewal and proposal development, working closely with the Head of Development and collaborating with the Deputy Head of Operations and Finance, as well as colleagues in the Strategy and Members teams.
- Ensure and strengthen donor compliance, due diligence, and data assurance across the grant lifecycle in line with donor requirements, relevant regulations (including UK and EU), and best practice standards (including GDPR).
- Support the Head of Development and Deputy Head of Operations and Finance with grant budgets, forecasts and pipeline, supporting decision-making by the Executive Team and Board.
Key responsibilities
Portfolio ownership & planning
- Maintain a live grants calendar covering deliverables, reports, payments, audits and evaluations; ensure all internal and donor deadlines are met.
- Act as primary point of contact for assigned donors on contractual, reporting, and routine relationship matters, escalating strategically as needed.
Reporting & stewardship
- Coordinate the production of timely, accurate and outcome-focused narrative and financial reports, synthesising inputs from programme, policy, finance and leadership colleagues.
- Support contract amendments/variations, no-cost extensions, and budget realignments in collaboration with the Head of Development and Deputy Head of Operations and Finance.
Compliance, risk & due diligence
- Interpret, operationalise, and ensure adherence to donor terms and conditions, including eligibility rules, procurement, safeguarding, DEI, anti-fraud, and data protection requirements.
- Contribute to risk registers linked to grants and grant files (audit-ready) with clear decision trails.
- Support alignment with UK and EU regulatory frameworks and internal policies.
Budgeting, finance & cost recovery
- Support the Head of Development and Deputy Head of Operations and Finance to maintain budgets, forecasts, and cashflows to delivery plans.
- Support cost recovery and overhead allocation approaches and ensure compliant coding and reporting for restricted awards (i.e. timesheets and expense coding).
- Track income recognition and receivables against milestones; prepare payment requests/invoices as required.
Proposals, renewals & pipeline support
- Work with and report to the Head of Development to identify and develop new funding opportunities.
- Support the preparation of compelling proposals, concept notes, and donor presentations tailored to institutional, foundation, and private sector partners.
- Conduct donor research and maintain a live fundraising tracker and CRM system to support proactive pipeline management.
- Contribute to the cultivation and stewardship of funders, preparing impact reports, case studies, and donor communications.
- Coordinate cross-team inputs for donor meetings, funding campaigns, or events that support income generation.
Systems, data & process improvement
- Utilise available grants management tools (e.g., trackers, templates, checklists, shared drives/SharePoint, CRM).
· Promote disciplined data management, ensuring GDPR-compliant document storage and access controls.
- Provide training and guidance to colleagues on grant requirements and internal workflows.
Governance & internal collaboration
- Prepare or contribute to concise briefings, dashboards, and summaries for the Head of Development, Executive Team, and Global Policy Board.
- Contribute to annual planning, KPI setting, and impact measurement related to fundraising and grant delivery.
- Support continuous improvement in monitoring, evaluation, and learning.
Expectations
Cross-functional operational collaboration
- Contribute to the WeProtect Global Alliance operational compliance, financial and grant management processes and systems.
- Work collaboratively with colleagues to deliver cross-functional projects that will strengthen the reach and impact of the WeProtect Global Alliance Secretariat.
Building an inclusive culture
- Play a proactive role in ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) is embedded in everything we do.
- Embrace diversity and recognise different perspectives within collaborative working to create a more impactful and effective organisation.
- Commit to ensuring all employees are treated fairly and equitably at work, feel like they belong, and promote equality in physical and mental health for all.
Other
- To attend and contribute to meetings, training, and other events as required.
- To actively participate in our supervision and appraisal process.
- To ensure that all responsibilities and activities within this post are delivered in accordance with WeProtect Global Alliance core values and relevant corporate, organisational, financial, and compliance policies.
- To travel to meetings, which may require the need to work unsociable hours, e.g. attending evening or weekend meetings.
- To adhere to relevant legal and statutory requirements including the Data Protection Act and the Health and Safety at Work Act.
- To use WeProtect Global Alliance resources responsibly.
As a global, multi-sector alliance, ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) is embedded in everything we do is a critical priority. We embrace diversity and understand that being an inclusive organisation, recognising different perspectives, will enable us to be impactful and effective. We are committed to ensuring all our employees are treated fairly and equitably at work and promoting equality in physical and mental health for all.
Person Specification
Essential criteria
Experience
1. Substantial hands-on experience managing multi-donor grants across the full lifecycle, from start-up to close-out with a diverse donor community (governments/multilaterals, trusts and foundations, and private donors), including restricted awards.
2. Proven track record coordinating high-quality donor reports and ensuring contractual compliance across multiple awards and deadlines.
3. Demonstrable experience collaborating internally and leading applications, funding reports, financial reporting (budgets, forecasts, cost recovery, and expenditure monitoring).
4. Experience of preparing concept notes, proposals, and application forms for funding opportunities.
5. Experience with grant databases/CRM.
6. Stakeholder management skills, with experience liaising with donors and supporting senior leaders with briefings and stewardship.
7. Experience in due diligence, risk management and audit-readiness for grants (e.g., procurement, safeguarding, sanctions/PEP checks, data protection).
8. Proven experience working autonomously in a fast-paced environment to deliver a broad range of donor activities.
Skills
1. Outstanding organisation and time management, with the ability to manage competing deadlines and maintain meticulous records.
2. Excellent written communication, able to synthesise complex information into clear, outcome-focused reports and proposals.
3. Financial literacy: confident reviewing budgets, variances and forecasts; advanced Excel skills and comfort with shared-working tools (MS Office, Teams, SharePoint).
4. Analytical judgement and problem-solving, with a pragmatic, solutions-focused mindset.
5. Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a remote, international team, exercising discretion and sound judgement.
6. Commitment to safeguarding, child protection, EDI, and ethical fundraising practice.
Knowledge
1. Practical understanding of donor compliance for public/institutional and philanthropic funders, including awareness of different types of donor reporting requirements.
2. Knowledge of monitoring, evaluation and learning principles and how to evidence impact and learning in grant reports.
3. Familiarity with data protection (GDPR) and information governance in grants contexts.
4. Understanding of WeProtect Global Alliance’s mission, vision, values, and global operating context.
Other
1. A willingness to travel and work unsocial hours (time in lieu can be claimed)
2. Commitment to your own continuing professional and personal development
3. To uphold high standards of work, standards, and conduct in line with WeProtect Global Alliance values.
Desirable Criteria
1. Experience setting up or improving grants management systems (trackers, calendars, templates, workflows) proportionate to a small organisation.
2. Experience of using online funding and grant management portals.
3. Awareness of global child protection policies and procedures within the digital arena and a genuine passion for child protection
Diversity, inclusion, and equity
We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation. We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, including those of different ages, genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations, abilities, and lived experiences. We particularly encourage applications from individuals who are part of communities that are under-represented in our sector, including Black, Asian, and other ethnic minorities, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Safeguarding and values
As a child-focused organisation, we have a strong commitment to child safeguarding and rigorous procedures. The successful candidate will be required to provide two referees and to undergo a criminal record check.
All staff are expected to act at all times in a manner consistent with our values and in compliance with our policies and procedures, including our Safeguarding Policy and Code of Conduct.
Our values are:
· Empowerment – collaboration, innovation, challenge
· Accountability – responsibility, delivery, safeguarding
· Respect – honesty, feedback, inclusion.
Please submit a CV and a covering letter of no more than two pages explaining why you would like to work for WeProtect Global Alliance summarising how you meet the person specification. Applications without a covering letter will not be considered.
Non Charity Employer
11 - 20
WeProtect Global Alliance is driven by a single mission: to protect children from the pervasive dangers of sexual exploitation and abuse online.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
For nearly 20 years, Lively Minds has been proving that parents are the sleeping giants of early childhood development. With strong evidence and a national scale proof point in Ghana, we have shown that parent powered approaches delivered through government systems can transform children's lives at scale.
We are now at a pivotal moment. We have the evidence, the model and the momentum, and we need the funding, profile and influence to match our ambition. This is a rare opportunity to lead income generation and external voice for an award winning NGO entering an exciting new phase of growth. You will lead our fundraising strategy and direct engagement with Funders ensuring that we maximise all funding opportunities as we continue our strategic evolution. You will also shape a compelling external narrative that will help position Lively Minds as the definitive partner for governments strengthening their early childhood development systems.
If you are an exceptional fundraiser and communicator who is equally comfortable in a strategic conversation and writing a winning proposal, we would love to hear from you.
Read the full advert and apply below. Closing date: 3rd September 2026.
About Lively Minds
Lively Minds is an award-winning NGO with nearly 20 years of experience designing, testing and scaling early childhood development (ECD) solutions across the Global South. Our core idea is simple but radical: parents are the sleeping giants of ECD. Governments and donors have long overlooked parents, assuming that poverty and low literacy make them unable or unwilling to support their childrenʼs development. We have spent two decades proving otherwise. With RCT-backed evidence and a national-scale proof point in Ghana, we have demonstrated that parent-powered approaches, delivered through government systems, can achieve meaningful child development outcomes at scale.
Our 2026–2028 strategy marks a pivotal shift. Having demonstrated what is possible, we are now helping pioneer an innovative model of country-led sustainable scale. Rather than delivering programmes ourselves, we provide lean, time-limited technical advisory support to governments to help them integrate parent-powered ECD into their own systems, budgets and institutions. We are currently working with the governments of Ghana, Uganda, Oromia state (Ethiopia) and The Gambia in 2026, growing to six or more country engagements by 2028. Our ambition is to catalyse a sector-wide shift, positioning Lively Minds as the definitive partner for governments seeking to strengthen their ECD systems.
Our scale strategy rests on three interdependent pillars: fixed-term Technical Advisory partnerships with governments; the development of a modular radio model simple and affordable enough for governments to adopt and fund independently; and an advocacy and sector influence agenda designed to make parent-powered ECD the norm globally.
Purpose of the Role
Lively Minds is at a critical inflection point. We have the evidence, the model and the momentum. We now need the funding, profile and sector influence to match our ambition. The Director of Fundraising and Communications is a priority hire, created to provide the dedicated, experienced leadership that this moment demands.
The Director will own and drive Lively Mindsʼ income generation, building new funder relationships, managing and deepening existing ones, and ensuring the organisation has the pipeline, discipline and quality of engagement to meet and exceed its fundraising targets. Working in close partnership with the Founding CEO, who retains ownership of a small number of long-standing strategic relationships, the Director will take primary responsibility for securing the funding that makes the 2026–2028 strategy deliverable, and that opens the door to greater scale beyond it. We need to raise approximately £3.4m over the next 3 years to deliver our strategy. But our ambition is to exceed that target so we can support additional governments.
Alongside fundraising, the Director will provide strategic leadership to Lively Mindsʼ communications and advocacy work, ensuring that the organisationʼs external voice is compelling and that we are building credibility in the spaces where funding decisions are made. The Director will lead and provide strategic coherence to a small but outward-facing team, including Head of Partnerships and Advocacy Lead who are active on the international stage. Lively Minds is committed to thought-leadership and active external engagement, but equally committed to ensuring that communications resource is deployed with discipline and rigour. The Director will set a clear strategic filter for where the organisation shows up, what it publishes and who it engages: prioritising focus and quality over volume, and always asking whether external activity is building the relationships and reputation that ultimately drive income and/or systems change.
Lively Minds is a dispersed, remote organisation. The Directorʼs team the Advocacy Lead, Development Manager and Communications Officer - are internationally distributed. The ability to lead, develop and maintain high standards across a dispersed team is essential. The role requires regular travel to international conferences and events.
Key Responsibilities
Fundraising Strategy & Income Generation
- Own and deliver the multi-year fundraising strategy with clear priorities, targets, income streams and a disciplined pipeline to support the 2026–2028 strategy and future scale
- Steward existing funder relationships, turning strong partnerships into long-term supporters, advocates and connectors to new funding opportunities.
- Lead the shift towards Big Bet and catalytic funding, personally cultivating and negotiating high-value, multi-year partnerships and positioning Lively Minds for system-level scale
- Maintain a high standard of fundraising quality, pipeline management and forecasting, while coaching the team to produce compelling, sophisticated fundraising materials
- Build and continuously strengthen a diverse funding pipeline, identifying emerging opportunities, new funding markets and strategic partnerships that reduce concentration risk and support long-term financial sustainability
Communications, Brand & Advocacy
- Own and deliver Lively Mindsʼ communications and marketing strategy, balancing visibility and sector influence with the need to strengthen fundraising and systems-change objectives
- Partner closely with the CEO to shape and steward a coherent external narrative, brand and messaging framework across all audiences and channels
- Oversee high-quality core communications and fundraising materials, including cases for support, pitch decks, website content, proposals and donor reports
- Provide strategic communications expertise to Advocacy, Partnerships and MEL, ensuring evidence and learning are translated into compelling narratives and consistent external messaging
- Lead efforts to strengthen Lively Mindsʼ profile and thought leadership in the ECD sector, identifying opportunities for strategic media, events, publications and external platforms that reinforce its positioning and influence
Organizational Leadership&TeamDevelopment
- Contribute actively to SMT and organisational strategy, bringing funder intelligence, external perspective and communications expertise to strategic decision-making.
- Work closely with Finance and MEL to align fundraising targets, forecasting, budgets and evidence, ensuring proposals are credible, accurately costed and evidence-led
- Act as the organisationʼs communications subject matter expert, providing guidance and challenge to ensure high-quality, consistent external communications
- Lead and develop the Advocacy Lead, Development Manager and Communications Officer, fostering a team culture of quality, accountability, strategic clarity and continuous improvement
- Build strong cross-organisational collaboration, ensuring teams understand how fundraising, communications, advocacy and evidence work together to advance Lively Mindsʼ strategic priorities
Person Specification
Essential Experience & Skills
- 10+ years of significant senior-level fundraising experience within international development, education, philanthropy or a comparable sector
- Proven track record of securing major grants from foundations, institutional donors and high-net-worth individuals, alongside demonstrated experience securing or meaningfully progressing large-scale, catalytic funding from Big Bet philanthropy programmes such as the Audacious Project, Skoll Foundation or comparable funders. A strong understanding of what these funders look for and how to position an organisation compellingly within their processes is essential
- Exceptional fundraising writing skills, with the ability to personally develop compelling cases for support, funding proposals, award applications and pitch decks tailored to sophisticated impact funders. This is a hands-on role requiring both strong writing capability and the ability to coach others to consistently produce high-quality fundraising content
- Experienced in developing and owning a marketing and communications strategy, with a strong understanding of how to balance organisational visibility, thought leadership and sector influence with coherence, strategic focus and income generation
- Demonstrated ability to work closely with a Founding CEO to shape and steward the organisationʼs external narrative and brand. Comfortable working in a founder-led environment, providing expertise and constructive challenge while ensuring the organisation maintains a clear, consistent and coherent external voice
Desirable Experience
- Experienced fundraising for a technical advisory, systems change or government-facing organisation
- Knowledge of the ECD, education or early childhood sector and its funding landscape
- Familiarity with the Big Bang Philanthropy network or equivalent impact-focused funder communities
- Experience working alongside advocacy and partnerships teams, providing communications expertise and strategic coherence to their external activity
- Familiarity with the funding landscape for organisations operating in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Experience working remotely across multiple countries and effectively collaborating with cross-cultural teams
Behaviours & Ways of Working
- A doer, equally comfortable in strategic conversations and writing a funding proposal
- Sets a high bar for quality and clarity in all external communications and holds it consistently
- Builds a strong, trust-based partnership with the Founding CEO, provides honest challenge and operates effectively within a founder-led dynamic without losing their own voice or judgement
- Collaborative and cross-organisational. Invests in strong relationships with programme, MEL and finance colleagues, understanding that the best fundraising is grounded in organisational reality
- Calm and focused under pressure - able to manage competing priorities and maintain quality when the stakes are high
What We Offer
- Competitive salary commensurate with experience
- 25 days annual leave
- Health insurance
- Pension contribution
- Generous learning and development budget
- Flexible, remote working
Application Instruction
Interested candidates are encouraged to read the Job Description carefully before applying to ensure they understand the role and meet the required criteria.
To apply, please complete the pre-screening questions and submit your updated CV
PLEASE NOTE - Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Timeline
Closing Date: 3rd September 2026
Our Stance
Lively Minds operates a strict Safeguarding Policy and is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of children and vulnerable people. As part of our recruitment process, the suitability of successful candidates will be verified through appropriate background checks including professional references and police checks.
Lively Minds is fully committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and to providing equal opportunities throughout our recruitment process. We want this commitment to be reflected in the diversity of the people who work for us, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, identities, experiences and perspectives.
We are committed to ensuring that recruitment decisions are based on merit, skills, experience and suitability for the role, and that all candidates are treated fairly and with respect throughout the recruitment process.
