Grant Support Manager

We're the Football Foundation - the Premier League, the FA and government’s charity that delivers outstanding grassroots facilities, more and better places to play, transforming lives and communities where it is needed most. To help us with this important mission, we currently have a vacancy for a Grant Support Manager to lead our team of Grant Support Executives. 

Over the last 22 years, the Foundation has awarded more than 23,000 grants to deliver outstanding grassroots facilities across England worth more than £877 million. This year, the Foundation will be investing more money than ever into facilities across England and is committed to improving the experience of playing football for everyone.

The Foundation’s goal is to unlock the power of pitches ensuring everyone has a great place to play regardless of gender, race, disability or place. 

As Grant Support Manager you’ll manage a team of eight Grant Support Executives, overseeing their work to ensure it is delivered on time and to a high standard.

Our Grant Support Executives carry out the assessment of grant applications and related grant administration. They also provide support to grant applicants as well as general administrative support to the wider organisation. As Grant Support Manager, you’ll review their work and support your team members with more complex queries as well as managing any issues and complaints that arise. You’ll regularly review systems and processes to ensure the team is always operating as effectively and efficiently as possible. Above all, you’ll set a positive culture in the team and take responsibility for their development to help every team member realise their full potential. 

You’ll also work on other adhoc projects and provide key support to our Grants Panel, ensuring papers are prepared and dispatched in line with annual Panel cycles, mapping out internal and external deadlines and minuting occasional meetings. 

We’d love to hear from you if you have experience of managing a customer-focussed or admin team, with a track record of training, mentoring and developing team members. You’ll have extensive experience of business administration, including reviewing, improving and implementing administration processes.

You’ll be highly organised, with the ability to manage your own workload and changing priorities as well as overseeing those of others. You’ll have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build strong relationships, as well as experience of tactfully resolving customer issues and complaints.

Ideally, you’ll also have some experience of grant administration and of assessing grant applications against set criteria, as well as some experience of supporting and minuting formal meetings. 

You don’t need to follow football to apply, but you should appreciate the power of sport to change lives and have a genuine interest in using your skills and experience to help the Foundation achieve our charitable and strategic objectives.

For full details of the role and requirements, please download our recruitment pack below.

The salary for this role is £40,000 - £45,000 per annum, dependent on relevant skills and experience. 

You will start on 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, plus additional time off to volunteer. We also offer a generous pension scheme (8% employer contribution), collective bonus scheme, free health care provision, a monthly gym subsidy, interest-free season ticket loan, death in service benefit and access to selected match tickets.

We're committed to helping our team members maintain a healthy work-life balance, so offer flexible working around core hours to help achieve that.

The Football Foundation is committed to, and values the principles of diversity, equality, and inclusion. We strive to provide an inclusive and supportive working environment where all our team feel respected and supported in fulfilling their potential. We encourage and welcome applications from all, regardless of background and are particularly interested to hear from individuals belonging to under-represented groups including diverse ethnic communities, individuals with a disability and those from the LGBTQI+ community.

Should you need any adjustments to the recruitment process, at either application or interview stage, please contact us at jobs@footballfoundation.org.uk

To apply, please follow the steps outlined below:

Please send the following to jobs@footballfoundation.org.uk

• CV
• Cover letter - please highlight briefly and clearly how your skills, abilities and experience equip you for the role, together with your reasons for applying.

The closing date for applications is: 9am, Monday 12 August 2024. 

Online interviews are currently scheduled for 19 and 20 August 2024.

All applications received will be short listed against the role requirements and person specification. Those most closely matching our requirements will be invited to take part in an online interview.

Due to the volume of applications received for most roles, the Foundation only contacts candidates if they are shortlisted for interview. If you do not hear from us within two weeks of the closing date, you should assume your application has not been successful.

Please note that you must be eligible to work in the UK to apply.