Programme Manager (Grants)
December 2025

Sported
Job Information Pack

Note from our CEO

Thank you for expressing an interest in this important and exciting role.

It has never been a harder time to be a young person growing up in the UK. One in four children live in poverty. Recorded knife crime has
more than doubled in the past five years. 80% of young people note their mental health has worsened in recent months and yout h
unemployment is at an all-time high. Equally, grassroots sport remains underfunded and undervalued - and local clubs and
communities lack the resources and expertise they need to make the difference.

These organisations operate, not to create the next sporting superstar but to remove barriers from young people’s lives to al low them
to thrive against the odds. Sported sits at the heart of the UK’s largest network of community sports groups and we exist to  provide our
groups with the resources and funding needed to ensure that everyone, and every community, has equal access to the life-changing
benefits of sport.

If successful, you’ll join a remarkable Sported team of around 50 people with backgrounds and specialisms ranging from social /youth
work and business development to sport development and econometrics. The delivery team are local to their groups and reside
across the UK, with a central office in London.

Even more capacity is provided by our skilled, knowledgeable and passionate volunteers, who now number more than 200, and who
work with the leaders of our member groups. Our purpose, in supporting them, is to create sustainable grassroots sports clubs, deliver
high impact programmes, distribute funding and be a trusted source of Research and Advocacy.

For more information about Sported, our services, and our impact, please visit www.sported.org.uk

Whether or not you apply for this role, and whether you are successful or not, I’m grateful to you for considering bringing your skills and
energy to Sported and the amazing organisations we help.

Yours faithfully,

Sarah Kaye
Sported CEO

Role Overview and Responsibilities

Role Overview

Sported is looking for an experienced and professional
Programme Manager to join our expanding Partnerships
team.

The Programme Manager (Grants) will be responsible for the
management and delivery of a £1.9m Partnership Grant
Programme, awarding funding to organisations delivering
sport and physical activity for wider social purpose. They will
lead in the distribution of funds awarded across England,
Scotland and Wales, working closely with our Grants Lead
and Regional teams to ensure funds are awarded to those
communities that need it most.

The creation of this new Programme Manager role is
intended to develop and implement this large grant
programme, driving insight-led, grant giving to deliver
maximum impact and value for Sported and our partner.

View the Sported website

Job title:  Programme Manager
(Grants)

Reporting into: Head of Partnerships

Hours: 37.5 hours per week (full-time)

Salary: £38,245 - £43,709

Location: Home-based

Annual Leave: 25 days plus bank
holidays

Role Overview

• Scoping, design and implementation of the funding programme.

• Oversee programme delivery across England, Scotland and Wales, developing a

thorough project plan with detailed responsibilities and a clear timeline.

• Manage the grant programme end-to-end, including development of fund criteria and

guidance, applications and assessments, monitoring and reporting.

• Manage regional specific grant budgets across England, Scotland and Wales.

• Work with our wider team to deliver internal and external communications to promote the

programme and partnership - and demonstrate impact on funded groups.

• Report delivery progress and manage end of programme impact reporting and learning.

• Build the relationship with our partner, maximising opportunities for renewal.

Responsibilities

Grant management:

• Develop programme eligibility criteria and guidance, working with our Grants and EDI leads to ensure

grants are targeted at communities that need it most.

• Devise and set up application forms and processes specific to the grant programme while using

learning from previous years.

• Manage the application and assessment stage, carry out due diligence and monitor the funding risk of

the grant portfolio, undertaking reviews where needed.

• Oversee the grants on our online platform, maintaining accurate and up to date information on all

grant applications, assessments and payments.

•

Provide the necessary financial information to the finance department, supporting them to process
and issue awards.

• Work with the EDI Lead to support the delivery of an accessible approach to grant giving.

• Work with the Grants Lead to help drive the continuous improvement of grant-making systems,
policies and processes and ensure consistency across our organisational grant programmes.

Responsibilities

Team engagement and management:

• Motivate and skill our national and regional teams, leading on the creation of detailed plans to deliver

our target amount of grants on time.

•

•

Support our internal teams to enable grant-holders to deliver the work and project outcomes, and report
against associated monitoring and evaluation frameworks.

Line management of Grants Administration Officer to support with assessments, grant admin, payments
and communication with applicants.

• Collaborate with the wider Sported team, including colleagues in finance and fundraising, sharing

insights and learning for wider opportunities.

Communications:

• Work with the Fundraising team to design a Communications plan for the programme, delivering

external communications to promote our partnership and programme impact.

• Conduct outreach to identify potential applicants and assist with promotion of the funding programme.

•

Ensure the teams identify and detail a regular pipeline of compelling case studies to storytell the impact
of the funding on people and groups for our use and for the use of our funders.

• Conduct learning and monitoring visits, fostering positive relationships with funded groups.

Responsibilities

Monitoring and evaluation:

• Work with our Insight team to develop project review forms, specific to the grant programme but

consistent with our wider organisational measurement tools.

•

Support the team to request, chase and collate relevant monitoring and evaluation data from funded
groups.

• Collect, review and assess data and insights from the funding programme to ensure quality grant

evaluation and impact reporting.

•

•

Support the Finance team with the collection and checking of finance information and expenditure.

Prepare and provide timely reporting on the distribution of funds and impact for the partner.

• Create a learning log to continue to develop and implement best practice across grant programmes.

• Collaborate the Fundraising and Insight teams by providing relevant data to monitor and demonstrate

the impact of our funded programmes.

Person Specification

Skills and Experience Required

What we are looking for:

We are also interested in hearing from applicants who may not have the specific experience listed but have relevant
transferrable skills.

•

•

•

 Experience of managing high value, high profile, UK-wide grant programmes.

Experience of working in the third sector, with community and voluntary organisations.

Passionate about making a difference to marginalised communities and individuals, putting equity and fairness at the
heart of decision making.

• Capacity to learn from previous/current grant programmes, turning that knowledge into plans that improve our grant

giving in the future.

•

•

•

•

A confident communicator, with excellent planning and project management skills. Comfortable making decisions and
presenting these to colleagues and partners.

Excellent data literacy to analyse complex information on our impact, summarise learning and deliver reports.

Ability to identify and propose solutions in areas of risk, specifically related to programme delivery and grant giving.

A self-starter - able to work flexibly and under your own initiative, managing varying competing priorities.

• Comfortable under pressure - happy to work at high speed and mange numerous tasks (alongside a supportive team).

•

Happy to work remotely in the main - but with regular opportunities to come together and collaborate with the team.

• Confident to share and represent the work of Sported to external audiences.

Our Values

Act with
integrity

Champion
inclusion

Transform
together

Drive
change

We lead by example

We are honest, open and
trustworthy

We are diligent and
committed

We are accountable and
learn from our mistakes

We are positive, supportive,
and approachable

We are strongest when
we unite as a team

We act creatively to enable
solutions

We actively work to create
an inclusive culture

We demonstrate respect
and equality for all

We seek and value lived
experience

We are led by the needs
of our young people and
our network

We challenge ourselves and
others to improve and
innovate

We connect and
collaborate across
communities

We deliver significant
impact through actions
large and small

Flexible working arrangements, including working from
home and flexibility around caring responsibilities

A confidential counselling service is available to all
employees free of charge

Annual leave entitlement of 25 days, in addition to public
holidays (pro-rata for part-time colleagues)

Access to a Pension Scheme to give you peace of mind

A Sported ‘Culture Club’ made up of six members of staff,
who come together to discuss Sported staff culture, issues
and promote innovation

Cycle to Work Scheme available to support our commitment
to promoting healthy living

Volunteer Days - two additional days of paid leave each
year to volunteer for another charity or indeed our Sported
members

Study Leave – Up to five days paid study leave (for any self-
funded education/training

Personal growth is a
key component to the
success of our
organisation. At
Sported, we invest in
learning and
development
opportunities.

‘Learning Lunch’, a
timetable of in-house
virtual training
sessions where staff
learn from each other
on a variety of subjects
related to our work.

Sported
staff
benefits

Up to five days
paid study leave
for
self-funded
education/training

At Sported, the wellbeing
of our staff is
paramount. We are
proud to offer benefits to
promote a happy and
healthy team.

We actively encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds especially from ethnically
diverse, LGBTQ+  and  disabled  communities  as  well  as  those  with  lived  experiences  of
tackling  inequalities,  as we  believe  diverse  voices  are  instrumental  in  creating
transformational change.

Recruitment timeline:

Closing date for applications: Monday 5 January 2026
Successful applicants notified: w/c 12 January
Interviews: w/c Monday 19 January
Role commences: As soon as possible

If you have any questions
about the role, please
contact:
recruitment@sported.org.uk

To apply for this role please head to the careers page on our website, where you
will  find  a  link  to  apply.  You are  required  to  upload  your  CV  and  supporting
statement  providing  clear  examples  of  how  you  meet  the person  specification,
ideally including a work portfolio. You must also complete our Equality,  Diversity
& Monitoring Data Form Survey as part of the application process.