Head of Grants

Vacancy at Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation

Head of Grants

Salary £ £53,044 – £58,938 (FTE)

Home working and based at offices in Wrest Park, Silsoe, Bedfordshire

Details

To apply please provide a concise covering letter (no more than two pages) outlining your suitability for the role against the job description and a completed application form. Please submit by clicking "apply here"

Hours  | 28 hours per week (0.8 FTE) – additional hours may be available subject to funding 

Holiday entitlement | 25 days per annum (FTE), rising by 1 day per year after the first 2 years to a maximum of 28 days, plus public holidays

Reports to | CEO

Contract type | Permanent

Holiday entitlement | 25 days per annum (FTE), rising by 1 day per year after the first 2 years to a maximum of 28 days, plus public holidays

Reports to | CEO

Contract type | Permanent

The Head of Grants leads the Foundation’s grantmaking function, ensuring that grants programmes are designed and delivered to a consistently high standard, and that applicants and grantees receive an excellent, fair and transparent service. 

The postholder is accountable for the quality, pace and integrity of the end-to-end grants process—from pre-application support through to assessment (including personally undertaking more complex or higher-risk assessments), decision-making, contracting, payments and monitoring. They ensure proportionate due diligence, effective risk management, and compliance across the portfolio. 

They lead, manage and develop the grants team, and are responsible for delivering grant programmes in line with the Foundation’s strategic priorities. Working closely with the CEO and senior colleagues, they ensure funding is delivered effectively and responsively to meet community needs. 

The role builds trusted relationships with funders, donors, partners and sector networks to support the successful delivery of funding programmes and maximise their reach across Bedfordshire and Luton. 

The Head of Grants works closely with the Head of Impact so that Grant making is shaped by a clear understanding of need and strong evidence. Together, these roles help ensure funding is used effectively and achieves the best possible outcomes for communities. 

Responsibilities

1. Leadership of Grant making (core delivery & quality assurance)

• Oversee delivery of all Grant making activity, ensuring work is completed to agreed standards and timescales and that decisions are well evidenced.
• Take a hands-on role in assessment activity, particularly for more complex, high-value or higher-risk applications and to support capacity needs of the team.
• Maintain clear assessment frameworks and consistent decision-making, including appropriate records and audit trails.
• Ensure proportionate due diligence and risk management is applied across all programmes, escalating higher‑risk cases as appropriate.
• Lead preparation for grants panels and decision meetings (including processes, papers and follow‑up actions) and support continuous improvement.

2. Line management & team development

• Provide day‑to‑day leadership for the grants team, including allocating work, agreeing priorities, supporting problem‑solving and maintaining service standards.
• Provide line managements support and professional development needs of team are managed including annual appraisals and performance management.
• Identify when additional assessment capacity is required and coordinate freelance assessors/volunteers where appropriate and with agreement of CEO.
• Lead on all training on the Foundations relevant systems processes of the grants team and external Volunteer and Donor representative on grants panels

3. Applicant, grantee and stakeholder relationship management

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with applicants and grantees, providing clear guidance and support to enable high‑quality applications and delivery.
• Proactively promote fairer access to funding and work with colleagues to identify and address barriers to access and participation.
• Engage with local sector forums and networks to listen, learn and feed community insights back into programme development.

4. Funder / donor liaison & reporting

• Work with funders/donors (including donor‑directed funds where relevant) to ensure programme delivery aligns with agreed criteria and reporting requirements.
• Coordinate high‑quality programme data, case study and learning updates to inform donor reports, working closely with the Head of Impact and other colleagues as needed.

5. Systems, data and process improvement

• Champion effective use of the Foundation’s CRM and related tools to support efficient Grant making, monitoring and reporting.
• Ensure accurate record‑keeping and data quality for reporting, learning and compliance purposes.
• Contribute to improvements in systems and ways of working that strengthen consistency, efficiency and customer experience.

6. Representing the Foundation

• Maintain a strong understanding of community and voluntary sector issues and share relevant learning with colleagues.
• Represent the Foundation positively at local, regional and national events and networks as required.
• Support the CEO and senior colleagues with wider organisational initiatives as required.

7. Other

• Act as an ambassador for the Foundation’s values in all aspects of work.
• Undertake other duties appropriate to the role, as may reasonably be required.

Physical Resources:

• Maintain accurate records on the Salesforce/CRM database.
• Use the Foundation’s management systems, including Breath HR and SharePoint Staff resources:

Day to day management and recruitment of the following roles

• Day-to-day management of Grants Managers, Grants Officer and Grants Administrator (and others as the structure evolves).
• Coordination of freelance grants assessors and Volunteer grant panel members as required.
• Oversight of volunteers/interns involved in grants activity, where applicable.

Working Environment:

Based at current business office at Wrest Park, Silsoe, Bedfordshire but working flexible from home and on locations across the county as required. 

The postholder will ensure that policies, procedures and activities for service delivery are revised and/or implemented in a way that supports equality for all. These activities should also reflect BLCF’s commitment to Diversity Equality and Inclusion (DEI) within the sector and in its work to support the communities of Bedfordshire & Luton as an equitable funder.  

This acts as selection criteria and gives an outline of the types of persons and the characteristics required to do the job. Listed below are the Essential Criteria without which candidate would be rejected. Some criteria are Desirable and marked (D) and are useful for choosing between two good candidates  

We will consider any reasonable adjustments under the terms of the Equality Act (2010) to enable an applicant with a disability (as defined under the Act) to meet the requirements of the post.  

The post holder will ensure that BLCF’s policies are reflected in all aspects of his/her work, those relating to: 

(i)  Equal Opportunities 

(ii) Health and Safety 

(iii) Data Protection Act (1984 & 1998) 

Benefits

Pension | 5% contributory pension
Other benefits | WPA NHS Top Up Health Benefits; Christmas closure week

Attached documents

TitleFileApplication Form - Head of Grants