SPORTED FOUNDATION
38,245 - 43,709 per year
Home-based
Full-time
5th January 2026
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.