Fundraising Consultant - Grants

We're looking for an experienced grants fundraising professional to join our fantastic team in the North of England and help secure funding for some of the National Trust’s most ambitious work.

You'll lead the development of high-quality funding applications, identify new opportunities and build strong relationships with funders and partners. Your work will help generate the income we need to deliver our strategy, People and Nature Thriving .

You'll work 37.5 hours per week, including occasional evening or weekend work for events.

Internally, this role is known as Grants Consultant .

What it's like to work here:You'll be part of our Specialist Delivery team, working alongside colleagues with expertise in areas such as fundraising, project management, conservation, curation and the built environment.

You'll also be part of our wider fundraising community, sharing knowledge and working with colleagues across the National Trust. It’s a highly collaborative role, where you'll work with different places, teams and specialists depending on the project or funding opportunity.

As this role covers the North of England region, your contractual place of work will be the nearest National Trust office to your home: Altrincham/Manchester, York, Newcastle or Grasmere.

Our hybrid working policy means you can balance office and home working with site visits and meetings at other National Trust places. We’ll talk about this in more detail at interview, but you should expect to be at a National Trust site for 40–60% of your working week.

What you'll be doing:A key part of the role will be developing a strong pipeline of projects and funding opportunities across a number of National Trust places, working with teams to shape projects so they meet the criteria of key funders and are ready for submission.

You’ll bring together complex information, budgets and input from colleagues across different disciplines to develop strong funding proposals, while helping teams understand what funders are looking for and how best to position their projects.

Building strong external relationships will be just as important. Working with funders, local authorities and other strategic partners, you’ll identify opportunities to collaborate, strengthen partnerships and maximise future funding potential.

Alongside this, you’ll provide specialist advice to colleagues, helping to build knowledge and confidence in grants fundraising, while ensuring applications, awards and funder relationships are accurately recorded and managed.

Above all else, this role is about generating income and leading the development of compelling, high-quality applications.

• Expert knowledge of the grants and fundraising environment, or equivalent relevant knowledge and experience.
• A track record of developing successful grant funding applications, including for complex projects or significant funding opportunities.
• Experience of working alongside local authorities, combined authorities and other strategic partners to maximise funding opportunities and deliver shared outcomes.
• Ability to turn complex or technical information into clear, persuasive and high-quality written applications.
• Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with funders, partners and stakeholders, including influencing others to progress opportunities.
• Experience working with project budgets and financial information to develop credible funding proposals.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines whilst maintaining accuracy and quality.
• Ability to collaborate and develop bids across teams, disciplines and partners, bringing specialist advice and strategic thinking to help others progress funding proposals and support future planning.

The packageThe National Trust has the motto ‘For everyone, for ever’ at its heart. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.

• Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary

• Free entry to National Trust places for you, a guest and your children (under 18)

• Rental deposit loan scheme

• Season ticket loan

• EV car lease scheme (for roles that meet the salary criteria)

• Perks at work discounts such as gym memberships, shopping discount codes, cinema discounts

• Holiday allowance up to 32 days relating to length of service, plus holiday purchase scheme, subject to meeting minimum criteria.

• Flexible working whenever possible

• Employee assistance programme

• Free parking at most Trust places