Grants and Programmes Officer

Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency; Tees Valley; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A local charitable organization in Tees Valley is seeking a Grants and Programmes Officer to lead their small grants funding programme and to develop new proposals for community leadership initiatives. The role requires strong organisational skills, proficiency with Microsoft Office, and the ability to engage with the community. Successful candidates will benefit from flexible working arrangements and a chance to make meaningful impacts in local communities. The application deadline is 2 February 2026.

Benefits

Supportive and inclusive working environment

Flexible working arrangements

Meaningful impact in local communities

Qualifications

• Experience of researching topics and creating reports.
• Ability to work on own initiative.
• Experience of online databases or client relationship systems.

Responsibilities

• Assist to implement and deliver a small grants programme.
• Research and develop proposals for leadership programmes.
• Deliver marketing and communication activities for the VCSE sector.

Skills

Strong organisational skills

Attention to detail

Proficient in Microsoft Office

Understanding of social media platforms

Great interpersonal skills

Confident communicator

Job description

We are here to support , promote and develop voluntary and community action in Middlesbrough

Grants and Programmes Officer

About Us: The Woodsmith Foundation is an independent charity launched to leave a positive and lasting legacy from the Woodsmith Mine to the boroughs of Redcar & Cleveland, the former borough of Scarborough and the North York Moors National Park.

Background: The Woodsmith Foundation has been successful in securing a fully paid 12 month contract for a new member of our team as part of the Rank Foundation’s Time to Shine programme. This exciting programme offers the candidate a chance to develop their leadership potential skills and talent within a charity or social enterprise setting. This is a 12 month fixed term role. 15% of this role will be made up of Time 2 Shine activities with regular meetings and residentials. This is an essential, non-negotiable, aspect of this role. As per the programme requirements we can only employ someone who identifies themselves as being either currently unemployed or underemployed.

Rank Foundation defines underemployed as ‘an individual working below their current skillset or training.’ If you have any questions regarding this please contact Rebecca Wagner on 07756395535 to discuss further.

Role Purpose: The Grants and Programme Officer will play a vital role in ensuring the smooth and efficient delivery of our new small grant funding programme and will also lead researching and developing approaches to support new entrants to the VCSE sector, emerging and current leaders, community leaders and youth leaders. This role will also take a lead in creating new marketing and communication approaches to improve reach into the VCSE sector to support these two tasks.

Responsibilities

The Grants and Programmes Officer primary duties will include:

• Assist the Grants and Programmes Manager to implement and deliver a new small grants programme by:
  • Maintaining and updating grant management systems, ensuring data accuracy and integrity.
  • Logging grants on grant management system (Salesforce).
  • Preparing and sending outcome correspondence to applications.
  • Collating payment information and assist colleagues in preparing payments.
  • Assisting in tracking grant progress, collecting monitoring reports and providing feedback to grant holders.
• Research and develop proposals for leadership programmes and approaches for the VCSE in our area of benefit by:
  • Taking part in all Time to Shine activities and support offered by Rank Foundation.
  • Bringing the learning back to our area of benefit, understanding the local context and exploring with VCSE organisations and others their workforce development needs in partnership with the local infrastructure organisation.
  • Completing desk research on private and public sector, VCSE, community and youth leadership opportunities that exist and reporting on the advantages and disadvantages of each.
  • With the support of the Chief Executive, developing option papers for how new entrants to the VCSE, emerging and current leaders, community leaders and youth leaders might be encouraged, nurtured, empowered and supported by the Foundation in the future.
  • Testing preferred options with the Foundation’s Learning Partner and Trustees to develop concepts further and prioritise actions.
  • Creating a final report, recommendations and draft action plan.
• Alongside our marketing support from Anglo American and with the Grants and Programmes Manager, deliver new marketing and communication activities to improve the Foundation’s reach into the VCSE sector by:
  • Advertising the work of the Foundation on social media by creating and re-sharing content.
  • Trialling the creation and management of a Foundation newsletter.
  • Attending events to share the work of the Foundation.
• Additional duties will include:
  • Provide general administration support e.g. workwear orders, room bookings and diary management.
  • Working alone and with others to problem solve and make recommendations.
  • Undertake other duties related to the work of the Foundation. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of duties. The need for flexibility is required. We are a small team and the post holder is expected to carry out any other related duties that are within the employee's skills and abilities whenever reasonably instructed.

Person Specification

• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications
• Understanding of main social media platforms e.g. Linked in, Instagram and Facebook
• Familiarity with the local area (Borough of Redcar & Cleveland, former borough of Scarborough and North York Moors).
• Experience of researching topics and creating reports
• A solutions focussed approach to work and ability to work on own initiative
• Curiosity about social issues
• A bright, positive attitude and a desire to make life easier for others; as part of our small team and externally with applicants and stakeholders.
• Great interpersonal skills and an ability to build positive and productive relationships with clients and grantees across a range of different types of organisations
• A confident communicator, both written and spoken
• Highly organised with good administrative skills, excellent attention to detail and the ability to prioritise tasks
• Commitment to engage fully in the Time 2 Shine Leadership programme including attending all meetings and residentials which will include overnight stays. Dates will be provided in advance and all expenses will be paid.
• Experience of online databases or client relationship system
• Experience of running webinars and/or in person events
• Experience of working on projects and delivering to deadlines

What We Offer

• A supportive and inclusive working environment
• Flexible working arrangements
• The chance to make a meaningful impact in local communities.

The closing date for this job is 2 February 2026 - 5:00pm.