Portfolio Manager, Funding Department

Portfolio Manager, Funding Department

12 Month Fixed Term Contract

£45,905 - £48,848 pa

City of London E1 8QS and we are a hybrid working organisation

Please note this is a hybrid role based on the successful candidate working at least two days a week in our London office. Remote contracts would not be considered for this role.

Purpose of Role

The Portfolio Manager plays a key role in the success of Comic Relief s team responsible for grants that address the effects of poverty. This role is focused on food insecurity in the UK.

The Portfolio Manager will hold direct responsibility for new Comic Relief grant making and ongoing grant management in the UK, ensuring excellent grant making practice.

The Portfolio Manager will collaborate with other teams in the funding department and across the wider organisation to support Comic Relief s overall objectives, including income generation.

This role sits in a team that also focuses on areas such as homelessness, early childhood development, maternal and child health, and forced migration.

Key responsibilities:

Grant making and ongoing grant management

Manage new grant making, including working with colleagues to design funding opportunities, assessing funded partners, designing appropriate ongoing support mechanisms, and working with learning colleagues in the Funding Team on appropriate data collection

Manage assigned funding portfolios and relationships with funded partners, ensuring that the portfolio is managed in a timely and responsive way, using Comic Relief s (CR s) systems and processes.

Coordinate with other colleagues across the different teams in the funding department to ensure effective and efficient ways of working, and fruitful collaboration and learning across different funded issues and areas.

Manage all ongoing requirements, such as narrative, financial and risk reporting, collaborating across the funding team and wider Comic Relief as appropriate.

Work with the Assurance and Finance teams to ensure ongoing compliance across the portfolio with legal requirements, our grant conditions, reporting requirements and best practice.

Collaborate with Partnerships colleagues to manage donor reporting and other information needs for external and internal use, such as information about our funded work and our partners.

Cross organisation and sector collaboration

Support resource mobilisation partnerships through collaborative and supportive working with Comic Relief s communications, fundraising and partnership teams.

Work with the Partnerships Team to support strong relationships with existing and potential co-funding partners, including corporates and/or trusts, foundations and institutions, and support proposal development, reporting and other requirements.

Work collaboratively across CR to support storytelling around CR s impact.

Develop a good understanding of areas of social change within assigned funding portfolios and areas of new grant making to be able to represent Comic Relief s funding and priorities to internal and external stakeholders

Contribute to internal communications regarding the work of the team and the wider Funding Team.

Represent Comic Relief to strategic partners and co-funders, in relevant networks, and at external events.

General

Manage the work of consultants and other contractors as required.

Communicate in an open, honest and transparent way with funding applicants, funded partners and funding partners.

Ensure that, when applicable, people with lived or learned experience are actively engaged with our work, contributing to the design and decision-making process of our funding portfolios.

Note: Some UK and/or international travel may be required for this role.

Person specification

Essential criteria

Significant understanding/experience of the systems and structures that perpetuate social injustice and keep people trapped in poverty, including the best approaches to address them

Experience and knowledge of grant making and programme design, including developing, implementing and evaluating programmes, and managing grants within a donor and / or implementing organisation.

Experience of managing restricted donor funding and supporting ongoing donor management (e.g. government funding and/or funding from other institutions, trusts foundations or corporate entities)

Personal and effective relationship builder with high emotional intelligence to nurture trust and respect in all relationships.

Motivation, flexibility and resilience to navigate unforeseen challenges and collaborate effectively.

Analytical thinker with the ability to see the bigger picture and make appropriate and effective decisions.

An understanding or lived experience of social injustice, and proven track record of working in alignment with Comic Relief s commitment to social justice, anti-racism, diversity, inclusion and equity

Desirable criteria

Experience with or knowledge of decolonising philanthropy and the wider funding sector

Understanding of, and commitment to, the use of storytelling to engage the public in programmatic work

Experience of budget management

Perks and benefits:

Flexible working hours

Work from home option

Life Insurance

Wellness programs

Employee Assistance Programme

Enhanced maternity and paternity leave

Paid emergency leave

Sabbatical Opportunities

Professional development

Mentoring/coaching

Paid volunteer days

Payroll giving

Salary sacrifice

Team social events

Extracurricular clubs

Cycle to work scheme

Free fruit

To apply please visit our website via the link and apply online.

Comic Relief reserves the right to close the role early if a large number of applications are received.

Don t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Comic Relief we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you re excited about this role but your past experience doesn t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Why work at Comic Relief

There are lots of good reasons to join us at Comic Relief. You can read more about our employee benefits, such as our commitment to flexible and hybrid working. We ask staff to come to the office twice a week, normally on agreed team days, so that we can do all those things that are difficult to do online. Our office is based in Whitechapel, London,

There are lots of opportunities to develop your skills and experience at Comic Relief, including opportunities to become a Mental Health First Aider or to participate in our Employee Network Groups that focus on making Comic Relief a more inclusive place to work.

Disability Confident Employer

As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we take positive action by providing first-round interviews to candidates who have a registered disability, provided they meet the minimum criteria for the role, as demonstrated on their CV and application questions.

We ask that candidates that wish to be considered for this scheme email us via our website to discuss further. Please do not email CV's/cover letters.