Grant Manager Fidelity Foundation

About the Opportunity

Job Type: PermanentApplication Deadline: 08 February 2025

Role:                Grant Manager: Fidelity UK Foundation (the post-holder will be employed by Fidelity International and seconded to the Foundation)

Location:         London (Cannon Street). This is a full-time role, and flexible working arrangements available (the post-holder will need to be in the office at least 2-3 days per week, and available to be in the office/travel for site visits, as required).      

Salary:             £46k - £53k + comprehensive benefits

Reports to:      Head of UK Programmes 

Background

About the Fidelity UK Foundation  

The Fidelity UK Foundation was established by Fidelity International in 1988 and has been proudly supported by Fidelity International since inception.

The Foundation’s approach to grant-making is distinctive in that it focuses on capacity building (the capabilities, knowledge and resources charities need to thrive and achieve their goals), helping to strengthen the impact, effectiveness and/or sustainability of non-profit organisations (focusing on charities with budgets of between c.£1m and c.£20m).

The Foundation has four priority programme areas:

• Enabling disadvantaged children and young people to achieve their potential (focusing on education attainment, youth development, wellbeing and family life, and employability).
• Health and wellbeing (focusing on organisations that are delivering services that fall outside of the scope of state provision/areas of unmet need/prevention and early intervention - the Foundation does not fund organisations focused on health research).
• Arts, culture and heritage
• Environmental conservation (focusing on land and freshwater conservation, and access and connectivity to nature).

The Foundation is pro-active in its approach to grant-making and does not seek unsolicited proposals. We run a highly interactive grant-making process. We take pride in our holistic and intentional approach, and seek to understand an organisation as a whole, including its leadership and governance, impact, strategic plans, how it engages with the communities it seeks to serve and the wider eco-system, its approach to collaboration, operations, and financial management - and importantly how any project proposed for funding will enhance capacity.

In addition to the Fidelity UK Foundation, Fidelity International also supports international Foundations whose grant-making focuses on Europe and Asia Pacific. The UK and international Foundations are managed by one team.

Our values of, integrity, trust, compassion, collaboration, and a deep sense of humility guide our grant-making which is executed quietly as the Foundations do not seek public profile.

The Fidelity UK Foundation is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales number 327899 and information can also be found on the Foundations’ website.

This is an exciting time to join the Fidelity UK Foundation as it looks to grow and develop its grant portfolios, continues to finesse its grant-making strategies, and deepen its understanding of the impact of its grants.  

Purpose of the Role

Working closely with the Head of the UK Programmes the Grant Manager will be responsible for the development, delivery and management of a significant portfolio of grants across the UK Foundation’s priority programme areas, with a focus on health and wellbeing and children and young people (working on grant-making across other programme areas, as required). The Foundation has evolved and grown significantly in recent years and following the appointment in 2022 of a Head of UK Programmes and strengthening of the Foundation’s strategies, this is an exciting time to join the team. While this role is UK-focused, the post-holder will get exposure to grant-making of the international Foundations through team meetings and peer review of grant proposals, and therefore provides an interesting opportunity to learn about grant-making across Europe and Asia Pacific.

Please note: only applicants with the right to work in the UK will be considered.

Key Responsibilities

Grant-making strategy

• Support the Head of UK Programmes in keeping abreast of developments across the Foundation’s priority programme areas, with a particular focus on health and wellbeing and enabling disadvantaged children and young people fulfil their potential - tracking existing and developing trends, pro-actively sharing knowledge and insights across the team.
• Build and maintain relationships with, and knowledge of other grant-makers that have shared interests.

Grants management:

Oversee development of pipeline of grants

• Pro-actively develop a strong pipeline of grants to ensure that grant-making targets for the UK Foundation are met and that proposals are well aligned to the Foundation’s strategic priorities.
• Assess concept papers invited from charities providing in depth analysis and recommendations regarding which could be taken forward to full application.
• Undertake due diligence on applications, effectively applying the Foundation’s due diligence framework, analysing an organisation as a whole (looking at factors such as leadership and governance, impact, funding model and financial health and strategic/business plans) and assessing how a proposed project will enhance an organisation’s strategic ambitions.
• Reflect on appropriateness/relevance of organisational and project goals for grant proposals to support monitoring of progress and impact, ensuring that measures are meaningful and ‘owned’ by grantees.
• Write clear and concise proposals with sound analysis for Trustee consideration.
• Peer review grant proposals across the UK and international Foundations.

Portfolio management

• Develop and maintain constructive relationships with grantees throughout the grant-making life-cycle - from application to monitoring progress, assessing progress reports and learning from grants made.
• Implement Trustee decisions, working closely with the Grants Administration team to ensure all aspects of grants administration are processed efficiently.

Monitoring, impact and learning

Working closely with colleagues focused on monitoring, impact, and learning:

• Review grantee reports and undertake periodic meetings/site visits throughout the grant period in the interest of developing positive relationships with grantees, monitoring progress and learning from grantees and from the impact of grants made.
• Analyse the impact of grants, preparing papers for Trustees, as required.
• Pro-actively connect grantees to facilitate shared learning.
• Support learning across the wider Foundations’ team so all Foundations continue to enhance their knowledge, strategic thinking and practice.

General

• Ensure compliance with all Foundation policies, and effectively mitigate and manage risk.
• Ensure the Foundations’ grant-making database is kept up to date and accurate.
• Offer flexible support for the Foundations generally, as and when necessary, providing cover for other members of the team to ensure the work of the Foundations can continue effectively and without interruption.
• Represent the Foundations in a manner that is consistent with their values.

Experience and Qualifications Required

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent experience (ideally in fields directly relevant to the role) 

Knowledge and expertise

• In-depth knowledge of the charity sector funding ecology, policy environments and socio-economic impact in the fields of health and wellbeing and/or children and young people.
• Experience of undertaking ‘landscape analysis’, to shape strategic thinking and decision-making.
• Significant grant-making experience working in the fields health and wellbeing and/or children and young people, with an in-depth knowledge of these sectors and associated contexts.
• Experience of working within operating charities (including as a Trustee).
• A sound understanding of how philanthropy can be effectively harnessed to strengthen the impact, efficiency and/or sustainability of organisations.
• In-depth knowledge of capacity/capability building needs across non-profit sector, including knowledge of the effective application of technology and insights regarding effective innovation that is supporting new business models, financial resilience and/or sustainability.
• Direct experience of providing capacity building/organisational development support to non-profit organisations (desirable).
• Proven track record of producing clear, concise and insightful information for diverse audiences, including written materials to inform decision-making.
• Established network of contacts across the non-profit sector, including with other funders active in the field.
• Knowledge of and/or an interest in environmental conservation/arts, culture and heritage (desirable).

 Skills, abilities and interests

• Ability to analyse complex information and assess charitable organisations as a whole (including reviewing and analysing business/strategic plans, impact data and financial accounts and budgets), considering an organisation’s role and impact in the broader context.
• Ability to produce strong, clear and compelling written material to inform decision-making.
• Excellent attention to detail.

• Excellent communication and inter-personal skills - must be able to work effectively with a diverse range of organisations, other team members and Trustees.
• Ability to ask insightful questions and make informed and sound judgements, engaging effectively with organisations throughout the life cycle of a grant.
• Ability to think and plan strategically.
• Excellent administrative, project management and organisational skills and the ability to meet tight deadlines and work at pace, managing a diverse and demanding workload on own initiative.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to understand and articulate complex information clearly and concisely.
• High standard of written and spoken English.
• Excellent listening skills and the ability to ask the right questions.
• Ability to analyse financial accounts.
• High level of personal responsibility, discretion, humility, and emotional intelligence with experience of engaging with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
• Empathic with an open and curious approach. 
• An understated and collaborative style. 
• Flexible, creative, approachable, and diplomatic.
• Ability to get alongside organisations, allowing them to lead.
• Generous approach to knowledge sharing.

General

• The desire to bring enthusiasm, ambition, and commitment to the role.
• Commitment to the ethos and mission of the Foundations.
• Willingness to travel within the UK, including some overnight stays.
• Evidence of commitment to work-related learning and development.

Appendix 1: About Fidelity International

Fidelity International offers investment solutions and services and retirement expertise to customers globally. As a privately-held, purpose-driven company with a 50-year heritage, we think generationally and invest for the long term. Operating in more than 25 locations, clients range from central banks, sovereign wealth funds, large corporates, financial institutions, insurers and wealth managers, to private individuals.

Our Workplace & Personal Financial Health business provides individuals, advisers and employers with access to world-class investment choices, third-party solutions, administration services and pension guidance. By combining our asset management expertise with our solutions for workplace and personal investing, we work together to build better financial futures.

Our clients come from all walks of life, and so do we.  We are proud of our inclusive culture and encourage applications from the widest mix of talent, whatever your age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, social background and more.

As a flexible employer, we trust our people to perform their role in the way that works best for them, our clients and our business. We are a disability-friendly company and would welcome a conversation with you if you feel you might benefit from any reasonable adjustments to perform to the best of your ability during the recruitment process and beyond.

Fidelity International Values

Integrity: Doing the right thing, every time, and putting the client first

Trust: Empowering each other to take the initiative and make good decisions

Fidelity International Behaviours

Our employees should be:

Brave: Challenge the status quo, be accountable and speak up

Bold: Act with conviction, encourage diverse thinking and keep things simple

Curious: Learn to do new things in better ways and encourage fresh thinking

Compassionate: Have empathy, care for colleagues, clients and the community