Grants and Partnerships Officer

We have an exciting opportunity for a confident and collaborative fundraiser who knows how to build strong relationships and turn good ideas into compelling funding and partnership opportunities.

As our Grants and Partnerships Officer, you'll help secure philanthropic income from trusts and foundations, corporate partners and sponsors. You'll manage a defined portfolio of opportunities, developing high-quality funding applications and sponsorship proposals that support our strategic priorities.

We are looking for someone who brings experience of securing 5- and 6-figure funding, building relationships with funders or corporate partners, and working across a large and complex organisation. With this experience and excellent writing skills, you will be able to turn complex ideas, projects and financial information into clear and persuasive proposals.

You'll be organised, collaborative and comfortable managing multiple opportunities, deadlines and funding cycles. Confident in managing structured processes and governance requirements, you'll work across departments to develop fundable projects and partnership propositions, ensuring submissions are well planned, insight-led and aligned with funder or partner objectives.

Most importantly, you'll enjoy building relationships, spotting opportunities and collaborating with colleagues to make great things happen, directly contributing to the sustainability and ambitions of the National Galleries of Scotland as part of a busy Development team.

The difference you'll make
As the Grants and Partnerships Officer your role will require you to contribute directly to growing and sustaining our philanthropic income through effective grant fundraising and developing corporate sponsorships. Reporting to the Development Manager - Grants and Partnerships, you will:
-Manage a portfolio of grant and corporate sponsorship prospects, supporting relationship-building, proposal development, reporting and stewardship activities.
-Work collaboratively with colleagues across the organisation to develop high-quality grant applications and corporate sponsorship proposals, coordinating content, budgets and supporting information.
-Assist with the design and shaping of fundable projects and partnership propositions, applying co-creation approaches that align organisational priorities with funder or corporate partner interests.
-Contribute to effective pipeline management across grants and corporate partnerships activity, maintaining accurate records of prospects, approaches, agreements, outcomes and reporting requirements.
-Undertake funder and corporate partner research and due diligence, applying robust ethical, reputational and risk-assessment principles to prospect identification, proposal development and partnership management.
-Work with colleagues to ensure timely submission of funding applications, sponsorship proposals, partnership agreements, progress reports and final reports in line with funder and partner expectations.
-Support stewardship of trusts, foundations and corporate partners through clear communication, acknowledgements, updates and ongoing relationship-building activity.
-Support the development and delivery of sponsorship activation, working collaboratively with internal teams to deliver agreed benefits, recognition and engagement activity in line with partnership agreements.
-Work closely with Development colleagues to ensure joined-up planning, consistent messaging and alignment across grants and corporate fundraising activity.
-Contribute to the maintenance of accurate and up-to-date records on the CRM system, ensuring data integrity, reporting accuracy and compliance with internal processes.
-Contribute to monitoring and reporting on grants and sponsorship income and performance.
-Operate effectively within a structured, process-driven fundraising environment, managing multiple deadlines, funding cycles and stakeholder inputs.

To succeed in this role, you'll need the following range of knowledge, skills, and experience:
-Experience of securing 5- and 6- figure funding from grant-giving organisations and/or corporate partners, funders or sponsors, ideally within a large or complex organisation.
-Proven experience of developing high-quality grant applications and/or corporate sponsorship proposals that require coordinated input from multiple internal stakeholders.
-You'll understand relationship-based fundraising and be confident working with external funders, corporate partners and senior internal colleagues.
-Good knowledge of project design and co-creation principles, including setting outcomes and articulating impact and theory of change within funding proposals.
-Understanding of sponsorship principles, including how corporate partners assess value, brand alignment and audience reach, and how sponsorship outcomes and benefits can be defined and measured.
-Awareness of the importance of due diligence, ethical assessment and reputational risk considerations in relation to funding or sponsorship opportunities.
-Strong organisational and project management skills, with the ability to work on multiple funding, partnership or sponsorship opportunities concurrently.
-Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to translate complex organisational activity into clear, persuasive funding and partnership proposals and reports.
-Confidence working within established processes and systems to manage pipelines, reporting and performance.
-Proven ability to collaborate effectively across teams and departments in a matrixed or institution-wide setting.
-High attention to detail, professionalism and discretion when handling sensitive information and relationships.
-Solid understanding of budgets, with the ability to analyse financial information and incorporate it into proposals and funding strategies.