Grants Officer
Position Circumstances
- Career Category: Community Development, Communications
- Schedule:Full-time
- Salary: $720
PURPOSE
The role of the Grants Officer is to identify and assess grant opportunities, foster relationships with trusts, foundations, and Government bodies, updating the grants register, and applying for grants using a systematic approach. The role of the Grants Officer is to secure new grant funding, and manage and report on existing grants. You will be responsible for writing grant applications, stewardship of grant funding, and writing end of funding reports. This role has a core focus on increasing income for Free To Shine and therefore securing the safety and education of girls.
The role works closely with the Funding Manager, Program team and Operations team to convert organisational priorities into fundable proposals and to ensure awarded grants are well managed from application through to acquittal.
LOCATION: Based in our Siem Reap office, Cambodia.
REPORTS TO: Funding Manager
HOURS: Full time Monday to Friday, 8am – 5pm with a one hour lunch break.
Duties & Responsibilities:
- Grant Prospecting and Pipeline Management
- Identify, research and assess grant opportunities from trusts, foundations, institutional donors, corporate philanthropic bodies, and domestic and international government donors that align with Free To Shine's Strategic Plan.
- Maintain an up-to-date grant pipeline, including tracking deadlines, donor priorities, eligibility requirements, decision dates, and next actions in Free To Shine's record management systems.
- Conduct donor and opportunity due diligence, including assessment against Free To Shine's Ethical Decision Making Matrix and internal priorities.
- Build and maintain professional relationships with prospective and current donors to support new funding and repeat funding opportunities.
- Grant Writing and Submission
- Lead the development and submission of concept notes, letters of interest, grant applications, proposals and tenders in collaboration with the Funding Manager, Program team and Operations team.
- Coordinate internal inputs required for applications, including program design information, implementation plans, monitoring data, budgets and supporting documentation.
- Develop strong, persuasive and compliant grant narratives that clearly communicate Free To Shine's model, impact, evidence and funding needs.
- Ensure all submissions are accurate, complete, high quality and submitted on time in line with donor requirements.
- Work towards agreed grant submission and income targets set with the Funding Manager.
- Grant Management
- Manage a portfolio of awarded grants to ensure contractual obligations, milestones, deliverables and reporting deadlines are met.
- Coordinate the preparation and submission of donor reports, acquittals, variations and other grant-related communications, drawing on inputs from relevant staff.
- Maintain complete, accurate and audit-ready grant files, correspondence, agreements and reporting records.
- Monitor grant conditions and support internal teams to meet donor compliance requirements, including restricted funding conditions, timeframes and deliverables.
- Track reporting schedules and proactively follow up with internal contributors to ensure deadlines are met.
- Support donor stewardship by responding to donor queries and maintaining professional, timely communication with grant fun
- Internal Coordination
- Work closely with the Program and Operations team to translate project ideas, budgets, implementation plans and impact data into competitive proposals and accurate reports.
- Contribute to continuous improvement of grant systems, templates, calendars and workflow processes to strengthen Free To Shine's grants function.
- Provide regular updates to the Funding Manager on pipeline status, submissions, grant performance, risks and upcoming deadlines.
- Undertake other duties as reasonably required by the Funding Manager and Management team.
Benefits:
- Unspecified duration contract
- Annual bonuses for Khmer New Year and Pchum Ben
- All public holidays as specified by the government
- 18 days paid Annual Leave
- 7 days Special Leave (which includes sick leave)
- Local health and accident insurance
Expected Profile of Candidates
Languages:
- English - Fluent
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree in International Development, Communications, Political Science, Project Management, or related discipline, a related field is required
Work History:
- Experience in grant writing, with demonstrated success developing strong grant applications for 0 month as a minimum
Skills & Knowledge:
General & Technical Skills
- Experience managing grants after award, including donor reporting, compliance tracking and funder liaison.
- Successful gaining of grants of $50,000+
- Experience managing a grant portfolio.
- Proven success in building and maintaining strong professional relationships with funding bodies.
- Demonstrated success in achieving revenue targets.
- Experience working in a nonprofit, NGO or international development context is essential, especially in child protection or social work.
- Strong systems orientation, including experience maintaining grant trackers, document management systems and reporting schedules.
- Excellent English writing, editing and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor messaging to different funding opportunities.
Soft Skills
- Strong project coordination and time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines and competing priorities.
- High attention to detail and strong quality control skills, especially in reviewing donor requirements and submission documents.
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively across teams to obtain information and drive deadlines.
- Sound judgment, discretion and professionalism in donor communications and handling sensitive information.
- Commitment to Free To Shine's mission to keep girls safe from trafficking through education and community empowerment.
