Fundraising Consultant - Grants

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty; York and North Yorkshire; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Substantial pension scheme (up to 10%)

Free entry to National Trust places

Season ticket loan

EV car lease scheme

Perks at work discounts

Holiday allowance up to 32 days

Job summary

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty is seeking an experienced Grants Consultant to lead the development of funding applications and identify new opportunities. You’ll build relationships with funders and partners to secure income for strategic work in the North of England.

Working 37.5 hours per week with hybrid office/home arrangements, you’ll manage complex projects, coordinate across teams, and help shape compelling, fundable proposals for upcoming

Qualifications

• Expert knowledge of the grants and fundraising environment.
• Track record of developing successful grant funding applications.
• Experience with local authorities and strategic partners to maximise funding opportunities.
• Ability to turn complex information into clear, persuasive written applications.
• Ability to build and maintain relationships with funders and stakeholders.
• Experience working with project budgets and financial information.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines.
• Collaborate across teams to progress funding proposals.

Responsibilities

• Develop a strong pipeline of projects and funding opportunities.
• Shape projects to meet funders' criteria and be ready for submission.
• Develop compelling funding proposals with inputs from multiple disciplines.
• Build strong external relationships with funders, local authorities and partners.
• Ensure applications, awards and funder relationships are recorded and managed.
• Lead the development of high-quality, income-generating applications.

Skills

Grant fundraising

Proposal writing

Stakeholder management

Budgeting

Project coordination

Relationship building

CRM software

Tools

CRM software

Job description

We're looking for an experienced grants fundraising professional to join our fantastic team in the North of England and help secure funding for some of the National Trust’s most ambitious work.

You’ll lead the development of high-quality funding applications, identify new opportunities and build strong relationships with funders and partners. Your work will help generate the income we need to deliver our strategy, People and Nature Thriving.

You’ll work 37.5 hours per week, including occasional evening or weekend work for events.

Internally, this role is known as Grants Consultant.

What it's like to work here

You’ll be part of our Specialist Delivery team, working alongside colleagues with expertise in areas such as fundraising, project management, conservation, curation and the built environment.

You’ll also be part of our wider fundraising community, sharing knowledge and working with colleagues across the National Trust. It’s a highly collaborative role, where you’ll work with different places, teams and specialists depending on the project or funding opportunity.

As this role covers the North of England region, your contractual place of work will be the nearest National Trust office to your home: Altrincham/Manchester, York, Newcastle or Grasmere.

Our hybrid working policy means you can balance office and home working with site visits and meetings at other National Trust places. We’ll talk about this in more detail at interview, but you should expect to be at a National Trust site for 40-60% of your working week.

What you'll be doing

A key part of the role will be developing a strong pipeline of projects and funding opportunities across a number of National Trust places, working with teams to shape projects so they meet the criteria of key funders and are ready for submission.

You’ll bring together complex information, budgets and input from colleagues across different disciplines to develop strong funding proposals, while helping teams understand what funders are looking for and how best to position their projects.

Building strong external relationships will be just as important. Working with funders, local authorities and other strategic partners, you’ll identify opportunities to collaborate, strengthen partnerships and maximise future funding potential.

Alongside this, you’ll provide specialist advice to colleagues, helping to build knowledge and confidence in grants fundraising, while ensuring applications, awards and funder relationships are accurately recorded and managed.

Above all else, this role is about generating income and leading the development of compelling, high-quality applications.

Who we're looking for

We’d love to hear from you if you have:

• Expert knowledge of the grants and fundraising environment, or equivalent relevant knowledge and experience.
• A track record of developing successful grant funding applications, including for complex projects or significant funding opportunities.
• Experience of working alongside local authorities, combined authorities and other strategic partners to maximise funding opportunities and deliver shared outcomes.
• Ability to turn complex or technical information into clear, persuasive and high-quality written applications.
• Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with funders, partners and stakeholders, including influencing others to progress opportunities.
• Experience working with project budgets and financial information to develop credible funding proposals.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines whilst maintaining accuracy and quality.
• Ability to collaborate and develop bids across teams, disciplines and partners, bringing specialist advice and strategic thinking to help others progress funding proposals and support future planning.

The package

The National Trust has the motto 'For everyone, for ever' at its heart. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.

• Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary
• Free entry to National Trust places for you, a guest and your children (under 18)
• Season ticket loan
• EV car lease scheme (for roles that meet the salary criteria)
• Perks at work discounts such as gym memberships, shopping discount codes, cinema discounts
• Holiday allowance up to 32 days relating to length of service, plus holiday purchase scheme, subject to meeting minimum criteria.

National Trust place

Goddards - RO, 27 Tadcaster Road, York, YO24 1GG

Documents

Fundraising Consultant - Grants Grade 5.pdf

Requirements

Compliance. Eligibility to Work in the UK

Additional information

Closing Date: Sunday 11th October 2026

Equal Opportunities Statement

The National Trust celebrates diversity and is committed to creating a fair and equal society, free from discrimination. You can read more about our commitment to inclusion and diversity here .

Safeguarding Statement

The National Trust is committed to a safe recruitment processes to help the organisation attract and appoint the right staff/volunteer for the role and responsibilities as set out in the vacancy advert. We will not accept applicants who are not suitable to work with children, young people or adults at risk. If you have any questions around your suitability for this vacancy, please contact the people service centre.