Grant Relationship Manager

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities; Wolverhampton; On-site; GBP 57,000; Full time

Job summary

A government department is seeking a Grants Relationship Manager to lead proactive communications and collaborate with teams to ensure effective grant delivery. The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of government funding policies and agile methodologies. This role offers a salary of £56,167 with additional pension contributions. The successful applicant will navigate complex relationships and prioritize grant team needs while advocating for user-centred design in digital services.

Benefits

Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension contributions

Qualifications

• Good understanding of government funding policies and how grants are delivered.
• Experience of grant administration and management, including knowledge of the Government's Functional Standards on Grants.
• Strong understanding of agile ways of working, user-centred design, and government strategies.
• Ability to negotiate and influence grant teams effectively.

Responsibilities

• Lead proactive communications with policy and grant teams.
• Collaborate with teams for effective grant delivery.
• Negotiate and manage relationships with grant teams.
• Gather and prioritize grant team requirements.

Skills

Understanding of government funding policies

Experience in grant administration and management

Passion for government digital aims

Experience managing external partners

Data analysis and reporting

Communication of complex information

Ability to handle competing priorities

Education

Completion of Licence to Practice grants training or project delivery qualification

Job description

You will work within a multi-disciplinary team including developers, user researchers, service designers, delivery and product managers. Using your in-depth knowledge of grant delivery, you will support team members to understand how government funding works, helping them to build a high-performing digital service for MHCLG. You can learn more about the Funding Service's work on the MHCLG Digital blog - https://mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk/category/funding-service, As a Grants Relationship Manager your responsibilities will include:

• Leading proactive communications with policy and grant teams, acting as a translator between digital and non-digital teams
• Collaborating with corporate teams to support effective and compliant grant delivery, aligning with departmental strategies on data, digital innovation, and funding simplification to reduce administrative burden
• Negotiating with and influencing grant teams, and managing relationships effectively
• Gathering and prioritising grant team requirements and deadlines and communicating these to the wider team
• Communicating to policy and grant teams where requests or deadlines cannot be accommodated by the service and explain why
• Collaborating with user researchers and represent users internally; explaining the difference between user needs and the desires of the user
• Capturing new requirements which are multiple grant needs and making sure these are captured as service insights which could be added to development backlog
• Keeping internal information systems up to date including accurate tracking of time spent onboarding the grant to inform administrative cost calculations

Qualities and Experience

• Good understanding of government funding policies and how grants are delivered
• Experience of grant administration and management, including knowledge of the Government's Functional Standards on Grants
• A strong understanding of and passion for government digital aims, standards and values - including agile ways of working, user-centred design, and alignment with wider departmental and cross-government strategies
• Experienced in managing multiple external partners, building trusted relationships and resolving issues constructively
• Confident using data, reporting, or evidence to assess performance, identify risks, and recommend actions
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly to non-specialists; writing briefings, reports, or funding recommendations
• Ability to calmly handle competing priorities, keeping projects on track and meeting deadlines
• (Desirable) Completion of Licence to Practice grants training or a project delivery qualification

Here at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), we work on things that make a real difference to people's lives. Whether it's through the homes we live in, the work of our local councils, or the communities we're all part of, our work is at the top of the political agenda. We have ambitious and far‑reaching outcomes to achieve this year and, if you're thinking of joining us, there's never been a more exciting time. MHCLG's Funding Service is one of the core Grant Function teams, working alongside the Central Grants Hub (CGH) and other corporate teams and stakeholders— including commercial, finance, and legal — who collectively support effective and compliant grant delivery across the department. We are transforming how the department delivers £21bn of annual grant funding. We work with policy and delivery teams to embed digital, user-centred approaches to grant funding. We're seeking an enthusiastic advocate for user‑centred design with in‑depth knowledge of government funding policy and grant delivery. Many funding policy teams are new to user‑centred design (UCD) and agile. You'll need to champion these ways of working by coaching stakeholders to think about user needs and effective service provision.

Alongside your salary of £56,167, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £16,271 towards your membership of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Why you are interested in the role

Examples of how you meet the essential criteria in the JD

Please keep to a maximum of 1000 words

Interview Process

• Experience: Questions based on essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.
• Technical: Questions based on essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.
• Candidate will be asked to prepare a presentation; further details provided on invitation to interview.
• Sifting will take place the week commencing 12th January 2025; interviews expected to take place the week commencing 26th January 2025.
• Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.

Nationality requirements

• UK nationals
• Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre‑settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre‑settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• Individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Civil Service Code

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.