Grants Liaison Officer

National History Museum; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

The National History Museum seeks a motivated individual for the Research Coordination Office to support grant funding efforts. The role involves pre-award and post-award tasks, requiring excellent communication and organizational skills. Join a team dedicated to scientific research and visitor engagement in a hybrid working environment.

Benefits

27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays

Generous pension scheme

Life insurance

Free admission to exhibitions

Staff discounts

Training initiatives

Affordable membership to Civil Service Sports Council

Access to in-house gym and clubs

Qualifications

• Experience in an administrative environment with strong numeracy skills.
• Proficiency in IT and ability to learn financial platforms quickly.

Responsibilities

• Support external income generation from grant-awarding bodies.
• Manage project budget transactions and control.

Skills

Communication

Numeracy

Problem-Solving

Time Management

Teamwork

Education

Degree in a subject relevant to NHM Science

Tools

Access FocalPoint

Job description

About Us

We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.

We employ 900 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us.

Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.

We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

About the role

The Research Coordination Office (RCO) is part of the Science Directorate within the Museum's Science Group. The role of RCO is to support external income generation from a wide range of grant-awarding bodies including but not limited to UKRI, European Commission (EC), trusts, foundations and learned societies. The RCO team assist NHM staff in seeking funding opportunities, preparing grant applications and with the administration of funded awards.

This role involves promoting grant funding opportunities to staff and responsibility for the post-award phase of a range of projects. The post holder shall work closely with the funders and Project Leads (PLs) of the awards along with the NHM's Corporate Services in project delivery. The role will provide experience for the post holder to work on projects across the scientific disciplines at the Museum and support the academic community with the delivery of its Science Plan.

Pre-award tasks shall include sourcing, tracking and sharing of information on new grant opportunities relevant to NHM staff. Post-award responsibilities will focus on project budget transactions and control, supporting with recruitment of project staff, operational support to PLs, including efficiently resolving funder related queries that arise.

We are looking for solutions-orientated person who is a good listener and team player, who can use effective time-management skills to prioritise tasks.

About you

The ideal candidate for this role will have demonstrated experience in an administrative environment that demands strong numeracy skills. We are seeking someone with excellent IT proficiency—including confidence using social media—and the ability to quickly learn new software systems, particularly financial platforms.

You will be a confident communicator, capable of engaging effectively with staff at all levels. Building trust and strong working relationships with peers, senior colleagues across the Museum, and external funding bodies will be essential.

We are looking for someone with outstanding verbal and written communication skills, a proven ability to manage and prioritise multiple tasks to meet deadlines, and strong analytical capabilities with a structured approach to problem-solving.

A keen eye for detail and the ability to consistently produce accurate, high-quality work are important. The role also requires the flexibility to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team.

Highly desirable attributes include experience using financial software (NHM currently uses Access FocalPoint), a project management qualification or relevant experience, and previous administrative experience in an academic setting. Pre- or post-award grant administration experience—ideally with UK Research Councils, the European Commission, and/or Trusts and Foundations—and a degree in a subject relevant to NHM Science will be particularly valuable.

Thriving at the Museum: the way we work

We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.

Find out more here

What we offer

• 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
• Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)
• Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
• Life insurance
• Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
• Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
• We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
• Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures. For more details, visit https://www.cssc.co.uk
• Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi

Hybrid working

We are working towards a vision where both people and planet thrive, and nothing gives a greater connection with this, than seeing first-hand, the visitors, scientific research and collections that all of our work is inspired by and working side by side with the teams delivering the visitor experience and events. We also recognise the benefits and flexibility that hybrid working brings. We operate a hybrid working model that requires regular, weekly attendance for this role (minimum 2 days plus events), with the precise pattern of days on site and worked from home to be agreed with your manager.

How to apply

If this sounds like you, please apply below by clicking on Apply for job.

Please note that as part of our commitment to anonymised shortlisting, panels do not view CVs during the recruitment process. If you choose to upload your CV, our system will automatically pull information from your CV into our application form. We advise you to double-check your application form data before submitting as the tool may interpret CVs differently.

Closing date: 29 May 2025, 23:59

Interviews expected w/c 09 June 2025

Please note that this role does not qualify for Museum sponsorship so the successful postholder will need to have a valid right to work in the UK at the point of offer.