Partnerships Manager (22.5 hours per week)

EFA London (English for Action); Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days annual leave

6% pension contribution

Hybrid work model

Sick/maternity/paternity leave

Job summary

English for Action (EFA) is seeking a Partnerships Manager to grow funding for our free ESOL classes across London. You will own relationships with trusts, foundations, and corporate funders, shaping how we diversify income while contributing to our mission to empower migrants through English and rights-based education.

You’ll write grant applications, build a realistic funding pipeline, and collaborate with our leadership to align proposals with classroom needs and community impact.

Qualifications

• Track record of successful grant writing.
• Strong research and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to manage multiple funding deadlines.
• Knowledge of the UK charity sector and trusts/foundations.

Responsibilities

• Write compelling grant applications, funding proposals and reports.
• Develop and maintain a realistic pipeline of trusts, foundations and corporate donors.
• Build and maintain relationships with existing donors and prospects.
• Contribute to fundraising strategy including new income streams (statutory, corporate, individual giving, events).
• Liaise with Executive Team, Hub Leads and Project Managers to ground proposals in classroom realities.
• Maintain donor and grant records in Donorfy and support monitoring of project outcomes.

Skills

Grant writing

Research

Relationship-building

Fundraising strategy

Stakeholder management

Tools

Donorfy

Job description

Job description

Every grant you win becomes someone's first conversation in English, their first step into a job interview, their first time speaking up at a housing tribunal.

English for Action (EFA) is looking for a Partnerships Manager to grow the funding that powers our free, participatory ESOL classes for around 400 migrants across London. Our classes don't just teach English, they build the confidence and collective power people need to organise around housing and employment rights.

About the role

Working closely with our Fundraising Lead, you'll take real ownership of relationships with trusts, foundations and corporate funders, while helping shape how we diversify our income going forward. This is a role with genuine scope to bring your own ideas and see them through, not just execute someone else's plan.

You will:

• Write compelling grant applications, funding proposals and reports that win and retain funding
• Research and build a realistic pipeline of trusts, liveries and corporate foundations
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with existing donors and prospects
• Contribute to EFA's fundraising strategy, including newer income streams such as statutory, corporate, individual giving, membership and events
• Liaise with our Executive Team, Hub Leads and Project Managers so funding proposals stay grounded in what's actually happening in our classrooms and communities
• Maintain accurate donor and grant records on Donorfy, and support monitoring and evaluation of project outcomes

About you

You don't need a degree, and you're not expected to tick every box, nobody does. We're looking for someone with a track record of successful grant writing, strong research and relationship-building skills, and the organisation to manage multiple funding deadlines at once. Knowledge of the UK charity sector and UK trusts and foundations is essential; experience with public sector or EU education funding is a bonus.

If you have lived experience of migration and/or learning English as an additional language, we'd love to hear from you and how you'd like to draw on it in this role.

About EFA

English for Action provides free, participatory, empowering ESOL classes for migrants in London, spaces where students build community and organise collectively around issues like employment and housing rights. We're a national centre of good practice for a radical, participatory approach to ESOL, and we share this approach through training, research and partnerships. We're a team of 11 staff, a wider team of volunteers, and 7 trustees, run through shared leadership rather than a CEO, decisions are made collaboratively, and we aim for our structure to reflect that.

What we offer

• 22.5 hours (3 days) a week, mostly remote, with just monthly in-person meetings in London
• 28 days' annual leave (pro rata) after probation, plus bank holidays, plus a full week's paid closure over Christmas
• 6% matched pension contribution
• Enhanced sick pay, and enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption/shared parental leave
• Wellbeing allowance and full entitlement to leave for sickness, including mental ill-health
• A genuinely flat, non-hierarchical culture with collaborative decision-making on strategy and practice
• Tech and cycle scheme, and actively encouraged continuous personal development

Equal opportunities

EFA particularly encourages applications from people of colour, who are currently underrepresented at EFA and across the charity sector, and from people who have experienced moving to the UK or have English as an additional language. Where two or more candidates are of equal merit, priority may be given to a candidate from a less well-represented group. Please let us know about any access or other requirements we can accommodate.

Closing date: 11.59pm, Wednesday 30th September 2026

Skills test: w/c 5th October 2026 (writing and budgeting)

Interviews: Friday 9th / 16th October 2026

Questions before applying? Email Gina Rodriguez (HR Lead)

Application resources

Job description for Partnership Manager