Disability Project Grants Officer

About the Department

Faith and Public Life is a team with a broad remit to build relationships at national level to support the national roles of the Church of England, whether through contributing to those with Parliamentary responsibilities, developing a thoughtful response to legislation and public policy, advising on theological responses to life in the public square, or upholding social justice activity.

The Committee for Ministry of and Among Disabled People (CMDDP) exists to further the mission of the whole Church by enabling the full participation of Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people in the worship, witness and ministry of the body of Christ in all its rich diversity. It affirms the dignity of each person as made in the image of God with gifts both to give and to receive. Its remit forms an integral part of shaping the church as a place of flourishing for all and an instrument through which the Good News of Jesus Christ can be seen and proclaimed.

From 2026, the CMDDP has entered an exciting new phase and is looking to recruit a skilled officer to support the grant-funding workstream of the Disability Project.

About the role

The postholder will be the point of contact for new applicants and existing grantees under the PAF grant scheme, handling a caseload from pre-application contact through to completion. This will involve all aspects of grant service delivery including logging applications on receipt, pre-vetting applications, liaising with applicants as required, preparing papers for assessment panels, issuing offers and rejections, assisting applicants with procurement and finance processes, and following through with project monitoring and outcome evaluation.

Secondly, the postholder will be responsible for tracking all grants awarded, checking on the grantees’ timely submissions of payment requests, interim reports and end reports. They will inspect reports, raising any matters of concern to the DP Manager, and recommending specific reports for further conversations to create good news stories.

The postholder will report to the DP Manager, who will provide overall guidance, strategic oversight, and advise as required on operational matters.

The team is primarily based at Lambeth Palace, London, with occasional attendance required.

This is a 0.5 FTE fixed-term role until the end of December 2028.

Responsibilities

• Provide a knowledgeable and responsive service to parishes and Diocesan partners as first point of contact for the PAF, maintaining a comprehensive understanding of the scope and eligibility of the grant scheme.
• Review applications for completeness, eligibility, and alignment with the PAF Assessment Framework.
• Prepare a summary document for each approval panel, entering brief details of the salient points of all applications together with a concise summary of any relevant communications with the applicants.
• As directed by the Disability Project Manager, generate and send outcome documents to applicants.
• Use the Grants Management System (GMS) processes to progress an application through its lifecycle from submission to closure.
• As required, oversee procurement setup for applicant parishes, signature of the relevant Grant Agreements.
• Monitor the status of cases at all stages (from pre-application engagement to completion of grant-aided activity) and prepare regular reports for the DP Manager as required.
• Liaise with grantees to ensure timely submission of required reporting.
• Review end reports for completeness, matters of concern or potential comms material.
• Prepare data on grants awarded in statistical and graphical form for the Disability Project Board.
• Other duties as may reasonably be required by the DP Manager.

Qualifications

Essential

Knowledge/Experience

• Experience of providing operational support within a complex organisation.
• Experience of handling data accurately and in line with agreed processes and expectations, maintaining good governance, confidentiality and exceptional accuracy.
• Experience of supporting financial processes, such as processing payments.
• Experience of a charitable or public sector grant-making environment or funding programme, or a closely comparable role; ideally including a breadth of experience from light touch smaller grants to larger grants for complex, multi-funded, capital projects;
• Sympathetic understanding of the use of church buildings as centres of worship and mission;
• Substantial administrative experience, including developing, implementing and maintaining effective administrative systems and processes;
• Experience of building excellent relationships and communicating effectively with staff, grantees and external stakeholders at all levels;
• Understanding of need for good governance in grant giving.
• Competence in MS Office and Sharepoint, with experience of grants management systems an advantage.

Skills and Abilities

• Strong organisational skills, with the capacity to manage multiple tasks, prioritise effectively and meet deadlines.
• Ability to use, or quickly develop skills in using, a grant management system and apply guidance accurately.
• High level of attention to detail
• Strong spoken and written communication skills, with the ability to draft concise summaries and guidance.
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and other stakeholders, responding constructively to queries and requests.
• Interest in the work of the Church of England or of the wider charitable and non-profit sector.
• Financial and IT literacy.

Please note that you will not be able to view the role description after the closing date. We suggest that you save a copy of this page before you submit your application.

About the NCIs

The National Church Institutions comprises a wide variety of teams, professions and functions that support the mission and ministries of the Church of England in its vision to be a church, centred on Jesus Christ, for the whole nation - a church that is simpler, humbler, bolder.

We Include. You Belong.

Our Belonging and Inclusion Strategy aims for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong, and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

Living out our values in all that we do, we:

• Strive for Excellence
• Show Compassion
• Respect others
• Collaborate
• Act with Integrity

We believe our commitment to belonging and inclusion fuels our progress and drives us forward. The NCIs are a safe, inclusive workplace for people of all backgrounds and walks of life. We welcome applications from people of all faiths and of no faith. We want to encourage applications from a diverse group of people who share our values. Even if you have never thought about working for us before, if you have the skills and experience we’re looking for then we would like to hear from you.

We offer a highly competitive benefits package that supports your health, wellbeing and long-term financial security. This includes annual leave starting at 25 days' plus bank holidays and three additional NCI days, family friendly policies, a wellbeing cashback scheme, an electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme, a defined benefit pension with employer contributions of up to 18%, and generous life assurance cover.

Use of AI in your application

We appreciate that you may want to use AI tools to help you with your application. We're happy for you to use AI to come up with ideas and help structure your thoughts, but you shouldn't use AI to fabricate information or write your whole application for you. One of our values is integrity, and although we want you to demonstrate your best self, we don't want an AI-generated persona. If you simply copy and paste AI-generated content into your application, this will reduce your chances of success.