Job Title: Grants Support Officer

Job Purpose: Fixed Term Contract (1 year) on Full Time Basis

Grade and Salary Band: Grade 1 Salary range: €27,785 to €30,760

Normally start on Point 1 of salary grade

Reporting to: Grant Operations & Corporate Funds Manager

Job Location: 30 Merrion Square North Dublin 2 with hybrid working available per our policy.

Applications Closing Date: 4th July 2025

Role Description

About Community Foundation Ireland

As a philanthropic hub, we believe strategic giving has the power to create meaningful change and achieve our mission of Equality for All in Thriving Communities.

Community Foundation Ireland plays a vital role in promoting positive social change and community development throughout the country by connecting donors with local causes and effectively managing charitable resources.

We take an inclusive holistic approach to delivering impact across four key areas, which reflect both long-standing and emerging challenges:

• Sustainable Futures places Community Foundation Ireland as leaders on biodiversity and climate-action, working in partnership with communities as well as Government to address the biggest challenges of all.
• We nurture Inclusive Communities where everyone is respected and has the opportunity to contribute and thrive.
• We Empower Generations to ensure everyone is heard and respected irrespective of age.
• Accelerating Change sees us working with change-makers to overcome systematic and societal barriers to equality and fairness.

It serves as a philanthropic hub for Ireland which is a source of knowledge, expertise and information to ensure effective and strategic giving and serves as a resource for individuals, families, and organisations to establish funds or contribute to existing funds with specific charitable goals.

Established in 2000, Community Foundation Ireland has grown significantly, with over €200m in donations in the past 25 years and an ambitious plan for growth by 2030.

About the Role

The Grants Support Officer is a key member of the Impact, Grants and Donor Care team, providing essential administrative, coordination, and communication support across all stages of the grant-making process. This dynamic role involves direct engagement with grantees, ensuring a smooth and responsive experience from application to grant completion. With responsibilities ranging from due diligence and grant assessment to assisting impact reporting, the role requires a detail-oriented, organised, and collaborative individual who is passionate about supporting meaningful projects and helping communicate their impact to a wider audience.

Key responsibilities

Grant Round Support

A central function of the Grants and Donor Services team is the management and coordination of open and invite-only grant rounds. These funding programmes are competitive and can result in large volumes of queries and data that require processing. The Grants Support Officer will play a pivotal role in this administrative and storytelling work and their key responsibilities will include:

• Acting as the key point of contact for grantees throughout the lifecycle of the funding programme, undertaking tasks such as:
• Managing grant-related queries via email and phone
• Supporting applicants with their applications
• Working with team members on the design and implementation of Grant Rounds including:
• Drafting criteria
• Supporting applicants with their applications
• Assessing proposals in line with the Grant-Making Approach and Assessment Matrix
• Liaising, where relevant, with the relevant Donor Care Executive to provide information, statistics and feedback to be passed onto the donor.
• Communicating outcomes with successful and unsuccessful applicants, including providing feedback.
• Seeking authorisation, grant agreements and making payments.
• Progressing the grants accurately on the Grants Management System.
• Managing grantees as they progress and complete their projects, including responding to project change requests and queries as they arise.
• Requesting progress and outcome reports and monitoring the progress, success and impact of the funded projects.
• Provide periodic updates on the grant round as a whole and impact reports where relevant.
• Undertaking due diligence assessments on applicants including:
• Reviewing governance and financial documentation.
• Confirming validity of data submitted by the applicants.
• Undertaking media checks on the applicants.

Executive administration

• In addition to core grant-making duties, the Grants Support Officer will contribute to amplifying the impact of the Foundation’s work through communications and storytelling. The role also encompasses essential administrative support to ensure efficient grant operations and accurate data management across systems.
• Supporting the Grants and Donor Care team to effectively communicate the impact of our grant-making, in line with the strategy including:
• Coordinating opportunities for the Grants and Donor Care Team to share impactful and successful grants to staff internally and externally where appropriate.
• Working with team members to identify strong stories of impact of Foundation blogs and the newsletters.
• Support the Grants and Donor Care and Communications team with event planning, grantee attendance and management.

Undertaking administrative tasks on the Grants Management System outside of formal grant rounds including:

• Supporting the Grants and Donor Care team with meeting preparation and logistics.
• Supporting organisations and individuals to access the Grants Portal, update their details and apply for funding.
• Logging meetings, phone calls and site visits with grantees.
• Keeping the CRM module up to date, ensuring grantee and contact information is up to date.
• Other duties as they may arise.

About You

• Have exceptional organisational and administrative skills with ability to work to tight deadlines and prioritise tasks effectively
• Have fluent written and spoken English
• Be detailed orientated
• Have at least one years’ experience in a busy administrative role
• Demonstrate excellent customer service skills
• Show high levels of proficiency in the application of Microsoft Office suite and any CRM system
• Have excellent data management skills
• Have an ability to multi task and prioritise

Desirable

• Experience or knowledge of grantmaking processes
• Familiarity with issues facing the charity sector

Terms

• Fixed Term for 1 year, 35 hours per week, with potential to develop into a longer term position as the organisation grows
• Hybrid working – based in our Dublin 2 office on Wednesday & Thursday, with option to work from either office or home on other days
• Competitive salary in the range € 27,785 to € 30760 DOE
• Contributory Pension
• Income Protection and Death in Service Group Scheme.
• TaxSaver and Bike to Work Scheme.
• Voluntary Time Off & Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Programme.
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
• Regular team-based activities and social activities.
• Convenient city centre location.
• Networking opportunities with key stakeholders.
• Community Foundation Ireland is a strong promoter of personal and continuous professional development.

Application

Please apply including a CV and cover letter to careerscfi@foundation.ie by 5 pm on 4th July 2025.

Informal enquiries are welcome on info@foundation.ie

We warmly welcome applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. We are committed to making our recruitment processes accessible to everyone and are flexible in how we receive information. If you would like to apply via a different format or let us know how we can support you to be the best you can be.