Grant Development Officer

As the living, growing home of our national story, The National Archives is a special place to work. We’re an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history.

We’ve set ourselves the challenge of becoming the 21st Century national archive - a different kind of cultural and heritage institution: Inclusive, Entrepreneurial, Disruptive. We won’t become this overnight. It will take time, focus, effort and daring.

That’s where you come in. Because we can’t do this without you.

Job Overview

Salary: £34,882 per annum
Contract type: Permanent
Band: E / Higher Executive Officer
Closing date: Monday 12th October 2026 at midnight

About us:

The Grant Development Officer will sit within The National Archives’ Research, Grants and Academic Engagement department, the central locus for our: 
1. Research strategy and delivery 
2. Research impact, culture and engagement
3. Grant fundraising and philanthropy
4. Management and assurance of external funding 
5. Grant-making to the archives and GLAM sectors. 

The National Archives has a strong track record of securing external funding and holds a grant portfolio of over £16m. Our per-annum grant income has grown by nearly 500% since 2022-23, and in April 2026, we consolidated our fundraising operations with The National Archives Trust. The National Archives has a strategic priority to secure new charitable and philanthropic funding, and this post is one of three new roles being advertised in Autumn 2026 to deliver on that goal. We want to grow our research income, including particularly beyond the arts and humanities; reach a wider breadth of funders both nationally and internationally; and raise our profile, through more creative and targeted public engagement and learning programmes with national reach.


About the role:

The National Archives (TNA) is looking for an enthusiastic and creative Grant Development Officer to support the development of grant-funded projects, partnerships and fellowships. Working with the Grant Development Manager, Head of Grant Development and colleagues across TNA, the Grant Development Officer will play a critical role in supporting grant fundraising, consolidating and expanding our grant-winning capability.

The Grant Development Officer will be responsible for a varied range of tasks across TNA’s grants development portfolio, including supporting multiple applications at one time. Working with specialists from across our institution, you will develop a wide range of skills in grants administration, bid development, finance and communication. We are a UKRI-accredited Independent Research Organisation, and the majority of our grant proposals are for our research, however we also have a strong and growing portfolio of applications and projects in progress for digitisation, capital infrastructure, public engagement and learning. The postholder will work closely with our new Philanthropy team and with The National Archives Trust, a registered charity that supports The National Archives to engage and educate the public, and conserve and preserve the collection.

As well as providing support to the Grant Development Team’s pre-award processes, the postholder will have the opportunity to refresh our grant development communication for internal and external audiences, working with colleagues across the department and wider organisation to ensure that our staff and external partners have all the information they need to develop winning grants at TNA.

This is a full time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department.

A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for a minimum of 60% of their work time.


Application Process:

We ask all applicants to submit work history details and a personal statement addressing the 4 criteria below:

- Graduate-level education or equivalent experience, with excellent written and verbal communication skills.

- An understanding of grant funding in the research and/or cultural heritage sectors.

- Good communication skills, including face-to-face, over videoconference and written, with ability to understand and explain information (including financial information) clearly.

- Good judgement as to when to progress an issue independently, and when to escalate to line manager or other senior staff.


Selection for interview will be based on these 4 criteria so please ensure that your application demonstrates in detail how you meet these requirements. You may find it helpful to use each criteria as a subheading, or to use the STAR method to structure your statement. We suggest candidates write between 250-300 words per criteria.


If we receive a large number of applications candidates will initially be assessed on one criteria:

- An understanding of grant funding in the research and/or cultural heritage sectors.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.  Please visit the Civil Service Careers website where you can find further information on the use of AI in the application guidance section.


Interviews will be held on-site, ideally during week commencing 2nd November.

Applicants invited to interview will be assessed against ALL of the essential criteria (see full job description below).

We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Job Description

Role and Responsibilities

Fundraising and Project Support

• Proactively support the Grant Development Team in the management of grant applications, from ideation to submission to various funders, including (for example) UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) or The National Lottery Heritage Fund, using collaboration and influencing skills to work across different teams and contribute to the timely completion of quality bids.
• Conduct prospect research, identifying new funders, calls and opportunities, matching them appropriately with internal initiatives and expertise, and communicating them across the organisation.
• Support the delivery of our internal Strategic Research Fund, providing guidance for applicants at pre-award stage and administrative support at post-award stage, advising on project design and delivery, supporting financial processing where necessary and identifying solutions to project challenges where required.
• Managing the administration of demand-managed funding calls, designing and delivering an internal process to select applicants from within The National Archives, and developing bespoke bids that deliver on institutional strategic goals while supporting the needs of the funders programme.
• Lead the approval, drafting and submission of institutional letters of support.

Administration and Process Delivery

• Lead the administration of TNA’s pre-award process, collating necessary documentation for internal approval, peer review and submission to funder. Communicate internal decisions on proposals, ensuring that applicants and the Grant Development Team receive timely guidance, templates, and documentation.
• Support with the compilation of activity reports and statistics, to assist with reporting of institutional grant activity to the Head of Department and TNA’s Executive Team, Finance and Performance Committee and Board.
• Manage the Grant Development Team’s information and documentation, maintaining an accurate and auditable filing system.

Communications and Events

• Lead the Grant Development’s team internal and external communications and messaging, communicating with TNA’s internal and external audiences through various channels, in collaboration with the Research Impact, Culture and Engagement (RICE) team.
• Identify and communicate funding opportunities across The National Archives. Using our internal intranet, email, events, person-to-person liaison and other communication channels as appropriate, ensure that relevant staff are informed of and engaged by opportunities to generate external funding.
• Support external meetings and events for TNA’s grant development portfolio (in-person and online), including preparing agendas and materials, booking spaces and catering, organising technical support, publicising and marketing, and taking minutes, including in hosting and liaising with senior or Board-level external stakeholders.
• Co-ordinate the set up and delivery of grant development training and knowledge dissemination workshops, making a proactive and meaningful contribution to our Research Pathways researcher development programme.

Finance

• Assist with project budgeting and grant proposal costings, including for complex proposals of over £1m, ensuring that proposal budgets are robust and compliant, and that value for money is demonstrated in fundraising proposals.
• Understand funder financial regulations and support Grant Development Team in meeting key financial compliance requirements in bids.
• Support the financial processing of the Grant Development Team as required.

The post-holder may be required to undertake any other duties which may be reasonably requested within the nature of the duties and responsibilities of the post as defined.

 

Working Conditions

• Normal office environment
• Display Screen Equipment user

 

Person Specification

Essential Criteria:

• Graduate-level education or equivalent experience, with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• An understanding of grant funding in the research and/or cultural heritage sectors.
• High level of numeracy for budgeting and financial processing.
• Strong time management skills, with ability to prioritise tasks within a shifting workload and manage conflicting demands.
• Good communication skills, including face-to-face, over videoconference and written, with ability to understand and explain information (including financial information) clearly.

• Excellent team player with good co-ordination and interpersonal skills, able to build effective collaborative relationships and networks, and to negotiate and manage challenge with clarity and diplomacy.

• Good judgement as to when to progress an issue independently, and when to escalate to line manager or other senior staff.
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to maintain accurate and up-to-date record-keeping systems.

Desirable Criteria:

• Prior experience of grants administration in the academic or cultural heritage sectors.
• Interest in arts, culture and heritage, and the work of The National Archives.

Other Requirements

• A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site. Our expectation is that 60% of our time is spent in the office or working offsite (e.g. on visits), with 40% being from home.

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
D&I Strategy.

Benefits 

 

Generous benefits package, including pension, sports and social club facilities, onsite gym, discounted rates at our on-site cafe and opportunities for training and development.  Annual leave entitlement of 22 days per calendar year (rising to 25 after the first year, and incrementally to 30 days after six years) and 10½ days public and privilege holidays per annum.

 

Any move to The National Archives from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at  https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ (opens in new window)

Reasonable adjustments

 

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: 

• Contact The National Archives via [email protected] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs 

• Complete the ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ section of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional

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Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.  

 

Security 

 

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check. 

People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks (opens in new window)

 

Nationality requirements 

 

This job is broadly open to the following groups: 

• 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) (opens in a new window)

• 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

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in new window)

 

Working for the Civil Service

 

The Civil Service Code  (opens in new window) 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. (opens in new window) 

 

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) 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. 

 

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative. (opens in new window)

 

Contact point for applicants:

• Name: The National Archives Recruitment Team 

• Email: [email protected] 

 

Further information 

 

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact The National Archives via email: [email protected] If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/recruitment-complaints/ (opens in new window)