Funding Officer - Our Natural World

Location: Kings Cross, London with hybrid working arrangements. We have 'core days' when all employees are expected to work from the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The office is open all day every working day and employees can use the working space as much as is
helpful to deliver their role.

About Esmée

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is a charity and leading independent funder. We support work on environment, community and social justice by providing c. £50million annually in grants to organisations and initiatives with brilliant ideas who share our goals. We also provide investment
for organisations with the aim of creating social and environmental impact. We have been a supporter of environment work for decades, underpinning the work of many organisations that work on climate and nature.

We believe a greater diversity of views, skills, and lived experience helps generate better ideas, and leads to better decision making. We want to encourage applicants with a diverse range of backgrounds to apply. In particular, those with lived experience of racial inequity, disability, or poverty.

About the role

The role is based in our Esmee's Our Natural World team. We are a small and friendly team (of 6 people) that holds over 250 relationships across the UK, through grants, investments and other support. These cover a wide range of organisations from the well-known and high profile through to start-ups, social enterprises and organisations working on niche issues. Our key environment priorities include nature friendly farming and fisheries, freshwater, peat and nature recovery on land and at sea.

The role will provide support to the team, including speaking to our partners and learning from their work, helping to assess funding applications and writing summaries for our Trustees, and undertaking research to inform the development of new programmes and projects. The role will also help to arrange our funding decision meetings, events and site visits.

We are seeking individuals who are passionate about the environment and addressing the causes and impacts of climate change, and eager to enhance their skills and experience in the environment and/or philanthropic sectors. If you are proactive, organised, and a naturally curious problem solver, this opportunity could be for you.

We welcome candidates with knowledge or experience in the environment-whether gained through work, study, volunteering, or personal interest-who are excited about making a real contribution to our work. As a small team covering a broad range of topics, there is scope to be involved in a number of different topic areas. We currently have over 250 relationships across the UK, giving the successful candidate a unique perspective across the environment sector, the ability to develop networks and a platform to use experience developed in this role to progress their careers in the environment sector and related fields.