Grants Administration

Finance Watch is a Brussels-based NGO that works to make finance serve society and the planet. We are looking for a Grants Intern to strengthen our Operations & Projects department.

This is an exciting position to support a growing team, starting as soon as possible.

This role would suit a person with strong pitching skills, who is interested in developing their grant application skillset and is highly motivated by our mission. The Grants Intern will be part of the Operations & Projects department of Finance Watch, comprising Finance, HR & Operations.

The Grants Intern will report to the Head of Communications & Operations and work closely with the whole team on a daily basis.

The ideal candidate would have native proficiency in English, grant management relevant studies, and have an outstanding capacity to report on our activities to funders. A willingness to learn about financial regulation is indispensable, and French or German language skills would be a plus.

Ensuring a high-quality experience for all funders

• Draft responses to due diligence questions from funders, in collaboration with the Operations Department
• Ensure compliance with the association’s rules, as described in the Articles of Association
• Comply with the internal rules, and make sure the management team is involved early in the process of new funding opportunities
• Draft a final narrative review of funding proposals, and share it with the supervisor for sign-off

Collaboration and buy-in

• Involve staff members in the crafting of the funding narrative (Management team decides who will be best placed to contribute)
• Work closely with partners in case of consortium funding (e.g. LIFE)
• Inform the team when a funding opportunity is about to be signed, and when it is signed, outlining the key elements and deliverables

Report on activities

• Coordinate the reporting to donors
• Inform colleagues about upcoming reportings on their activities
• Make sure the deadlines are respected, taking into account the time for internal review by all staff members
• Give assistance to colleagues involved in the making of reportings to donors
• Ensure project tracking tools and information systems are always up-to-date
• Maintain a birds-eye view of overall reporting requirements, and grant timelines for projects
• Collaborate with the Head of Operations to deliver financial reporting
• Work closely with the Communications department to create materials that meet the needs, objectives and specifications of funding reportings
• Draft reports on funding activities to the Board
• Draft a final narrative review of reporting to funders, and propose it for sign-off to the supervisor

Follow-up

• Follow-up all grants from submission to contract signing and by liaising with all relevant entities during the process
• Monitor & evaluate progress
• Measuring the impact of grants/activities
• Provide advice on grant application processes and propose improvements
• Develop a process for a more efficient and standardised grant review process to ensure a timely and smooth flow of activities across all stakeholders
• Complete a table of KPIs amongst all grants
• Propose improvements to the funder’s journey
• Develop, maintain and provide guidance or standard templates for all grant related activities:
• Standardised slides
• One-page report on activities

Communication to Funders & ex-funders

• Contribute to the definition of the listing of funders and ex-funders
• Produce in coordination with the Communications Department, a bimonthly newsletter to funders with key messages (leveraging content from other newsletters)
• Thank donors for their support

Profile / Qualifications

• You are motivated by and committed to Finance Watch’s mission
• You are good at pitching stories and selling ideas
• Outstanding editing and writing skills in English are essential (native proficiency)
• You have experience or training in grant management
• Ability to manage a substantial and varied workload effectively, including managing competing demands, maintaining accuracy, and coordinating activities across diverse departments within the organisation
• Excellent project management skills
• Bachelor degree or equivalent
• Knowledge of the European grants landscape, especially for NGOs
• Ability to work with a CRM tool (database & mailing system)
• Good digital skills, and familiarity with Excel
• Good judgement, to assess the most effective means of communicating information for the purpose of achieving the grant’s goals
• Strong team player, the ability to listen and collaborate with a wide range