The Role

The Grants Coordinator will play a key role within the Grants Team, a growing team at FILE. This role will report to and work closely with the Grants Manager for the Australia and Asia portfolio team to ensure that programmes and partnerships are delivered at pace and to schedule.

Whilst initially this is largely an administrative role, it is an opportunity to gain an insight in the workings of an international philanthropic organisation focused on systemic change through partnerships with a variety of outstanding legal strategists and NGO partners.

As Grants Coordinator, you ensure the quality of FILE’s grant-making processes and provide support to the Grants Manager(s) during the entire life cycle of a grant. As well as working closely with the Grants Team, you will be working together with all the relevant stakeholders at FILE, i.e., grantee partners and our colleagues in finance, legal strategy, impact & learning and operations. 

This is a unique opportunity to support world-leading non-profit partners in delivering strategic legal interventions to impact. We are looking for a candidate who is excited at the prospect of working for a dynamic and fast-growing organisation with a mission to solve the climate crisis.

Key Responsibilities

• Grant administration – support the internal processes of contracting, payment approvals and tracking financial disbursements. Lead on grantee communication regarding payments and reporting.
• Ensure timelines and the approval process for grants and contracts run to schedule, ensuring all relevant information is presented to senior FILE team colleagues and decisions are documented.
• Ensure grant data and documentation is up-to-date and filed appropriately, including input into FILE systems as required.
• Perform data capture and maintain database records.
• Regular communication with applicants and grant holders, particularly when supporting the due diligence process for applicants.
• Collaborate with the Grants Manager on annual planning, grants development, in-life grants management, pipeline planning and partnership building with partners.
• Coordinate meetings with FILE staff and partners, particularly supporting the Australia and Asia team, working with the Grants Manager and lawyers to ensure key information has been disseminated in advance. Supporting other portfolio teams in this respect as required.
• Performance & outcome monitoring – support the Grants Manager to effectively monitor the progress and outcomes of projects and grants together with the Legal Strategy and Impact and Learning teams. This will include the scheduling of reporting requirements, and supporting the evaluation, impact and learning processes.
• Support effective portfolio reporting to key donors, drawing out key information from grantee reports and Grant Management assessments as required.
• Support other portfolio teams if required and time allows.

About you

We know that long lists of criteria can be discouraging and that some candidates will not apply for a role unless they feel they are 100% qualified. Even if you do not meet all the skills and experience listed, we still encourage you to apply if you think you have related experience to offer.

We also recognise that skills and experience can be gained in unexpected places, so we welcome applications from candidates who feel they have relevant skills for the role, gained from a wide range of professional, lived and learned experiences.

• Ability to work unsupervised, a motivated self-starter, with robust problem solving, administrative, multi-tasking skills and is good on follow-through.
• Excellent analytical and quantitative skills, with the ability to assimilate and digest large volumes of information.
• Strong attention to detail and strong organisational and project management skills, with the ability to manage workload effectively and to work with changing priorities and time pressures.
• Willingness to occasionally adjust working hours to fit with multiple time zones as required.
• Strong written and communication skills. You will be able to present information in a compelling way through proposals, memos and PowerPoint presentations.
• Ability to communicate effectively with people from different cultures and backgrounds
• Desire to contribute to new ideas and ways of working to develop improved models, processes and use of technology in grant-making.
• Outstanding partnership management skills, with the ability to support and establish highly collaborative internal and external partnerships.
• Experience with databases/grant-management systems would be standout but not necessary.
• Financial and budget management skills would be beneficial but not necessary.
• Ability in Indonesian, Korean, Japanese or Filipino would be a real bonus but not necessary.

About FILE

The Foundation for International Law for the Environment (FILE) was set up in 2018 to be the major philanthropic re-granter scaling up legal action globally to tackle the climate and the biodiversity crises.

We work as movement enablers, campaign strategists, and impact funders, using the law in pursuit of three interconnected system-level goals:

• Reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to protect the climate
• Safeguarding nature
• Delivering climate and environmental justice

We pursue these goals not just by supporting legal action directly. We believe in growing the strength of the climate and biodiversity legal movement globally, and in enabling people and movements to use legal action to shift narratives.

As movement enablers, campaign strategists, and impact funders, we at FILE do not ourselves bring litigation. As a regrantor, FILE is not an endowed foundation, but rather we engage in fundraising to secure resources to support our partners globally.

Working for FILE

FILE is a collaborative community of individuals who share a passion for climate, nature, and justice. We bring together knowledge and experience to support our mission.

Our people are empowered to lead their work both individually and as part of a wider team in order to make impactful change. As a relatively young organisation with the ambitious mission to change global systems, our roles are ideally suited to those who are highly strategic, flexible and adaptable, and open to growing in line with the Foundation.

FILE is committed to challenging inequality and values diversity, equity and justice in all areas of life. Our mission, work and impact is global, with staff and partners from across the world and a range of lived experiences. We firmly believe that we are strengthened by the diversity of our partners and staff.

At FILE, we actively work to create an inclusive culture where colleagues feel welcomed, heard and supported to succeed and thrive.

How FILE supports its staff

FILE is committed to creating a workplace that supports our staff to do their best work and develop professionally. We offer a generous annual leave policy and additional time-off work to support wellbeing. Amongst other benefits, FILE offers private healthcare and a contribution to a pension scheme.

Location

FILE has offices in London and the Netherlands, and a small hub of staff in Australia. Otherwise, we look to employ relevant staff remotely in the regions where our partners are based.

We are advertising this role for candidates based (and with the right to work) in Australia. However, we will also consider applications from candidates based in other locations where we are able to do so.

Applications

Please apply on our website where we will ask you to answer relevant screening questions and to upload your CV. Your answers to these questions will be significant in our initial screening process as we look for an insight into you from those responses.

This role is open for applications immediately and we accept applications on a rolling basis. We reserve the right to interview and appoint before the closing date should we receive the right applications If you are interested, we encourage you to submit your application as early as possible.

Should you have any questions, please email [email protected] using the subject line: Grants Coordinator - APAC - Remote / Work From Home enquiry via EthicalJobs.

Diversity & Inclusion

As an equal opportunities employer, FILE is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join FILE. We are committed to continually learning and improving our diversity and inclusion practices, which can best be done if we are as diverse as the people of the world we’re working to protect.