Grant Development Officer

Job summary

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.

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.

Job description

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.

For the full list of responsibilities, please see the job description attached at the bottom of this page.

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.

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.
  
  

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.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,882, The National Archives contributes £10,105 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).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.

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;

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

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 see our