Introduction

Paul Hamlyn Foundation was established by Paul Hamlyn in 1987. Upon his death in 2001, he left most of his estate to the Foundation, creating one of the largest grant-making foundations in the UK.

We use our resources to support social change, working towards a just and equitable society in which everyone, especially young people, can realise their full potential and enjoy fulfilling and creative lives.

Our vision is for a just society in which everyone, especially young people, can realise their full potential and enjoy fulfilling and creative lives.

Our mission is to be an effective and independent funder, using all our resources to create opportunities and support social change. We partner with inspiring organisations and individuals to put them at the heart of leading change and designing solutions to overcome inequality.

We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation. This commitment drives how we work, who we work with and how we make decisions. You can read more about our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) here.

We have five funding priorities where we wish to see change for our work in the UK:

• Investing in young people

• Migration

• Arts

• Arts Education

• Nurturing ideas and people

Our values are important to us and we work to and carry them through all our activity.

Grants systems & Business Analyst Role Overview

Background

This post is located within the Finance and Resources team which provides operational support across PHF and includes the IT, Investments, Finance and Facilities functions.  The Chief Operating Officer heads up this team and is line manager for this role.

PHF has undergone a period of growth and change and is adapting its systems and procedures to match this new level of activity.  As part of this, we want to improve how we use our digital systems.

This role leads on our grants system and processes and ensures we are working in the best way to support our grant-making (approx. £35m of grant spend per year). In addition, the role leads on introducing, developing and overseeing the operation of digital systems to support the operation of PHF’s wider business.  The post holder will bring a mix of technical and people skills to lead on continuous improvement, ensuring our systems and workflows fit the needs of the organisation and those we work with, and colleagues are skilled-up to work effectively.  This may involve working on the introduction of new software as required and will include working with our IT support company, software suppliers and colleagues who have specific oversight of some systems.

What will be my main contribution?

You will lead on maintaining, designing and developing grant making systems and processes and their relationship to other parts of the organisation. You will work with colleagues to identify where we could improve our use of existing digital systems or introduce new systems and oversee the introduction of new systems as agreed (this may in time) including the development of a new grant management system. A key element of this role is to help others work in the most efficient and effective way. 

Who will I report to?

You will report to the Chief Operating Officer.

Who will I line manage?

You will not have any line management responsibilities.

What other key relationships will I have?

You will work with members of all teams across PHF, with a particular emphasis on the grants team in both the UK and India and have a close working relationship with all grants team members who interact with our grant management system.  You will act as main liaison between PHF and the supplier of PHF’s grant management system and any other related software.

 Main Responsibilities

System and Process Design for grant-making

• Develop an excellent understanding of the processes and workflows in places across PHF’s grant-making operations, document and develop these, and act as in-house expert offering advice and support and problem solving.

• Lead on the design and development of new processes and ways of working as the need arises (for example, when a new fund is announced), working with managers and team members to ensure all relevant colleagues develop a good understanding.  This could include drawing on evidence from surveys of those we work with and other feedback externally as well as internally and responding to this in system design.

• Design and deliver learning materials and training for system users, working collaboratively with grants team colleagues to ensure that they have a good understanding of the processes and support them to ensure workflows are followed appropriately and the grant management system used in the best way.  This may involve providing one-to-one support, running workshops, or providing documentation.  

• Working with PHF’s Chief Operating Officer and specialist advisors, develop a good understanding of the legal and compliance requirements related to PHF’s grant-making e.g.: Data Protection Act requirements, Charity Commission regulations, and ensure these are built into PHF’s processes and manuals.

• Maintain PHF’s grants manual and supporting documents to provide a user-friendly, accurate and clear reference document of all processes in use affecting PHF’s grant making and charitable activity.

• Identify opportunities for improvement in processes and respond to proposals by others.  Convene and contribute to working groups of relevant staff to work on the continuous improvement of PHF grant-making processes and drive any agreed actions forward to completion in keeping with agreed timescales.

• Ensure appropriate controls are in place in grant-making processes in keeping with PHF’s governance and financial procedures and work closely with the Finance and Resources team to ensure financial requirements of grant-making are built into systems and procedures streamlined e.g.: around month/year end and grant payment processes.

 Systems to support PHF’s operation

• Maintain an overview of the systems PHF is using for its day-to-day business, identify any gaps or opportunities for development and work with teams to identify their needs of systems to support their work.

• Develop a good understanding of new system options and work with colleagues to select and procure systems to support PHF’s work, following agreed procurement routes.

• As part of a project team, work on the introduction of any new systems - holding workshops with staff to define needs, designing the set-up of the new system and procedures and protocols for its operation.

• Maintain oversight of how systems are operating and provide advice, support and training to colleagues and document procedures.

• Support PHF’s planning process by developing and implementing systems.

• Work with the Evidence and Learning team to support data capture to inform our ongoing learning.

 System Administration and Support

• Act as system administrator for PHF’s grant making database (currently Blackbaud Grantmaking) and, where relevant, any new systems. Work with the suppliers to ensure the systems operate effectively on a day-to-day basis.

• Work with the Evidence and Learning team to ensure the grant making system is structured to be able to provide the coding necessary for reporting.

• Provide advice, support and training to colleagues to enable them to use PHF’s systems as effectively as possible, running training sessions for groups or offering one to one support as necessary.

• Ensure procedures are in place to provide advice to external applicants using aspects of PHF’s systems e.g.: applicants using PHF’s online application system.

• Liaise with PHF’s supplier/support provider for systems to introduce new elements and assist in the design of bespoke features.  Project manage this as necessary.

• Work with the project team on the periodic reviews of PHF’s grant making system and possible selection and implementation of any new system.

• Support staff with ad-hoc issues relating to the system and records within it.

 Integration with other systems

• Oversee the integration of the grants database and any other systems with other systems as required e.g.: integration with PowerBI and the accounting and banking systems.

 Reporting and data management

• Lead responsibility for the integrity of data in the grants database, ensuring this is retained in accordance with PHF protocols and data protection requirements.  Establish protocols for the cleansing and removal of data as required.  Undertake regular ‘housekeeping’ as required to ensure data remains accurate.

• Design, maintain and keep updated regular reports as required to support the work of the grants and evidence and learning teams and other aspects of the organisation e.g.: reports on payments due, analytical reports on types of funding

• Design and produce ad hoc reports as required, currently primarily in PowerBI, but responding to changes of available software.

• Oversee the archiving of grants data and files, establishing archiving schedules, co-ordinating archiving sessions and working with teams to ensure archiving is undertaken.

• Working with the evidence and learning team, produce analytical reports including reports for the KPI summary, information for the annual report, report for 360 Giving etc.

 Person specification

We recognise that this person specification is extensive, and you may feel you do not meet all the criteria. We are open to adjusting the role and how it is delivered to enable those from a broad range of backgrounds and lived experiences to apply.

If you are interested, please apply even if you do not meet all criteria. Please note we are unable to offer VISA sponsorship.

Essential experience and knowledge

• Substantial experiences of designing and managing systems, workflows and processes to match the needs of an organisation.

• Experience of working with a non-expert client group, interpreting their needs and designing processes and systems in response.

• Substantial experience in the system administration of a database, with a good understanding of how databases work and how to maintain them.

• Confident in using a database, and the ability to write and produce bespoke reports and interpret information.

• A methodical approach with close attention to detail.

• Excellent listening skills, empathy and the ability to work with non-technical colleagues in a constructive.

• Experience of running workshops or learning sessions with colleagues.

• High level communication skills and confident in communicating complex information clearly to a range of audiences

• The ability to lead on work which has cross-organisational impact and the ability to work in a collaborative manner.

• A flexible and pragmatic approach with the ability to juggle multiple priorities.

• Either experience of using Blackbaud Grantmaking or the ability to learn about it quickly (through supported training) and confidence to apply this learning to PHF.

• Experience of using a wide range of IT systems and enthusiasm for learning about new systems

• A high degree of general IT literacy, particularly in MS Office applications and the ability to learn new systems quickly

• A commitment to the mission and values of Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the ability to apply these to the work of the Finance team.

Desirable

• Involvement in the selection of new software

• An understanding of grant-making

• A commitment to and understanding of the charity sector

The Foundation is based in light and recently refurbished offices near Kings Cross in London and we currently work to a hybrid working model with 40% of time worked in the office and the rest a combination of external grantee visits and homeworking. We offer fantastic benefits including

• 25 days annual leave,

• 10% non-contributory pension contributions with optional additional 2.5% matched employer contributions

• Enhanced maternity and paternity policies

• Complimentary lunch when in the office.

First stage interviews are expected to take place remotely on Friday 28th October. Second stage interviews are expected to take place in-person on Wednesday 10th December.