This role is offered on a hybrid contract giving you the opportunity to also work from home three days a week.

Purpose of job: 

Comic Relief is looking for a Head of Climate Justice to join the Funding team.  The role will be responsible for instigating, scoping, and developing, Comic Relief’s new Climate Justice funding strategy, planning future grant making in this area, and undertaking initial implementation and grant making.  Includes informing our thinking and position on related issues (i.e. humanitarian crises and emergency response), and considering partnership development and funding. This role will have the exciting opportunity to work closely  on our storytelling, fundraising, convening and public engagement   agenda in the climate sector and engage with key stakeholders to drive forward our position in this space both in the UK and internationally.   

This is a fantastic opportunity to instigate  the development of  a new branch of the funding team, at the heart of Comic Relief. This is a pivotal role in helping Comic Relief achieve our goal of a Just World Free From Poverty.  If this role aligns with your interests and skills we would love to hear from.  

We actively encourage you to apply if you are an individual who has lived experience or working knowledge of poverty and injustice. 

Key responsibilities: 

• Insight, scope, develop, and lead Comic Relief’s Climate Justice funding strategy.  

• Provide leadership to Comic Relief’s future Climate Justice strategic programme, including making recommendations on long term structuring and recruiting to deliver a programme with positive social impact in line with our funding strategy. 

• Develop and sustain relationships with key external strategic partners and stakeholders invested in tackling Climate Justice, learning, and disseminating learning, working towards being a thought leader in this space.  

• Work with the Directors of Partnerships, Fundraising and Strategic Engagement to align the funding strategy with the wider impact goals of Comic Relief (i.e. public engagement and approaches to storytelling and communicating impact).  

• Work cross organisationally with the Fundraising and Partnerships team to develop propositions for, and support approaches and relationships with, funding partners, including Corporates, Trusts, Foundations, Institutions, and Philanthropists,  

• Work closely with the other Heads of functions in the Funding Team to ensure this work aligns with Comic Relief’s other funding areas and approaches 

• Work with Head of Social Impact to ensure the Climate Justice programme is aligned to the Impact Measurement Framework. 

• Directly make initial grants to critical actors in the Climate Justice space for significant impact, operating within Comic Relief’s progressive funding practice.  

• Manage an emerging small portfolio of strategic grants, building high quality, trust-based and power-aware relationships with those being funded.  

• Work closely with colleagues in Assurance and Finance teams to ensure specialist, technical input is received in relation to financial, contractual, reputational, or safeguarding risk 

• Ensure that, when applicable, people with lived or learnt experience are actively engaged with our work, contributing to the design and decision-making process of our funding portfolios 

• Work closely with Comic Relief’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning team members to identify shared learning and to make choices about where to amplify learning, and identify clear impact measurements for this work.  

People management   

• Maintain regular two-way communication and dialogue with staff, ensuring information is cascaded and escalated as needed. 

• Model an enabling, inclusive and empowering leadership style that builds a values-based culture throughout the charity. 

• Working with the HR team on recruitment  

Person specification 

Essential criteria 

• Significant experience and knowledge of climate justice policy, practice and grant funding.   

• Strong networks in the climate justice space and effective networking skills.  Proven track record of developing and sustaining key partnerships and working collaboratively to influence the sector and achieve impact. 

• Demonstrable track record of strategy development and implementation.  

• Confident, creative communicator that understands and relishes cross-functional / collaborative working, able to present and interact with a range of stakeholders including Trustees and Committee members. 

• An understanding or lived experience of, and commitment to EDI and tackling social injustice and prejudice with a track record of social justice and anti-racism.  

• An understanding of how public engagement, campaigns and storytelling can contribute to the furthering of climate justice. 

• An innovative and proactive team player with high resilience and who remains solution focused and able to take an overview of the wider organisational needs 

Desirable Criteria 

• An understanding of, or experience in, funding and  progressive funding practice 

• An understanding of, or experience in, managing grants or other types of funding.  

• Budget Management Experience  

Some travel, possibly including international, may be required for this role.  

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Comic Relief we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles 

Why work at Comic Relief

There are lots of good reasons to join us at Comic Relief. You can read more about our employee benefits, such as our commitment to flexible and hybrid working. We ask staff to come to the office twice a week, normally on agreed team days, so that we can do all those things that are difficult to do online. Our office is based in Whitechapel, London,. There are lots of opportunities to develop your skills and experience at Comic Relief, including opportunities to become a Mental Health First Aider or to participate in our Employee Network Groups that focus on making Comic Relief a more inclusive place to work.

Disability Confident employer

 As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we take positive action by providing first-round interviews to candidates who have a registered disability, provided they meet the minimum criteria for the role, as demonstrated on their CV and application questions.

We ask that candidates that wish to be considered for this scheme email j.scott@comicrelief.com to discuss further. Please do not email CV's/cover letters