SENIOR FUNDING MANAGER, HUO FAMILY FOUNDATION
Salary: £60,000 per annum plus benefits
Reports to: Director of Research
Location: Mayfair, London
Contract type: Permanent
Hours: Full-time 37.5 hours per week
Start date: August 2026
Application closing date: 30 April 2026
ABOUT THE HUO FAMILY FOUNDATION AND ITS SCIENCE PROGRAMME
HFF is a grant‑giving foundation based in London. Its mission is to support education, communities and the pursuit of knowledge. The Foundation’s current focus is in three main areas: education, the arts and science. Since its inception in 2009, it has pledged over £100 million to impactful projects in the UK, US and China. More information is available at https://huofamilyfoundation.org.
The Trustees of the Foundation are supported by a small executive team of six.
The rapid rise and use of digital technology have permeated much of society and transformed the way many humans interact. There has been a broad array of research efforts, but the full implications – both positive and negative – on human physiology, psychology, behaviour, well‑being and mental health remain unclear. We believe there is an opportunity to help advance the research and the field of knowledge in this area.
Since mid‑2024, HFF has established and will continue to grow a multi‑year research portfolio in the UK and the US on the Effects of the Usage of Digital Technology on Brain Development, Social Behaviours and Mental Health in Children and Young People. In 2025, we ran our first annual call and announced the outcome of these awards on our website. For our second annual funding round in 2026, we recently released an open call for proposals.
As we continue to build our funding portfolio through annual funding calls, we are now looking for a Senior Funding Manager to join the small HFF Science Team in a permanent role.
SUMMARY PURPOSE – WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING AND ACHIEVING
The Senior Funding Manager is a newly created role in the HFF Science Team. You will work with the Director of Research and the Senior Programme Officer to administer the Foundation’s science portfolio of grant schemes, awarded grants and associated activities. You will manage and deliver the end‑to‑end grant application, review and award processes. You will act as a key point of contact for external liaison relating to the schemes. Working with the rest of the team, you will also help to develop and deliver events for Foundation grant holders. The role may require some domestic and international travel, including to meet grant holders for horizon scanning, monitoring and impact assessment purposes. You may also contribute to the Foundation’s wider portfolio of work and the delivery of our strategy.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Take a leading role on managing a diverse grant portfolio from pre‑application to post‑award, ensuring robust due diligence, clear communication with applicants, high‑quality committee preparation, supporting good governance and decision‑making, and smooth implementation of funding decisions.
- Provide proactive and collaborative funding operations support to the Science Team and other HFF colleagues.
- Lead, coordinate and deliver funding schemes and calls, setting timelines and workflows, and managing all aspects of associated funding committees to enable efficient, well‑governed decision making.
- Act as a trusted advisor, offering guidance to applicants and colleagues on funding policies, applicant eligibility, assessment processes, allowable costs and best practice.
- Oversee, coordinate and deliver high‑quality peer review and governance, selecting appropriate expert reviewers, managing conflicts of interest, ensuring timely and transparent assessments.
- Ensure effective post‑award grant management and continuous improvement, resolving complex queries, assessing change requests, monitoring compliance and progress, and contributing to process enhancements that support high‑quality funding operations.
- Partake in monitoring and impact assessment purposes – annual reports, end of grant reports, etc.
- Liaise with other funding organisations, as appropriate, for example, on the operation of joint funding schemes.
- Contribute to the HFF Science’s wider activities, which may include developing and delivering events for HFF grant holders such as a mini‑conference or workshop. This may require some domestic and international travel.
- Contribute to the Foundation’s wider portfolio of work, including drafting and providing information for papers for meetings of the HFF Trustees.
- Perform any other duties that might be reasonably expected, and which are commensurate with this level of post.
KEY KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIRED
Education/Qualifications/Knowledge (essential):
- Educated to a Bachelor’s degree standard (or equivalent) in a relevant science or public health subject.
- A strong understanding of academic research activities in science.
- An excellent understanding of procedures and best practice in research funding.
Education/Qualifications/Knowledge (desirable):
- Educated to a Master’s or PhD standard (or equivalent) in a relevant science or public health subject.
Skills (essential):
- Skilled team worker.
- Highly numerate with strong analytical skills.
- Excellent organisational skills.
- Excellent communication (oral and written) and interpersonal skills.
- Good IT (e.g. Microsoft suite and online databases) and presentation skills.
- Robust stakeholder management skills – ability to quickly build and maintain the trust of internal and external stakeholders at all levels of seniority.
Experience (essential):
- Proven experience (at least five years) as a funding manager or similar role, delivering research funding processes, extensive experience of using a grants management system, experience of planning, leading and delivering projects, connections and links to other funders and peers across the sector.
Experience (desirable):
- Extensive experience of the Flexigrant grants management system.
KEY STAFF POLICIES AND BENEFITS
- Annual leave allowance of 28 days per year plus bank holidays.
- 10% employer contributions through the Foundation’s pension scheme.
- Private medical insurance and travel insurance.
- Health cash plan.
- Life insurance.
- Flexible and hybrid working is possible.
- Team away days and opportunities to engage with events and activities in the cultural sector.
- Onsite breakfast and lunch.
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