Grants Coordinator job description
A Grants Coordinator manages the paperwork and deadlines of grants and funding agreements for an NGO or social enterprise, from proposal submission to final report. The role keeps donor commitments organised.
Why the role exists
NGOs hold many grants at once, each with its own dates, conditions and reports. The Grants Coordinator tracks every deadline, gathers inputs from programme and finance teams, and submits applications and reports. The role reports to the grants manager or the head of fundraising and works across departments.
What the person does
- Maintain a calendar of grant applications, report dates, instalments and renewals across all donors.
- Gather inputs from programme and finance teams for proposals and make sure every section is complete.
- Check budgets, annexures and supporting documents against the donor's call for proposals before submission.
- Submit applications and reports on donor portals or by email, and keep proof of submission.
- Prepare and file signed agreements, amendments and approvals in an organised grant folder.
- Follow up with donors on pending decisions, queries and instalments, and update the internal tracker.
- Support due diligence requests from donors by collecting registration, governance and financial documents.
- Brief programme managers on grant conditions, such as allowed costs and reporting formats.
Skills and tools
- Grant tracking with Excel or a simple grants management tool
- Reading donor calls for proposals and agreements closely
- Proposal editing and consistent formatting
- Document control and filing in shared drives
- Coordination across programme, finance and fundraising teams
- Donor portal submissions and email follow-up
- Planning against deadlines and sending reminders
- Clear written English with attention to detail
Education and experience
Preferred, never a bar: equivalent experience counts.
- Graduate degree in any stream is preferred, or equivalent experience in grants or administration.
- Experience in grant administration, proposal support or donor reporting is preferred.
- Good Excel skills and organised filing habits are useful.
- Understanding of how NGO budgets and programme reports work is preferred.
How the work is judged
- Grant applications and reports are submitted before donor deadlines
- Grant files are complete, current and easy for others to find
- Donor queries on documents are answered quickly and accurately
- Programme and finance teams receive timely reminders and clear briefs
- Pipeline and instalment trackers are up to date and trusted by management
Where the role can lead
- Senior Grants Officer or Grants Manager overseeing all donors
- Head of Grants and Compliance or Resource Mobilisation Manager
- Moves into fundraising, programme management or donor liaison roles
Interview questions to ask
Ask every candidate the same questions in the same order and score them against written anchors, so the decision rests on the work and not the impression.
- How would you track twenty grants with different reporting dates so that none is missed?
- A programme manager sends inputs for a report two days before the deadline and they are incomplete. What do you do?
- Describe how you check a proposal against a donor's call before submission.
- A donor asks for a document that you cannot find. What steps do you take?
- Tell us about a time you spotted a mistake in an application. How was it fixed?
- How would you explain a donor's allowed costs to a field team member?
Hiring tips for this role
- Test attention to detail with a sample call for proposals and a draft with deliberate errors. See what the candidate notices.
- Ask for an example of a grant tracker they built. It shows how they organise deadlines and documents.
- A common mistake is combining grants coordination with full proposal writing without saying so. Be clear about what is expected.
- Check that the person can push back politely on senior colleagues who miss deadlines. The role depends on reminders being taken seriously.
Questions about hiring a grants coordinator
The person tracks grants, collects inputs for proposals and reports, checks documents against donor requirements, submits applications and keeps files organised. They help the organisation meet every donor commitment.
No. A writer drafts the proposal text. A coordinator manages the process, deadlines, documents and follow-up. In small organisations one person may do both, so state it in the job description.
Organisation, attention to detail and clear communication come first. The person should read agreements closely, keep tidy files and follow up politely with busy colleagues and donors.
Yes. GullyHR helps with permanent hiring: it agrees the job description with you, finds and screens candidates with grants or donor administration experience, and supports the offer stage. You decide who joins.
Hiring a grants coordinator?
GullyHR runs talent acquisition for permanent roles. We agree the job description with you, find and screen candidates against it, and support the offer through to joining. We recruit permanent employees. We do not supply contract or temporary staff.