Behind every effective grant programme is a team — or in smaller foundations, a single person — who manages the relationships, processes, and administration that keep grantmaking running. The structure and roles within a grants management team significantly affect both the quality of grantmaking and the experience of grantees.
This guide explains the key roles in a grants management team, how they're typically structured at different programme scales, and what skills each role requires.
The programme officer is the primary relationship manager and assessor for a portfolio of grants. In most foundations, the programme officer:
Programme officers are typically the most strategically significant role in a grants team. Their knowledge of the sector, relationships with grantees, and judgment about what to fund determines the quality of the portfolio more than any other role.
Skills and background: Most effective programme officers combine sector expertise (either in the funded domain or in the community served) with administrative capability. Relevant experience might include: community sector management, policy work, evaluation, social work, sector peak body roles, or research. The ability to read financial statements, assess organisational health, and write clearly are fundamental.
The grants administrator manages the operational infrastructure of the grant programme — the systems, processes, and administrative tasks that keep grants moving. Typical responsibilities:
Grants administrators are the operational backbone of a grant programme. Without effective administration, even the best programme strategy produces poor grantee experience and compliance failures.
Skills and background: Strong organisational skills, attention to detail, systems capability, and a service orientation toward grantees. Experience in administration, project management, or operations in the community sector is typical.
In larger teams, a grants manager oversees a group of programme officers and/or administrators. Responsibilities:
Skills and background: Combines strategic capability with management experience. Often a senior programme officer who has moved into management, or a manager from a related field who brings strong leadership and analytical skills.
Larger foundations increasingly have dedicated evaluation and learning roles:
Skills and background: Research, evaluation, data analysis, and strong communication skills. Typically a background in applied research, policy, or academic evaluation.
Some foundations have communications roles within the grants team (others have centralised communications functions):
Small foundations (2-5 grants staff): A typical small foundation team might have a foundation director who also functions as a senior programme officer, one or two programme officers, and a part-time administrator. Everyone does everything to some degree. The challenge is workload management and ensuring that strategic work doesn't crowd out administrative rigour.
Medium foundations (5-15 grants staff): Distinct roles emerge — programme officers, an administrator or two, a manager. Specialisation by sector or region becomes possible. An evaluation function may be added.
Large foundations (15+ grants staff): Full specialisation is possible — dedicated programme officers for each portfolio area, a specialist grants admin team, evaluation and learning specialists, communications. Management layers are needed. The challenge is coordination and ensuring that specialisation doesn't produce silos.
Grants management is an increasingly recognised profession with real career pathways:
Professional development in grants management in New Zealand includes: Philanthropy New Zealand learning events, Australasian Council for International Development (ACFID) resources for international development contexts, and informal peer learning through sector networks.
Grants management teams face specific recruitment and retention challenges:
Sector knowledge: Finding people who combine sector knowledge (understanding the communities and issues funded) with grants management skills (processes, financial literacy, relationship management) is genuinely difficult.
Relationship continuity: When programme officers leave, they take their grantee relationships and institutional knowledge with them. Succession planning and knowledge management are important risk management considerations.
Competitive salaries: Community sector salaries are often below private sector equivalents. Foundations that want the best programme officers often need to pay competitively.
Mission alignment: Many effective grants management professionals are motivated by mission rather than salary. Foundations that are clear about their mission and demonstrate genuine impact attract and retain mission-driven people.
Tahua's grants management platform supports grants teams of all sizes — with role-based permissions, workflow automation that reduces administrative burden, and the portfolio analytics that help programme officers manage their caseloads and understand their portfolios efficiently.