A grants manager (also called a grants coordinator, programme officer, or grants administrator depending on the organisation) is responsible for the operational management of a grant programme — from receiving and processing applications through to grant completion and reporting. They are the administrative and relational backbone of grantmaking organisations.
As grant programmes grow in complexity and funders become more sophisticated, the grants manager role has evolved from primarily administrative work to a combination of programme management, relationship management, data analysis, and systems oversight.
Application management. Processing incoming applications — ensuring they are complete, meet eligibility criteria, and are correctly coded in the grants management system. Managing the application portal and responding to applicant queries. Coordinating panel review processes: distributing applications, managing COI declarations, scheduling panel meetings.
Assessment coordination. Preparing assessment materials, supporting assessment panels, recording scores and recommendations, and preparing summary documents for decision-makers. In smaller organisations, grants managers may themselves assess applications; in larger ones, they coordinate and support panels of assessors.
Grant agreement administration. Preparing and issuing grant agreements, managing execution, tracking conditions, and recording signed agreements in the grants management system. Flagging when conditions need to be met before grant funds are released.
Milestone and payment management. Tracking active grant milestones, managing reporting schedules, processing payment triggers, and flagging overdue items. In organisations with payment-on-milestone structures, this is significant operational work.
Reporting and acquittal. Receiving, reviewing, and processing progress reports and acquittal documents. Assessing financial reports for completeness and consistency. Escalating significant issues to programme officers or managers. Closing grants once all conditions are met.
Applicant and grantee support. Responding to queries from applicants about eligibility, processes, and requirements. Supporting grantees in understanding reporting requirements and grant conditions.
Systems and data management. Maintaining the grants management system — keeping records current, ensuring data quality, and generating reports and analytics. Grants managers are often the primary users and administrators of their organisation's grants management software.
Policy and process support. Contributing to the development and updating of grant policies, application forms, reporting templates, and operational procedures. Experienced grants managers often hold significant institutional knowledge about why processes work as they do.
Attention to detail. Grants management involves significant administrative precision — grant agreements, financial records, compliance conditions, and reporting requirements all need to be accurate.
Relationship management. Grants managers interact with applicants, grantees, assessors, and colleagues. Professional, responsive, and helpful communication is central to the role.
Systems proficiency. Working effectively in grants management software, spreadsheets, and document management systems. Increasingly, comfort with data analysis and reporting tools.
Policy literacy. Understanding the funding policy context — eligibility criteria, programme objectives, regulatory requirements — well enough to apply them consistently and advise applicants and grantees.
Organisational capacity. Managing multiple concurrent grants in different stages of the lifecycle requires strong organisation and prioritisation.
Financial literacy. Reviewing financial reports, assessing budget variances, and understanding organisational financial statements — enough to identify significant issues, not necessarily at the level of a financial controller.
Entry-level: Grants coordinator or grants administrator roles — typically administrative in focus, supporting more senior staff with application processing, filing, data entry, and correspondence. No specific qualifications required, though degrees in social sciences, public policy, community development, or business are common.
Mid-level: Grants manager or programme officer roles — managing a portfolio of grants with greater autonomy, contributing to assessment, managing grantee relationships, and contributing to programme design. Often 3-5 years of experience.
Senior: Senior grants manager, programme manager, or lead programme officer — managing significant programmes, leading assessment processes, supervising junior staff, and contributing to strategic programme design. Often 7-10+ years of experience.
Leadership: Head of grants, director of programmes, or equivalent — strategic leadership of grantmaking programmes, board and governance interface, external representation, and organisational leadership.
Grants managers work across the ANZ philanthropy and funding sector:
Philanthropy New Zealand and Philanthropy Australia both offer professional development resources for grants managers, including training, networking, and certification programmes.
Beyond technical skills, the best grants managers bring genuine curiosity about the communities and issues their organisation funds, strong ethical judgment about fairness and consistency in how they apply policy, the ability to hold both administrative precision and relational warmth simultaneously, and a commitment to the public purpose their organisation serves.
Tahua is built for grants managers — with workflows designed around how grants managers actually work, dashboards that show what needs attention, and reporting tools that reduce administrative burden.