Install Findmino as an app for the best experience!
(Grants Manager, Programme Funding Coordinator, Funding and Development Manager, Programme Funding Officer)
Management & Leadership
Salary
€45,000 - €75,000/yr
Level
Senior
Outlook
Stable
Sector
Management & Leadership
As a Programme Funding Manager you take the lead in developing and delivering an organisation's funding strategy, identifying suitable grants and funding streams from sources such as the EU, government departments, philanthropic foundations and statutory bodies. You oversee the full lifecycle of grant management, from researching opportunities and preparing detailed applications to managing awarded funds and submitting compliance reports to funders. Day-to-day, you coordinate with programme leads, finance teams and senior management to ensure that funding targets are met and that expenditure aligns with funder requirements. You may also line-manage a small team of funding officers or coordinators, mentoring them in application writing and reporting standards. This role is common in Irish NGOs, charities, higher education institutions, public bodies and large community organisations.
Listen: a day as a Programme Funding Manager
You arrive at your desk in a mid-sized voluntary organisation in Dublin at 8:45 on a Tuesday morning. Before your coat is off, you check your inbox and find a query from the Community Foundation for Ireland about a progress report due Friday. You flag it immediately and send a quick note to your funding officer asking her to pull together the expenditure figures from your finance system. By nine-fifteen you are in a planning meeting with the Head of Programmes and the Finance Manager. The three of you are reviewing a draft budget for a Tusla service-level agreement renewal worth roughly €280,000. You go line by line through the staffing costs, querying whether a part-time co-ordinator role can be legitimately charged at the rate proposed. Getting this wrong could mean a clawback later, so you are precise.
A Level 8 Honours Bachelor degree is the typical minimum requirement, commonly in business, public administration, finance, social science or a related humanities field; Leaving Certificate subjects such as Business, Economics, Mathematics and English at Higher Level provide a strong foundation. Many employers prefer candidates who hold a Level 9 postgraduate qualification, such as a Master's in Public Policy, Nonprofit Management, Project Management or Finance, which deepens expertise in strategic planning and financial governance. PLC courses at Level 5 or 6 in business administration can provide an entry point into junior funding roles, but progression to a Programme Funding Manager position will ordinarily require further degree-level study. Relevant professional development through bodies such as Charities Institute Ireland, the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) or project management credentials such as PRINCE2 or the Project Management Professional (PMP) certificate is highly valued. No statutory registration body governs this role, but demonstrated experience with EU Structural Funds, Dormant Accounts, Pobal or Horizon Europe funding schemes is a significant advantage in the Irish market.
Most people enter this field through junior roles such as Funding Officer or Grants Administrator, often in the community and voluntary sector or in a university research office, after completing a Level 8 degree. With several years of experience managing successful applications and funder relationships, progression to Programme Funding Manager or Grants Manager level becomes achievable, particularly in larger NGOs, Pobal-funded bodies or higher education institutions. Further advancement can lead to Director of Fundraising, Head of Strategy or senior operational roles within the organisation. Completing a postgraduate qualification or obtaining professional project management credentials accelerates progression, as does building a track record with competitive funding streams such as Horizon Europe or the Shared Island Fund.
AI tools are beginning to assist Programme Funding Managers with literature searches, funding database scanning and drafting initial sections of grant applications, which can reduce the time spent on administrative groundwork. However, the strategic judgement required to align funding opportunities with organisational priorities, and the relationship management skills needed to engage credibly with funders, remain distinctly human capabilities. Compliance interpretation and financial reporting still require nuanced professional oversight that automated systems cannot reliably provide. Overall, AI is likely to augment rather than replace this role, freeing managers to focus on higher-level strategy and stakeholder engagement.
→ Programme Funding Manager (Current role)
Organisations in Ireland that employ people in this occupation.
Dublin 2
Oversees philanthropic grant funding strategies for Irish nonprofits.
Dublin 2
Manages research funding programmes and grant compliance across Irish institutions.
Maynooth, Co. Kildare
Secures and manages EU and institutional funding for international development programmes.
Dublin 4
Leads funding strategy and grant management for cancer research and support.
Dublin 4
Manages competitive funding programmes supporting Irish business growth and exports.
Dublin 1
Develops and manages multi-donor institutional funding for humanitarian programmes globally.
Nationwide
Coordinates statutory and EU funding streams for health service programme delivery.
Galway / Sligo / Donegal
Manages Horizon Europe and national research funding across university programmes.
Dublin 2
Designs and delivers blended funding programmes for social enterprise initiatives.
Dublin 2
Leads funding strategy connecting philanthropic capital with social impact programmes.
We don't know whether these employers currently have vacancies — always check their own website. And if there's somewhere you'd really love to work, it can be worth applying anyway, even without an open vacancy.
Our tools can help you with that:
We use functional cookies and — with your consent — cookies for preferences, statistics and marketing.