Partnerships Manager

Every grant you win becomes someone's first conversation in English, their first step into a job interview, their first time speaking up at a housing tribunal.

English for Action (EFA) is looking for a Partnerships Manager to grow the funding that powers our free, participatory ESOL classes for around 400 migrants across London. Our classes don't just teach English,they build the confidence and collective power people need to organise around housing and employment rights.

Working closely with our Fundraising Lead, you'll take real ownership of relationships with trusts, foundations and corporate funders, while helping shape how we diversify our income going forward. This is a role with genuine scope to bring your own ideas and see them through, not just execute someone else's plan.

• Write compelling grant applications, funding proposals and reports that win and retain funding
• Research and build a realistic pipeline of trusts, liveries and corporate foundations
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with existing donors and prospects
• Contribute to EFA's fundraising strategy, including newer income streams such as statutory, corporate, individual giving, membership and events
• Liaise with our Executive Team, Hub Leads and Project Managers so funding proposals stay grounded in what's actually happening in our classrooms and communities
• Maintain accurate donor and grant records on Donorfy, and support monitoring and evaluation of project outcomes

You don't need a degree, and you're not expected to tick every box,nobody does. We're looking for someone with a track record of successful grant writing, strong research and relationship-building skills, and the organisation to manage multiple funding deadlines wledge of the UK charity sector and UK trusts and foundations is essential; experience with public sector or EU education funding is a bonus.

If you have lived experience of migration and/or learning English as an additional language, we'd love to hear from you and how you'd like to draw on it in this role.

English for Action provides free, participatory, empowering ESOL classes for migrants in London,spaces where students build community and organise collectively around issues like employment and housing rights. We're a national centre of good practice for a radical, participatory approach to ESOL, and we share this approach through training, research and partnerships. We're a team of 11 staff, a wider team of volunteers, and 7trustees, run through shared leadership rather than a CEO, decisions are made collaboratively, and we aim for our structure to reflect that.

• 22.5 hours (3 days) a week, mostly remote, with just monthly in-person meetings in London
• 28 days' annual leave (pro rata) after probation, plus bank holidays, plus a full week's paid closure over Christmas
• 6% matched pension contribution
• Enhanced sick pay, and enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption/shared parental leave
• Wellbeing allowance and full entitlement to leave for sickness, including mental ill-health
• A genuinely flat, non-hierarchical culture with collaborative decision-making on strategy and practice
• Tech and cycle scheme, and actively encouraged continuous personal development

EFA particularly encourages applications from people of colour, who are currently underrepresented at EFA and across the charity sector, and from people who have experienced moving to the UK or have English as an additional language. Where two or more candidates are of equal merit, priority may be given to a candidate from a less well-represented group. Please let us know about any access or other requirements we can accommodate.

Closing date: 11.59pm, Wednesday 30th September 2026
Skills test: w/c 5th October 2026 (writing and budgeting)
Interviews:
Friday 9th / 16th October 2026

Questions before applying? Email Gina Rodriguez (HR Lead)