Background

UMI Fund stands for Urban Movement Innovation Fund. We connect, align, resource and strengthen people’s power for a more socially just, zero carbon future.

UMI Fund is a donor collaborative founded by international philanthropies that supports, incubates, and accelerates strategic elements of the climate movement through cooperation with partners for disruptive, scalable greenhouse gas mitigation. We are a convenor of the field, an advisor to philanthropy, and a grant maker. We work to build the power needed to ensure pressure for climate action becomes relentless and unignorable. We are a relatively new and dynamic fund that is rapidly growing.

We are a warm, mission-driven organisation committed to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion — not only in what we do, but in how we do it. We believe that how we work matters just as much as what we achieve. That means:

People come first – we aim to support, include, and care for one another.

Process matters – we value clarity, collaboration and thoughtful planning.

We’re honest and humble – we learn from mistakes and share responsibility.

We work across difference – with curiosity, cultural awareness and respect.

We celebrate the success of others – and find joy in shared purpose.

This is an organisation where kindness, clarity and accountability go hand in hand — and where everyone will play a vital role in nurturing the systems and culture that enable us to grow well, together.

Purpose of role 

The Grants & Administration Coordinator exists to be the expert owner of the grants and contracts processing for our projects and serves as the primary point of contact for all incoming and outgoing grants and contracts processing, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and timeliness throughout the lifecycle.

The role collaborates with the fundraising, programme, finance and MEL teams across the full grant-making lifecycle: including application preparation, processing, tracking, award setup, modifications, and closeout activities.

A central part of the role is ensuring all agreements are compliant with organisational policies, relevant legal and regulatory requirements and funder requirements, as well as maintaining organised and up-to-date records of all grant documentation, agreements, budgets, and correspondence for audit readiness and reporting purposes.

This is a highly responsible role for an experienced and meticulous professional who is comfortable operating as the lead officer across our projects, someone motivated by supporting the implementation of our new processes and able to proactively propose improvements.

The role will ensure that our partnerships with international donors, grantees and contractors are built on a solid foundation

Engagement

The Grants & Administration Coordinator works cross-functionally and builds strong collaborative relationships across multiple teams to ensure effective grant and contract management.

Key relationships include:

Internal

• Collaborate with the Fundraising Team during the award proposal cycle, supplying administrative services and ensuring required documents are ready and available.
• Collaborate with the finance team and grant project leads to ensure that all financial activity aligns with funder guidelines and organisational policies.
• Partner closely with programme leads and project teams to ensure outgoing grants applications and reports are managed in a timely manner, ensuring activities align with grant requirements. Provide guidance on compliance, allowable costs, and documentation standards.
• Coordinate with the Grants Administration Team on contract review, approvals, and adherence to regulatory and organisational requirements. Ensure agreements are properly executed and maintained.

External – working with donors, grantees and relevant service contractors located in various geographies

• Funders: act as a primary point of contact for administrative matters, including compliance inquiries.
• External auditors: support the Grants and Admin Head providing required documentation, responding to inquiries, and supporting audit processes to ensure compliance.
• Grantee partners: collecting necessary admin information.
• Vendors and contractors: communicate regarding contract terms, documentation requirements, and administrative processes.

Profile

The role requires discretion, sound judgment, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to work confidently with people holding different forms of authority and expertise.

Responsibilities

The Grants & Administration Coordinator is accountable for delivering the following outcomes:

• End-to-end grant and contract management: lead the preparation, review, and finalisation of different types of grants, contracts and other agreements within our internal systems. You will be the primary point of contact for ensuring agreements are processed accurately and efficiently.
• Compliance and risk mitigation: ensure all agreements are fully compliant with both organisational policies and relevant legal and regulatory requirements. You will identify potential risks in agreement language and proactively resolve issues with grantees, consultants, and internal legal counsel.
• Data stewardship and integrity: uphold the highest standards of data responsibility. You will manage sensitive information according to strict protocols regarding data retention, deletion, and secure sharing, ensuring compliance with GDPR and Belgian privacy law, as well as our internal values.
• Systems and reporting: maintain records in our shared database. You will generate reports and provide critical data insights to Grants and Finance Leads.
• Process innovation and systems thinking, you will be empowered to help create and refine working practices and you will actively contribute feedback on evolving policies and identify opportunities to improve our grant management tools and systems to better serve our partners.

Experience

• Experienced in climate philanthropy and grant making entities across multiple geographies.
• In addition to fluency in English, professional ability in additional languages is a plus.
• Proven international experience in grants management, contract administration, ideally within a philanthropic, non-profit, or international development context.
• Proficiency with CRM or grant management software. Advanced Excel or Google Sheets skills are a plus.
• Strong working knowledge of GDPR compliance and data protection principles.
• Ability to travel internationally for conferences and team meetings.

Attributes and Skills

• Cultural awareness: understanding and commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion issues, including race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, and other dimensions of diversity, and the ability to navigate complex cultural dynamics in an international and multicultural environment with an inclusive and collaborative workplace culture.
• Interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills: must be a flexible highly collaborative team player, with the ability to collaborate with groups working remotely.
• High degree of professionalism and integrity to handle sensitive and confidential information with the utmost discretion.
• Resilience: Ability to work independently and remotely, setting direction and retaining momentum with sometimes limited team collaboration on the tasks required.
• Compassionate partnership: able to liaise effectively with grantee partners, understanding that behind every contract is a relationship built on trust and mutual respect.
• Solution-oriented: motivated to work collaboratively to resolve problems. Open to navigating complex scenarios and balancing the needs of the organisation with the realities of our partners on the ground.
• Commitment to accuracy: high level of attention to detail stemming from respect for the stakeholders involved and the responsible use of philanthropic funds.
• Tech-confident: highly competent with working with grant management systems and databases, ready to adapt to new tools and able to propose adjustments where required.

Compensation and Benefits

• Annual salary: salary commensurate with qualification, experience and candidate location. Location allowance ranging from 15% to 30% on top of global base salary scale.
• Official holidays according to the country of hiring; local and personal cultural traditions and religious practices will be respected.
• Annual work from home allowance equivalent to $1K USD (converted to local currency).
• Life insurance.
• Health care (includes vision and dental) covering family members, including legal partners, children below age of 18 and legal dependents as defined by the country of employment. The cost of the health plan or insurance may be shared between the UMI Fund and the staff member, depending on the conditions offered in the country of employment. This will be agreed at the time of hiring.
• Minimum 20 working days annual paid vacations plus additional paid days year end break.
• Access to Headspace platform.
• 2 days of work time each calendar year to participate in volunteer work with a non-profit organisation.
• Bereavement Leave: from 2 to 20 working days paid leave according to the level of relationship with the loved one.
• Flexible work arrangements:

o Regular working hours: 40 hours per week, 8-hour day preferably between 9 am and 5 pm local time. Due to the geographical distribution of our team, it may be necessary to work non-regular hours in order to participate in meetings with those located in other time zones. UMI Fund always prioritizes the well-being of its staff and strongly recommends that no one works before 6am or after 9pm. If it is necessary in exceptional situations to work at these times, staff should offset the hours no later than two days after, to ensure time for rest.

Local regulations will always prevail and will be observed to determine the final contract

To apply for the post 

To apply for this role, please submit a copy of your CV/resume and a cover letter outlining your interest in the role and how you fulfil the requirements set out in the job announcement.

Please ensure you send your CV and Cover letter in the following format: full_name_CV_org_name_role and full_name_role_CL.

If you have any questions about the role or organisation, please reach out to Ruth Gardner at ruth@upsallinternational.com.

· The deadline for applications is Monday May 18th, 9:00 am CET ·

Please note: to ensure the security of your application and that your data complies with GDPR, applications via email will not be accepted.

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Upsall International actively promotes equality, diversity, and inclusion. In recruiting candidates, we seek candidates with the proven skills required, irrespective of race, gender, religion or belief, age, disability, or sexual orientation.