Fundraising and Project Development Officer

About Us

South East London Community Energy (Selce) is an award-winning energy member-led cooperative. We believe in creating a fair and just energy transition by building distributed and renewable energy systems, reducing local energy demand, and leaving no one behind in the process. Selce promotes community-financed renewables, supports residents to increase the energy efficiency of their homes, and provides advice and support for vulnerable residents at risk of fuel poverty.

Job Description

We’re recruiting a fundraiser and project development officer to build on our creative, award-winning work addressing climate change and fuel poverty in practical, tangible ways.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who shares our vision of a different energy future: one in which energy is generated renewably and used sustainably whilst leaving no one behind in the journey. We are looking for someone who understands the energy sector and the unique role that a community energy group can play in the energy transition. It is a role for someone who can imagine community solutions to energy sector issues and to translate these into fundable projects.

Your role will be to work with our board of Directors and staff to come to an understanding of our mission and values and our strategic priorities and develop and resource projects that will enable us to meet those priorities filling gaps in provision. In a practical sense, you will work with stakeholders e.g. our staff, our members, local community groups, local authorities and clients to generate ideas for future projects. The direction of travel should be broadly determined by our recent strategic review. You will work closely with our CEO and our Board of Directors to prioritise project ideas. You will develop partnerships, refine project ideas, identify sources of funding (Trusts and Grantmakers, Corporate Giving), draft bids and cost delivery on a full cost recovery basis, submit bids and if funding is awarded, mobilise the team to deliver the work. This role provides a big and exciting challenge for someone who knows the energy sector, understands the opportunity of community and grassroots solutions, who brings excellent written communication skills and is willing to learn how to fundraise.

Responsibilities:

Grant Fundraising Support:

• Work with the Selce community (the board, staff, volunteers and other stakeholders) to generate new project ideas that support our strategic mission
• Research and identify potential grant-making trusts, foundations, and statutory bodies that will fund project proposals
• Prepare high-quality grant applications; this includes calculating budget requirements, formulating proposals, writing proposals
• Manage the grant administration process and maintain accurate records of funding opportunities and applications in the fundraising calendar.

Commissioned Work & Tendering Support:

• Assist in researching and identifying opportunities for commissioned work.
• Support the preparation of tender documents and proposals, including gathering necessary information, budgeting and formatting submissions.
• Provide administrative support for contract negotiation and agreement finalisation.

Community Share Capital

• Draft community share offer brochures and associated documentation
• Support the implementation of strategies to raise community share capital.
• Assist in planning and executing share offer campaigns, including preparing marketing materials and organising investor events.
• Help manage investor communications and data, ensuring compliance with cooperative principles and financial regulations.

Develop and Maintain Relationships

• Assist in building and nurturing relationships with funders, commissioners, and community investors through effective communication.
• Support the organisation’s representation at external events and networking opportunities.

Skills & Experience:

The ability to imagine and innovate and thereby build fundable project-based solutions working in partnership with stakeholders is more important that fundraising experience per se. This post would suit an Energy Policy graduate that has experience of either community energy or journalism (and therefore brings strong writing skills) or environmental projects.

Essential:

• Knowledge of the Energy Sector: Understand the energy markets and the energy industry. Also bring a good understanding of community energy, fuel poverty, and energy efficiency
• Strong Writing Skills: Ability to write clear, concise, and compelling content for proposals, reports, and communications.
• Research & Analytical Skills: Capable of conducting thorough research
• Excel Skills: Excellent Excel skills and the ability to calculate project budgets
• Organisational & Administrative Skills: Highly organised with excellent attention to detail, capable of managing multiple tasks and deadlines effectively.
• Communication and relationship management: Good interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal.
• IT Proficiency: Competent in using Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
• Passion for Mission: A genuine commitment to the values and mission of a charitable cooperative focused on energy transition and social impact.

Desirable:

• Fundraising Experience: Some demonstrable experience in fundraising activities, ideally within a charity or non-profit setting.
• Understanding of cooperative finance models or experience with community share offers.

For more information about the role and Selce, please contact Giovanna Speciale (CEO) at [email protected].