| Location | Lilongwe, Malawi or Nairobi, Kenya |
| Department | Finance and Operations |
| Reports to | Head of Finance and Operations |
| Contract type | Fixed-term – 2 years, renewable |
Role Overview
AFIDEP is seeking an experienced and detail-oriented Grants Manager to lead the effective management of the Institute’s grants portfolio, from pre-award due diligence through to award close-out. The Grants Manager will work closely with the Finance and Programmes teams to ensure that all grants are managed in full compliance with donor requirements and AFIDEP’s policies. He/she will play a key role in strengthening the Institute’s systems for grants and sub-grants management.
The successful candidate will be a meticulous, results-oriented professional who combines deep technical expertise in grants and contracts management with strong donor compliance knowledge. The Grants Manager will serve as a key link between AFIDEP and its donors, ensuring that grants are managed with rigour, transparency, and accountability to donors, the Board, and stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
- Grants Strategy
- Grants Portfolio Planning: Contribute to institutional planning by tracking the grants pipeline, funding gaps and renewal timelines across all projects and country offices.
- Proposal Budgeting: Develop and review budgets and budget narratives for new funding proposals, in collaboration with programme teams.
- Financial Feasibility Review: Review donor solicitations and draft agreements to assess financial feasibility, flag unfavourable terms, and advise on cost structures and indirect cost recovery rates.
- Cost Recovery Planning: Support the application of AFIDEP’s cost allocation and indirect cost recovery methodology across new and existing grants.
- Grants & Donor Compliance Management
- Award Set-up & Activation: Lead the review and activation of new awards, ensuring donor terms and conditions are understood and translated into internal budgets and compliance checklists.
- Donor Compliance: Maintain up-to-date knowledge of the compliance requirements of bilateral, multilateral and private foundation donors, and ensure grant implementation adheres to these at all times.
- Grant Close-out: Coordinate timely and compliant close-out of completed awards, including final financial reporting, asset disposition and documentation archiving.
- Donor & Partner Relations: Serve as a key point of contact for donors on grants administration matters, managing financial queries and facilitating donor financial reviews.
- Financial Monitoring & Reporting
- Budget Monitoring: Track grant expenditure against approved budgets, flag variances, and work with project teams to ensure spending remains on track and within donor rules.
- Donor Financial Reporting: Coordinate the preparation and timely submission of accurate financial reports to donors, in compliance with donor requirements and applicable accounting standards (IFRS).
- Management Reporting: Provide the Finance and Programme leadership with timely, actionable analysis of grants portfolio performance, burn rates and compliance risks.
- Audit Support: Support internal and external audits related to grants and contracts, maintaining audit-ready documentation and helping implement audit recommendations.
- Sub-Grants & Partner Management
- Due Diligence: Lead financial and organisational due diligence assessments of prospective sub-grantees and implementing partners.
- Sub-Agreement Management: Draft and manage sub-grant and sub-contract agreements, ensuring donor flow-down clauses are correctly applied.
- Disbursement & Compliance Monitoring: Track sub-grantee disbursements, review partner financial reports, and monitor compliance with agreed budgets and donor rules.
- Partner Capacity Building: Build the financial management and compliance capacity of sub-grantees and partner institutions through training and ongoing support.
- Risk Management & Systems Development
- Grants Risk Management: Identify, assess and escalate financial and compliance risks across the grants portfolio, and maintain an up-to-date grants risk log.
- Internal Controls: Support the design and consistent application of internal controls over grant income, expenditure and sub-grant disbursements.
- Grants Management Systems: Maintain an accurate, up-to-date grants tracking system and ensure accessible records of all active and closed awards.
- Policy Development: Contribute to the continuous review and improvement of AFIDEP’s grants and sub-grants management policies and procedures.
