Finance And Grants Officer At Masakhane Research Foundation

Position Overview

• The Finance and Grants Officer supports the accurate and timely delivery of day-to-day finance and grants administration across Masakhane Research Foundation.
• Working under the technical guidance of the Senior Finance Officer on finance-related responsibilities and the Senior Grants Manager on grants-related responsibilities, the Officer processes transactions, maintains financial and grant records, coordinates routine compliance requirements, tracks budgets and grant obligations, and prepares information required for reporting and decision-making.
• The role serves as an operational link between Finance, Grants, Programme, Partnerships and Community teams. It helps ensure that financial and grant-management processes are completed accurately, consistently and in accordance with approved policies, procedures, donor requirements and delegated authorities.

Working Relationships

Receives technical direction from:

• Senior Finance Officer for finance, accounting and financial-control responsibilities
• Senior Grants Manager for grant administration, compliance and portfolio-management responsibilities

Works closely with:

• Programme and Partnerships teams
• Budget holders
• Community teams
• Grantees and implementing partners
• External service providers and auditors

Key Responsibilities

Financial Processing and Administration

• Process payments, advances, reimbursements and other routine financial transactions in accordance with approved procedures and delegated authorities.
• Verify that payment requests contain complete and appropriate supporting documentation before submitting them for review and approval.
• Accurately record financial transactions in the relevant accounting and financial-management systems.
• Maintain complete, organised and accessible financial records and supporting documentation.
• Support accounts payable and receivable processes, including tracking outstanding payments, advances and receivables.
• Follow up with staff, budget holders and service providers to resolve missing or incomplete documentation.
• Support month-end and year-end processes by preparing schedules, reconciliations and supporting information for review.

Reconciliations and Financial Records

• Prepare routine bank, account, advance and balance reconciliations for review by the Senior Finance Officer.
• Investigate routine discrepancies and follow up on outstanding reconciliation items.
• Maintain accurate transaction, payment, advance and account records.
• Support the maintenance of a clear and complete audit trail for all financial transactions.
• Escalate unresolved discrepancies, unusual transactions or potential control concerns to the Senior Finance Officer.

Budget Monitoring and Financial Reporting Support

• Maintain approved organisational, programme and grant budgets in the relevant systems and trackers.
• Track expenditure against approved budgets and identify significant variances or emerging concerns for review.
• Prepare routine budget-versus-actual information, expenditure reports and financial schedules.
• Support the preparation of forecasts, donor financial reports and internal management reports.
• Provide accurate and timely financial information to the Senior Finance Officer, Senior Grants Manager, programme teams and budget holders.
• Update financial dashboards and trackers, ensuring that information remains complete and current.

Grant Administration

• Coordinate routine administrative activities across the incoming and outgoing grant lifecycle.
• Maintain complete grant files, including agreements, approved budgets, amendments, due-diligence records, reporting schedules, milestones and correspondence.
• Update grant registers, compliance calendars, reporting trackers and portfolio-management systems.
• Support grant application, assessment, contracting, amendment, renewal and close-out processes.
• Track grant deliverables, reporting deadlines, funding conditions and outstanding actions.
• Coordinate routine follow-up with internal teams, grantees and implementing partners.
• Escalate delayed deliverables, non-compliance or other emerging concerns to the Senior Grants Manager.

Due Diligence and Compliance Support

• Coordinate and document approved risk-based due-diligence processes for prospective grantees and implementing partners.
• Collect and verify required organisational, financial, banking, governance and compliance documentation.
• Record due-diligence findings using approved tools and submit them to the Senior Grants Manager for review and decision-making.
• Monitor routine compliance requirements against grant agreements, donor conditions and Foundation policies.
• Review grantee financial reports and supporting documentation for completeness and consistency.
• Track agreed corrective actions and follow up on outstanding compliance requirements.
• Escalate suspected fraud, safeguarding concerns, conflicts of interest, material non-compliance or significant fiduciary risks immediately through the appropriate channels.

Grant Disbursement and Financial Monitoring

• Prepare grant-disbursement documentation and coordinate the processing of approved payments.
• Confirm that required documentation, reports and milestones have been received before submitting disbursement requests for review.
• Track grant payments, advances, expenditure, balances and liquidation status.
• Support the reconciliation and financial close-out of grants.
• Maintain clear records of disbursement decisions, supporting documentation and approvals.
• Identify discrepancies or emerging financial risks and refer them to the Senior Finance Officer and Senior Grants Manager.
• Ensure that no grant disbursement is processed without the required review and approval.

Audit and Documentation Support

• Maintain complete, accurate and audit-ready finance and grant records.
• Compile supporting documentation, schedules and transaction records requested during internal and external audits.
• Respond to routine document requests and refer technical or judgement-based audit queries to the appropriate senior role holder.
• Track audit and compliance actions assigned to the role and provide timely updates on their status.
• Support implementation of agreed improvements arising from audits, reviews and monitoring activities.

Grantee and Internal Team Support

• Provide practical guidance to grantees on financial documentation, reporting templates, submission requirements and grant-administration processes.
• Support orientations and training sessions for grantees and internal teams.
• Assist budget holders and programme teams to understand routine financial reports, grant requirements and administrative processes.
• Work collaboratively with Finance, Grants, Programme, Partnerships and Community teams to resolve routine administrative issues.
• Apply a supportive and proportionate approach when working with community-based and locally led organisations while maintaining appropriate accountability standards.
• Refer matters requiring policy interpretation, exceptions or management decisions to the relevant senior role holder.

Systems and Process Improvement

• Maintain finance and grants templates, trackers, checklists, standard operating procedures and process documentation.
• Support effective use of accounting, grant-management and digital workflow systems.
• Maintain accurate electronic records and appropriate document archiving.
• Identify recurring administrative challenges and recommend practical process improvements.
• Support improvements to the accessibility, consistency and efficiency of finance and grants processes.
• Contribute to the development of reliable institutional knowledge and records as the Foundation grows.

Qualifications and Experience

Education and Professional Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Development Studies, Project Management or a related field.
• Progress toward a recognised professional accounting qualification, such as CPA or ACCA, is an advantage.
• Relevant training or certification in grants management, donor compliance or project financial management is also an advantage.

Professional Experience

• At least three years of relevant experience in finance, accounting, grants administration, donor-funded programmes or non-profit operations.
• Practical experience processing financial transactions and maintaining complete supporting documentation.
• Experience supporting reconciliations, budget monitoring, financial reporting and audit preparation.
• Experience administering grants or sub-grants, including maintaining grant records, conducting due diligence, tracking compliance and supporting reporting.
• Experience working with community-based, research, technology, philanthropic or international development organisations is an advantage.
• Experience working in a distributed, multicultural or pan-African environment is desirable.

Technical Skills and Competencies

• Sound understanding of basic accounting, financial-management and internal-control principles.
• Good understanding of the grant lifecycle and donor-compliance requirements.
• Strong Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets skills and confidence working with budgets and financial data.
• Experience using accounting, grant-management or workflow systems; familiarity with platforms such as Airtable, Submittable, Salesforce or similar tools is an advantage.
• Strong documentation, records-management and organisational skills.
• Ability to coordinate multiple activities and deadlines while maintaining accuracy.
• Ability to identify inconsistencies, follow up constructively and escalate concerns appropriately.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal and cross-cultural collaboration skills.
• High standards of integrity, confidentiality and professional judgement.
• Commitment to equity, transparency, accountability and community-centred ways of working.
• Fluency in written and spoken English; proficiency in French or another African language is an advantage.