Grants and Compliance Officer

Amref Health Africa in Kenya is the country program office of Amref Health Africa, Africa's largest International Health NGO. It is the largest and oldest country program in Africa, managing an average annual budget of USD 40 million and implementing 19 innovative products and project models that have transformed 5.4 million lives.

The Grants Officer, working under the guidance of the Grants Manager, is responsible for the day-to-day coordination, documentation, tracking, and quality assurance of sub-grant processes from pre-award review and start-up through implementation, reporting, and close-out. This role collaborates closely with program teams, Finance, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL), and sub-grantees to ensure compliance with donor and Amref requirements, enhance grant management practices, and maintain audit-ready grant files. The position demands strong attention to detail, sound professional judgment, and the ability to confidently navigate evolving donor, regulatory, and program environments, while appropriately escalating risks and issues and contributing to continuous improvement of grant systems and ways of working.

1. Support the administration and coordination of active program sub-grants across multiple countries, ensuring alignment with approved objectives, budgets, and delivery models.
2. Maintain accurate, complete, and up-to-date sub-grant documentation, trackers, dashboards, and audit-ready grant files.
3. Monitor sub-grant expenditures against approved budgets and flag variances, risks, or anomalies to the Grants Manager.
4. Review sub-grant agreements and amendments to extract key obligations, milestones, reporting requirements, and compliance considerations.
5. Serve as the primary contact for day-to-day grants-related queries from country teams and sub-grantees, offering practical guidance and escalating complex issues.
6. Assist sub-grantees in understanding and complying with agreement terms, reporting requirements, and budget management expectations.
7. Support partner onboarding processes, including documentation checks, compliance verification, and orientation to grants management tools.
8. Contribute to partner capacity strengthening by identifying gaps and feeding them into targeted capacity-building plans.
9. Coordinate with Finance teams for accurate budget setup, expenditure tracking, and reconciliation for sub-grants.
10. Coordinate funds disbursement to sub-grantees and ensure proper cash flow management.
11. Conduct quality checks on sub-grantee financial reports for completeness, accuracy, and consistency with approved budgets.
12. Support the preparation and consolidation of grants-related inputs for donor financial and narrative reports, meeting timelines and quality standards.
13. Implement grants compliance standards using agreed tools, templates, and procedures across program countries.
14. Assist with sample-based reviews of sub-grantee reports and documentation to identify compliance risks or areas needing corrective action.
15. Support audits, compliance reviews, and spot checks by coordinating documentation, responding to requests, and tracking follow-up actions.
16. Proactively identify and escalate financial, compliance, delivery, or reputational grant-related risks to the Senior Grants Manager.
17. Demonstrate curiosity and proactive problem-solving in daily grant administration, identifying inefficiencies and proposing practical solutions.
18. Identify opportunities to simplify documentation, improve tracking tools, or enhance communication with sub-grantees and internal teams.
19. Capture lessons learned from grant implementation, reporting, audits, and partner engagement, integrating them into improved practices.
20. Actively contribute to testing and refining grants management tools, templates, and systems, providing feedback based on implementation experience.
21. Support program-wide initiatives related to Organizational Development and System Strengthening (ODSS) concerning partner and sub-grants management.
22. Take ownership of individual performance objectives aligned with program grants priorities, ensuring accountability for quality, timeliness, and compliance.
23. Collaborate effectively with peers across HQ and country programs, sharing knowledge and reinforcing consistent application of standards.
24. Model Amref’s values, leadership behaviors, and safeguarding commitments in all interactions.
25. Proactively identify areas for self-development, including evolving donor regulations, financial controls, and grants systems.

1. Bachelor’s degree in international development, Public Administration, Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, Project Management, Public Health, or a related field.
2. CPA (K), ACCA, CFA, CMI, CA, or other internationally recognized professional qualification, with proven experience applying professional accounting standards in multi-country, donor-funded program environments, including practical understanding of country-level financial operations and regulatory contexts.
3. Credentials such as Certified Grants Management Specialist (CGMS) are an added advantage.
4. Four to six years of relevant experience in grants management within the social impact/development sector.
5. Proficiency in financial, CRM systems or software and Microsoft Office suite.
6. Demonstrable experience in managing grants, sub-grants, procurement, and compliance with donor regulations.
7. Demonstrable experience in prefunding assessment, contract design, compliance management, data analysis, and budget & report review for multi-country programs.
8. Experience managing complex donor grants, sub-grants, and partner compliance.
9. Fluent in oral and written English.