Grants and Compliance Officer

Amref Health Africa is a leading health development organization founded in 1957, dedicated to improving health in Africa through humanitarian and social development initiatives.

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

1. Support the management of active programme sub-grants across various 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 point of contact for daily grants-related queries from country teams and sub-grantees, providing practical guidance and escalating complex issues as needed.
6. Support sub-grantees in understanding and complying with agreement terms and conditions, reporting requirements, and budget management expectations.
7. Assist in implementing partner onboarding processes, including documentation checks, compliance verification, and orientation to grants management tools and templates.
8. Contribute to partner capacity strengthening efforts by identifying recurring gaps or support needs and integrating these into targeted capacity-building plans.
9. Coordinate with Finance teams to support accurate budget set-up, expenditure tracking, and reconciliation for sub-grants.
10. Coordinate funds disbursement to sub-grantees and ensure appropriate cash flow management practices are in place.
11. Conduct quality checks on sub-grantee financial reports to ensure completeness, accuracy, and consistency with approved budgets before submission or review.
12. Support the preparation and consolidation of grants-related inputs for donor financial and narrative reports, ensuring timelines and quality standards are met.
13. Support the implementation of grants compliance standards by applying agreed tools, templates, and procedures consistently across programme countries.
14. Assist with sample-based reviews of sub-grantee reports and documentation to identify compliance risks or areas requiring corrective action.
15. Support audits, compliance reviews, and spot checks by coordinating documentation, responding to information requests, and tracking follow-up actions.
16. Proactively identify and escalate grant-related risks—financial, compliance, delivery, or reputational—to the Senior Grants Manager in a timely manner.
17. Demonstrate curiosity and proactive problem-solving in daily grant administration, identifying inefficiencies, process bottlenecks, or recurring compliance risks and proposing practical solutions.
18. Identify opportunities to simplify documentation, improve tracking tools, or enhance clarity of communication with sub-grantees, country teams, and internal teams.
19. Capture lessons learned from grant implementation, reporting, audits, and partner engagement, and support their integration into improved practices.
20. Contribute actively to testing and refining grants management tools, templates, and systems, providing feedback grounded in implementation experience across countries.
21. Support programme-wide initiatives related to Organisational Development and System Strengthening (ODSS) as they relate to partner and sub-grants management.
22. Take ownership of individual performance objectives aligned to programme grants priorities, demonstrating accountability for quality, timeliness, and compliance of assigned sub-grant portfolio responsibilities.
23. Contribute actively to a high-performing grants function by collaborating effectively with peers across HQ and country programmes, sharing knowledge, and reinforcing consistent application of tools, templates, and standards.
24. Model Amref’s values, leadership behaviours, and safeguarding commitments in all grants-related interactions, contributing to a respectful, accountable, and inclusive working environment.
25. Proactively identify areas for self-development, including evolving donor regulations, financial controls, and grants systems, and pursue learning opportunities that strengthen individual and team capability.

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 programme environments.
3. Practical understanding of country-level financial operations and regulatory contexts.
4. Certified Grants Management Specialist (CGMS) credentials are an added advantage.
5. Four (4) to six (6) years of relevant experience in grants management within the social impact/development sector.
6. Proficiency in financial, CRM systems or software, and Microsoft Office suite.
7. Demonstrable experience in managing grants, sub-grants, procurement, and compliance with donor regulations.
8. Demonstrable experience in prefunding assessment, contract design, compliance management, data analysis, and budget & report review for multi-country programmes.
9. Experience managing complex donor grants, sub-grants, and partner compliance.
10. Fluent in oral and written English.