Grants Financial Specialist II - Africa Region

Role Overview

This role sits at the core of our grant management operations, handling the financial side of proposals and active awards from U.S. government agencies and other institutional donors. Day to day, you'll build detailed budgets and supporting narratives for new funding opportunities, then track spending, produce donor reports, and flag variances across the lifecycle of each grant. Your work directly protects our compliance posture and enables program teams to deliver impact without financial surprises.

Key Responsibilities

• Construct line-item budgets and accompanying justification narratives for U.S. government bid submissions and other institutional grant proposals.
• Manage the full financial cycle of awarded grants — from initial setup and drawdowns through interim reporting and final closeout.
• Produce periodic financial reports that meet donor formatting and timing requirements, and analyze actual vs. budget variances to guide corrective action.
• Monitor real-time expenditure against approved budgets, update forecasts, and flag potential overspend or underspend to program and finance leads.
• Support external and internal audits, including Single Audits required for federal award recipients, by preparing supporting schedules and responding to inquiries.
• Implement and strengthen internal controls to ensure alignment with 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance) and other donor-specific rules.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with finance, programs, legal, compliance, and country-office teams to resolve financial and compliance questions throughout the grant term.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a directly related field.
• At least three to five years of hands-on experience in grants finance, donor compliance, or financial management within an NGO or international development setting.
• Proven ability to develop budgets and budget narratives from scratch for U.S. government-funded proposals (USAID, State Department, CDC, etc.).
• Solid working knowledge of 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance) and familiarity with the financial requirements of UN agencies and other major institutional donors.
• Experience supporting or leading Single Audits for programs receiving U.S. federal funding.
• Strong skills in budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, and donor financial reporting.
• Collaborative approach with comfort working across time zones and functional teams to achieve shared compliance and financial goals.