[Hiring] Grants Lead @YLabs

Role Description

YLabs is seeking an experienced Grants Lead to oversee the end-to-end grant management functions, comprising donor financial reporting, subrecipient/subgrantee financial compliance, and fund disbursement workflows under an Incubation Aggregator Partnership Model.

Under the aggregator partnership model, YLabs serves as the Aggregator Partner managing a dedicated incubation funding envelope, issuing small-scale experimentation agreements, and coordinating multiple subrecipient partners across Africa. The Grants Lead will be responsible for institutionalizing financial governance across three core financial framework pillars:

• Partner Identification & Vetting
• Fund Management & Administration
• Grant Management

The Grants Lead will also lead the newly established Grants & Compliance Unit within the finance department and will be responsible for the full lifecycle of restricted donor funding, proposal budgeting, and donor financial reporting.

Responsibilities

• Pillar 1: Partner Identification, Due Diligence & Contracting
  • Lead financial capacity assessments for prospective experimentation partners.
  • Classify subrecipient partners into risk tiers (Low, Moderate, High).
  • Collaborate with the Operations Lead and Safeguarding Specialist to issue YLabs Subrecipient Agreements.
  • Guide partners through sub-grant onboarding and establish standard financial reporting templates.
• Pillar 2: Fund Management & Grant Administration
  • Design standardized budget templates for the incubation funding envelope.
  • Manage disbursement processes using approved modalities and risk-tiering.
  • Ensure selected partners adhere to standard financial reporting packages.
  • Perform monthly budget-to-actual variance analysis and cash flow reviews.
  • Oversee audits and enforce corrective action plans.
• Pillar 3: Aggregator Grant Oversight & Financial Consolidation
  • Coordinate with the Finance team to aggregate subrecipient spend into unified financial statements.
  • Prepare and submit periodic status reports to the Director of Finance.
• Subgrantee Management Functions
  • Oversee the entire subgrant pipeline from call-for-proposals to award closeout.
  • Conduct training sessions for subrecipient finance teams.
  • Design and execute risk-based desk reviews and financial monitoring visits.
  • Continuously update subgrant manuals and workflows.
• Grants & Donor Financial Management
  • Submit highly accurate, multi-currency donor financial reports.
  • Co-design detailed, realistic activity cost estimations and multi-year project budgets.
  • Track donor funding tranches and maintain revenue recognition logs.
  • Assist the Finance & Accounting Unit during statutory annual corporate reviews/audits.
  • Direct and coordinate all project-specific external audits initiated by donors/funders.
  • Perform any other duties assigned by the Director of Finance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field.
• CA/CPA/ACCA/CIMA or equivalent professional certification preferred.
• 5+ years of direct experience in grant administration, subgrantee management, auditing, and financial compliance.
• Proven track record of managing large institutional funder grants.
• Proficient in accounting and financial management software and grants management applications.
• Advanced Excel skills for financial modeling and variance analysis.

Requirements

• Currently based in Africa.
• In possession of a valid work permit for your country of residence.
• Excellent collaborator with a diverse, multi-cultural team across time zones.
• Able to communicate succinctly about financial records and processes.
• Able to travel within Africa.

Benefits

• This is a full-time, fully benefited position.
• The initial contract term for this role is 12 months.
• Annual gross range of $38,181 - $55,909.09, commensurate with experience.
• YLabs pays all full-time staff salaries in the local currency of the staff member’s permanent work location.

Application Process

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. YLabs recognizes the time and effort that goes into submitting an application and reviews every submission carefully. Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we will contact candidates whose qualifications most closely match the requirements of the role to discuss next steps in the hiring process.

Equal Employment Opportunity

YLabs is committed to building teams and policies that promote equity, justice, and belonging at work. We strongly encourage people from all cultures, races, educational backgrounds, socio-economic classes, sexual orientations, age, gender, and physical abilities to apply.