Grant Officer

Job Description:

The Grant Officer will support the Grant team in the day-to-day management of implementing partners (OOS grantees) under the LIFT Innovation Fund. This role will ensure effective grant management, compliance with donor and programme requirements, and high-quality support to grantees.

The Grant Officer will play a key role in coordinating with grantees, reviewing financial and narrative reports, and supporting capacity strengthening plans.

The responsibilities will include:

• Support the capacity assessments and follow-up on the implementation of the capacity strengthening plan.
• Organise and facilitate capacity-strengthening visits
• Assist in aligning grantee budgets with programme priorities
• Guide grantees on reporting formats, deadlines, and documentation standards
• Monitor grantee compliance with grant agreements
• Track grant deliverables, disbursements, and reporting deadlines in the Grant Management System (GMS).
• Ensure grantee expense validation reports are organised and accessible for verification
• Support planning and logistics for grantee’s consultants spot checks and validations
• Accompany consultants on selected field visits and follow up on implementation of recommendations
• Assist in the review of quarterly financial reports submitted by grantees
• Work with grantees to review and refine quarterly forecasts
• Compare forecasts to actual spending and alert Grants Manager of significant variances
• Monitor the disbursement process by engaging with the Finance team to avoid delays
• Maintain a central filing system for grantee reports, approvals, and capacity strengthening tools

Note: This job description reflects the present requirements of the post.  As duties and responsibilities change and develop the job description will be reviewed and be subject to amendment in consultation with the post holder and line manager.

Work location: Kigali

Candidate Core Competencies:

The Grant Officer will have:

• Attention to detail and strong analytical skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
• Collaborative and proactive approach to problem-solving.
• Commitment to ethical standards, transparency, and accountability.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
• Significant experience in NGO grant management or donor-funded programmes
• Familiarity with donor compliance frameworks (FCDO experience preferred)
• Strong Excel and budget management skills
• Excellent interpersonal and coordination skills
• Fluency in English; Kinyarwanda an asset.

Project Description:

Learning and Inclusion for Transformation (LIFT) is a programme of the Ministry of Education that is funded by the UK Government through the Foreign, Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) and aims to improve foundational learning outcomes for children in English and Mathematics in Rwanda’s lower primary schools. LIFT supports adolescents aged 12-17 to return to formal education or access alternative education pathways and enables access to education for children with disabilities. 

Focusing on those most at risk of not completing basic education, LIFT is removing barriers to learning, creating safe school environments and developing partnerships for equitable education, so every child has the opportunity to thrive.

The programme will run until 2030. LIFT is jointly implemented by Cambridge Education and TETRATECH.

Agile working

At Mott MacDonald, we believe it makes business sense for you and your manager to choose how you can work most effectively to meet your client, team and personal commitments. We embrace agility, flexibility and trust.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We put equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they have the opportunity to contribute.