Grants Lead (Remote)

• Job TitleGrants Lead
• OrganisationYLabs
• LocationRemote (preference for Africa-based candidates)
• PayUS$38,181 – $55,909 a year (gross), paid in local currency
• Contract12 months, full-time, fully benefited
• Experience5+ years
• DeadlineRolling, until filled

YLabs is a global design and research organisation that designs technologies to amplify youth power, agency and opportunity. Founded in 2014 at the Harvard Innovation Lab, it co-creates inclusive digital products and services with young people.

Based in Rwanda and the USA, YLabs has worked in 18 countries across health and wellness, economic opportunity and climate resilience.

The Grants Lead oversees end-to-end grant management, including donor financial reporting, sub-recipient compliance and fund disbursement, under an Incubation Aggregator Partnership Model where YLabs manages a funding envelope and coordinates partners across Africa.

The role leads the newly established Grants & Compliance Unit within the finance department.

Partner Vetting and Contracting

• Lead financial capacity assessments of prospective partners, reviewing audited statements, liquidity, debt and internal controls.
• Classify partners into Low, Moderate or High risk tiers to set disbursement modalities.
• Issue sub-recipient agreements, guide onboarding and set reporting templates.

Fund Management and Oversight

• Design standard budget templates and manage disbursements.
• Ensure partners follow reporting packages and eligible-cost rules.
• Run monthly budget-to-actual and cash flow reviews, flag anomalies and oversee audits.
• Consolidate sub-recipient spend in QuickBooks and report to the Director of Finance.

Subgrants and Donor Finance

• Manage the subgrant pipeline from call for proposals to closeout.
• Train partner finance teams and run risk-based monitoring visits.
• Submit accurate multi-currency donor financial reports.
• Co-design project budgets, track funding tranches and coordinate donor audits.

You Are

• Currently based in Africa with a valid work permit for your country.
• A strong collaborator across time zones, able to travel within Africa.

You Have

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or a related field.
• CA, CPA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent is preferred.
• 5+ years in grant administration, subgrantee management, auditing and compliance, or a senior finance role in international non-profits or incubators in Africa.
• A record managing large institutional grants (e.g. Mastercard Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, USAID).
• Skills in QuickBooks, Bill.com, Expensify, grants tools (Submittable, Fluxx) and advanced Excel.
• Comfort with Slack and Google Workspace.

Technical Skills

• Grant finance: Donor reporting and compliance.
• Risk assessment: Partner due diligence and tiering.
• QuickBooks and Excel: Consolidation and variance analysis.
• Remote tools: Slack and Google Workspace.

Soft Skills

• Judgement: Sound financial risk calls.
• Writing: Clear technical reports.
• Coordination: Multi-country partners.
• Communication: Explaining finance simply.

Annual gross salary of US$38,181 to $55,909, depending on experience, benchmarked to YLabs Africa salary bands and paid in your local currency.

Full-time, fully benefited role with a 12-month initial contract.

• Fully remote, open to Africa-based candidates.
• Pay benchmarked in US dollars.
• Lead a brand-new grants unit.
• Work with partners across Africa.
• Top role in accounting and finance jobs in Uganda.

Apply through the Grants Lead page on YLabs’ website. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until the post is filled, so apply early. Offers depend on background and criminal record checks. See more NGO jobs in Uganda and international development jobs in Uganda.

• Lead with the grant sizes and donors you’ve managed.
• Show sub-grantee audits and risk assessments.
• Mention QuickBooks or other tools by name.
• Confirm you’re Africa-based with the right to work.
• Apply soon: rolling review.