SENIOR LEAD, INSTITUTIONAL FINANCE AND GRANTS MANAGEMENT – Masakhane Research Foundation

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and continuous strengthening of MRF’s organisation-wide finance and grants management systems, policies, procedures and controls.
• Build a scalable institutional framework capable of supporting organisational growth, multiple funding streams and complex donor and partnership arrangements.
• Establish processes covering the full grants lifecycle, from funding opportunity and grant acceptance through implementation, reporting, close-out and audit.
• Develop frameworks for incoming grants, outgoing grants, sub-grants and fiscal sponsorship arrangements.
• Work with leadership to strengthen financial planning, institutional sustainability, reserves, cost recovery and allocation of organisational/core costs.
• Establish grants governance, approval authorities, risk thresholds, due diligence standards and escalation mechanisms.
• Ensure finance and grants systems remain proportionate to MRF’s size and values while meeting fiduciary, statutory and donor requirements.
• Lead the annual budgeting process and provide high-level financial analysis and forecasting.
• Develop financial strategies aligned with project goals across diverse regional contexts.
• Oversee the project finance team in monitoring accounts, including the General Ledger, bank reconciliations and balance sheet accounts.
• Maintain and continuously improve internal controls and financial policies.
• Collaborate with teams to ensure accurate donor reporting and financial forecasting.
• Ensure compliance with donor regulations and local statutory laws in all operating countries.
• Serve as the primary focal point for internal and external audits.
• Troubleshoot financial issues and implement risk mitigation measures throughout programme implementation.
• Oversee the financial and compliance aspects of MRF’s incoming grant portfolio from proposal development and due diligence through contracting, implementation, reporting and close-out.
• Review donor agreements and funding conditions to identify financial, operational, compliance and institutional risks before acceptance.
• Establish systems for tracking grant obligations, restricted funding, reporting requirements, expenditure, co-financing and compliance milestones.
• Work with leadership and programme teams to ensure new funding is financially viable and contributes appropriately to MRF’s institutional sustainability.
• Lead the design and oversight of MRF’s outgoing grants, sub-granting and fiscal sponsorship mechanisms.
• Establish proportionate processes for partner assessment, due diligence, contracting, disbursement, financial monitoring and grant close-out.
• Ensure grant-making mechanisms balance fiduciary responsibility with Masakhane’s commitment to accessible, community-centred funding.
• Develop differentiated risk and compliance approaches suited to the size, maturity and context of grantees.
• Ensure communities and partners receive appropriate financial management support throughout the grant lifecycle.
• Provide advisory support to grantees on sound financial management.
• Support demand-driven technical assistance focused on financial sustainability.
• Help community organisations secure diverse funding and absorb larger grants over time.
• Develop a pipeline of funding-ready community partners through training, monitoring and onsite compliance visits.
• Provide ongoing coaching to finance staff to strengthen their ability to troubleshoot complex issues and collaborate across project functions.
• Design and implement a delegation of authority matrix that empowers staff while maintaining oversight of high-risk transactions.
• Balance task distribution across the team to prevent burnout during peak reporting and audit periods.

Requirements

• A Master’s degree or higher in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Economics or a related field.
• An active professional certification such as CPA, ACCA, CA or equivalent , which is strictly required.
• A specialised certification in grant management, financial risk or executive leadership, such as PMP, CRA or equivalent, is strongly preferred.
• 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in executive financial management and multi-million-dollar grants oversight.
• At least 5 years in a senior strategic leadership role within international non-profits, philanthropic foundations or global research institutes.
• A proven track record of designing, modernising and scaling enterprise-wide financial architecture, risk management frameworks, internal controls and compliance systems.
• Demonstrated expertise across the end-to-end lifecycle of complex, multi-donor incoming and outgoing grants, sub-awards, fiscal sponsorships and consortium funding models.
• Expert compliance knowledge of major international donors, governmental aid agencies and private philanthropic foundations.
• Extensive experience building, mentoring and directing high-performing, geographically dispersed finance teams across pan-African and international contexts.
• Advanced expertise in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, financial modelling, capital allocation and strategic forecasting software.
• Mastery of advanced Excel analytics, financial dashboard development and business intelligence reporting.
• Proficiency in digital workflow automation tools, collaboration platforms and grant management software such as Airtable, Salesforce, SAP and NetSuite.
• Full professional fluency in written and spoken English.
• Working proficiency or fluency in French is strongly preferred.
• Exceptional executive presence, strategic decision-making, stakeholder engagement, risk management and cross-cultural leadership skills.

How to Apply