Grant Officer job at Hive Colab

Hive Colab is an open, community-owned, co-working hub for young tech entrepreneurs in Kampala. We offer digital entrepreneurs access to the internet.

Role Purpose

The Grant Officer is responsible for the end-to-end management of the project’s grant component, ensuring that funds are allocated transparently, disbursed efficiently, and utilised effectively to achieve intended outcomes. The role ensures full compliance with ITC guidelines and donor requirements while maintaining strong accountability and documentation systems.Given the scale of the grants programme, including support to hundreds of entrepreneurs and additional film accelerator grants, this role is critical to safeguarding funds, maintaining credibility, and linking financial support directly to measurable business outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Design and operationalise grant management processes in alignment with ITC guidelines and project objectives.
• Support development of grant evaluation and selection criteria in collaboration with partners.
• Manage the full grant lifecycle, including application, screening, due diligence, selection, contracting, disbursement, and monitoring.
• Coordinate and serve as secretariat to the grant committee, including organising meetings, preparing documentation, and recording decisions.
• Conduct due diligence on grant applicants, including financial, operational, and compliance assessments.
• Prepare and manage grant agreements, ensuring all documentation is complete and compliant.
• Oversee disbursement of grants in tranches aligned to agreed milestones and performance indicators.
• Monitor utilisation of grant funds and ensure alignment with approved purposes.
• Work closely with the Finance Lead to ensure financial compliance and accurate tracking of disbursements.
• Collaborate with the M&E Lead to track performance of grant recipients against defined indicators.
• Support entrepreneurs in understanding grant requirements, compliance expectations, and reporting obligations.
• Identify and flag risks related to misuse of funds or underperformance of grantees.
• Maintain a comprehensive database of all grant recipients, documentation, and performance data.
• Support the collection of success stories and impact evidence related to grant support.
• Ensure alignment between grants and incubation support, including input from mentors and advisors.

Relevant Experience

• At least 3-5 years of relevant experience in grant management, financial management, business development, enterprise support, grants administration, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience managing grant processes, including application screening, eligibility assessment, due diligence, selection, contracting, disbursement, and monitoring.
• Experience conducting financial, operational, and compliance assessments of grant applicants or beneficiary organisations.
• Proven ability to review budgets, assess funding proposals, monitor grant utilisation, and track expenditure against approved budgets and milestones.
• Experience preparing grant agreements, maintaining grant records, documenting approval decisions, and ensuring compliance with established procedures.
• Demonstrated experience identifying and managing grant-related risks, including financial irregularities, misuse of funds, and underperformance.
• Experience working with entrepreneurs, startups, MSMEs, or small business grant recipients is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with donor-funded grant management, financial accountability, and reporting requirements is an added advantage.

Key Deliverables and Reporting

• Grant management framework, including processes, criteria, and workflows.
• Grant application and evaluation documentation for all applicants.
• Due diligence reports for all selected grant recipients.
• Signed grant agreements and complete documentation for each beneficiary.
• Grant disbursement schedules and tracking reports.
• Monitoring reports on grant utilisation and performance against milestones.
• Quarterly grant performance reports aligned to donor requirements.
• Documentation of grant committee meetings, including minutes and decisions.
• Risk reports highlighting any issues related to grant use or compliance.
• Contribution to quarterly and annual narrative reports with grant performance insights.
• Impact stories demonstrating outcomes of grant support.

Why This Role Is Critical

The Grant Officer ensures that:

• Significant grant funding is managed transparently and responsibly.
• Only eligible and high-potential entrepreneurs receive funding.
• Funds are used for intended purposes and linked to measurable outcomes.
• Donor compliance requirements are fully met, reducing risk to the project.
• There is clear documentation and traceability for all grant decisions and disbursements.
• The grants component strengthens, rather than weakens, the credibility of the programme.

This role is essential to ensuring that the access to finance component delivers real impact while maintaining full accountability and compliance.

• Design and operationalise grant management processes in alignment with ITC guidelines and project objectives.
• Support development of grant evaluation and selection criteria in collaboration with partners.
• Manage the full grant lifecycle, including application, screening, due diligence, selection, contracting, disbursement, and monitoring.
• Coordinate and serve as secretariat to the grant committee, including organising meetings, preparing documentation, and recording decisions.
• Conduct due diligence on grant applicants, including financial, operational, and compliance assessments.
• Prepare and manage grant agreements, ensuring all documentation is complete and compliant.
• Oversee disbursement of grants in tranches aligned to agreed milestones and performance indicators.
• Monitor utilisation of grant funds and ensure alignment with approved purposes.
• Work closely with the Finance Lead to ensure financial compliance and accurate tracking of disbursements.
• Collaborate with the M&E Lead to track performance of grant recipients against defined indicators.
• Support entrepreneurs in understanding grant requirements, compliance expectations, and reporting obligations.
• Identify and flag risks related to misuse of funds or underperformance of grantees.
• Maintain a comprehensive database of all grant recipients, documentation, and performance data.
• Support the collection of success stories and impact evidence related to grant support.
• Ensure alignment between grants and incubation support, including input from mentors and advisors.

• grant management
• financial management
• business development
• enterprise support
• grants administration
• application screening
• eligibility assessment
• due diligence
• selection
• contracting
• disbursement
• monitoring
• financial assessments
• operational assessments
• compliance assessments
• budget review
• funding proposal assessment
• grant utilization monitoring
• expenditure tracking
• grant agreement preparation
• grant record maintenance
• documentation of approval decisions
• risk management
• financial irregularities
• misuse of funds
• underperformance
• working with entrepreneurs
• working with startups
• working with MSMEs
• donor-funded grant management
• financial accountability
• reporting requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree
• At least 3-5 years of relevant experience in grant management, financial management, business development, enterprise support, grants administration, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience managing grant processes, including application screening, eligibility assessment, due diligence, selection, contracting, disbursement, and monitoring.
• Experience conducting financial, operational, and compliance assessments of grant applicants or beneficiary organisations.
• Proven ability to review budgets, assess funding proposals, monitor grant utilisation, and track expenditure against approved budgets and milestones.
• Experience preparing grant agreements, maintaining grant records, documenting approval decisions, and ensuring compliance with established procedures.
• Demonstrated experience identifying and managing grant-related risks, including financial irregularities, misuse of funds, and underperformance.
• Experience working with entrepreneurs, startups, MSMEs, or small business grant recipients is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with donor-funded grant management, financial accountability, and reporting requirements is an added advantage.