Overview
Job Title: Grant Officer
Work location: Dar es Salaam
Answers to (reports to): Finance and Grants Manager
Legal Services Facility (LSF)
The Legal Services Facility (LSF) is a registered non-governmental organization (NGO) with Registration Number 00NGO/R2/00011. LSF was formed to give equal-opportunity funding to groups providing legal aid and paralegal services throughout Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. These services enable people to assert their rights, seek redress for grievances, and safeguard their basic human rights.
The LSF is currently implementing the Sauti ya Mwanamke project, which is funded by the European Union through ENABEL. This flagship initiative aims to promote gender justice by empowering women and girls to understand, assert, and defend their rights. It addresses structural and systemic barriers to gender equality, promotes women’s leadership, and develops the ability of women-led legal aid organizations. The project supports a nationwide network of roughly 4,000 community-based paralegals organized into 184 district-based paralegal organizations that provide grassroots legal aid and encourage communities to seek justice.
In support of this initiative, LSF is looking for an awards Officer to handle a diverse portfolio of awards under the Sauti ya Mwanamke project. The Grants Officer will be in charge of ensuring compliance with donor requirements, promoting timely and high-quality project implementation, and providing ongoing technical and operational support to grant beneficiaries. This job is crucial to fulfilling the project’s objectives of increasing equitable access to justice and building the ability of grassroots legal aid providers, particularly those led by and serving women.
The role:
The Job Purpose:
The Grants Officer will effectively manage a portfolio of grants and support grant holders to ensure that quality projects are completed on time and within budget. S/he oversees the administrative and financial components of grants and grantee agreements by assessing budget completeness and coordinating post-award activities. Is in charge of ensuring that all payments are made on schedule, managing cash properly, entering financial data into the GL, and performing bank-related duties.
The Main responsibilities and tasks:
The Grants Officer’s precise duties will include, but are not limited to:
- To participate in site visits to present and future grantees, reviewing grant fund utilization and administrative areas to identify risk level; make assessment-based recommendations for grant execution.
- As needed, consult with the Grants and Finance Manager to provide Grantees with direction and guidance on fund management and control.
- To support the Grants & Finance Manager in conducting post-award orientation sessions with grantees to ensure that all contract/grant terms and conditions are understood.
- In conjunction with the Grants & Finance Manager, execute periodic reviews in order to review compliance with grant criteria. Detect and rectify implementation errors.
- Assist the Grants & Finance Manager in managing and overseeing grant spending in accordance with LSF criteria.
- To maintain effective reporting systems for all grants, and report any grant pipeline issues to management on a monthly basis.
- To assist with tracking grant costs.
- To maintain and update a complete grants status calendar and filing system (both physical and electronic).
- To ensure that correct and full supporting information is properly presented and stored for audit purposes.
- To assist with the production of all audit-related documentation and, if needed, contact finance and accounting professionals.
- To adhere to internal and donor policies regarding awards and financial management.
Job Qualifications:
- A combination of the experience, abilities, and education indicated below offers an analogous background for performing the duties of this position.
The Experience, skill, and education:
- A bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting.
- At least three years of experience working in a similar role for an NGO.
- Excel and Microsoft Word proficiency.
- Excellent writing and editing skills.
- The experience in budget review and monitoring for development projects.
- The experience with budget analysis and cost control in development projects.
- To demonstrate ability to work well with a team.
- The ability to create presentations and reports.
- The willingness to work and travel throughout all project areas.
This job description covers the essential tasks and expresses the spirit of the types of work that are proactively expected from employees. Other responsibilities may be allocated as needed based on organizational requirements.
THE APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: If you are Tanzanian and qualified for any of the following positions, please apply at https://lsftz.org/jobs/job-search. The application deadline is Friday, May 30, 2025. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.
