Head of Post-Award Grant in London

Job Title - Head of Post-Award Grants

Department

Finance / GSMA Mobile for Development Foundation Inc

Team

Finance & Compliance

Location

London UK

Position type

• Full-time, Permanent
• What the hiring manager says

This role is pivotal to safeguarding donor compliance and enabling the Foundation to scale.

As we expand our grant portfolio and establish our European presence, we need a senior post‑award leader who can drive consistent, high‑quality grant financial management, strengthen controls, and coach our Post‑award Financial grant managers.

About the Team

The Finance & Compliance team provides end‑to‑end stewardship of the Foundation’s donor‑funded portfolio, supporting programmes from award through closeout.

Working across the US 501(c)(3) and the new Belgian AISBL, we partner closely with Programmes, Operations, Legal, and People & Culture to ensure robust financial management, strong internal controls, and timely, accurate donor reporting.

The role will be joining the established Foundation Finance and Compliance team that includes 10 professionals located in Atlanta, India, London and Kenya.

This role will also work closely with the Director of Strategic Development and the M4D Head of programmes located in London.

About the Role

The Head of Post‑Award leads the financial management, compliance oversight ensuring the Foundation meets donor requirements throughout the grant lifecycle.

This role provides leadership to the Post‑award (FBP) team, owns the post‑award operating model end‑to‑end, and acts as the senior point of accountability for the quality and timeliness of donor financial reporting, forecasts, and audit readiness.

Key Responsibilities

• A. Leadership & Oversight
• Lead and manage the Post‑Award Finance function, including Post‑award Managers.
• Allocate portfolios based on donor complexity and workload.
• Provide technical leadership on donor rules, allowable costs, and compliance requirements.
• Act as the escalation point for donor‑related financial issues.
• B. Donor Financial Compliance (High‑Risk Donors in Particular)
• Serve as the internal owner of financial rules for FCDO, SIDA, EU, GIZ, US Government, and other high‑risk donors.
• Develop and maintain donor‑specific compliance guidance, templates, and checklists.
• Ensure adherence to cost principles, budget categories, procurement requirements, exchange rate rules, and reporting formats.
• Manage High risk grants.
• C. Post‑Award Financial Management
• Oversee the financial management of all active grants from award to closeout (Manage High‑Risk Grants).
• Review and approve donor financial reports before submission to donors or Coalitions.
• Lead quarterly Budget vs Actual reviews with Head of Program and Post‑award managers.
• Ensure correct grant set‑up in Workday (worktags, budgets, reporting structures).
• Develop templates (budgets/forecasts/recons/life‑of‑grant) and dashboards; ensures staff cost allocation integrity.
• Coordinate with the Accounting team on general ledger structures, reconciliations, and restricted income recognition.
• D. Governance, Controls & Audit Readiness
• Defines, implement and maintain strong internal controls for grant financial management.
• Oversee document retention standards, audit trails, and financial compliance files.
• Lead preparation for donor audits (FCDO, SIDA, Gates, etc.) and coordinate with auditors.
• Ensure consistent application of GSMA and donors policies across US and Belgium entities.
• E. Partnership with Subgrant Compliance Team
• Work closely with the Head of Subgrant Compliance to ensure alignment between subgrant monitoring, expenditure verification, fund disbursement schedules, subrecipient reporting deadlines.
• Ensure subgrant financial data is incorporated accurately into donor reports.
• Support the integration of risk‑based approaches for Innovation Fund partners.
• F. Capacity‑Building & Continuous Improvement
• Coach and develop Post‑award team to reach donor‑compliance expertise.
• Leads training for Programme teams on budgeting, reporting, procurement requirements, and cost eligibility.
• Improve operational efficiency through standard templates, dashboards, and automated workflows.
• Lead optimization / automation of processes and improvements of Workday to enhance grant financial management.
• Key Deliverables (First 12 Months)
• Establish a consistent Post‑Award operating model and workflows.
• Publish a complete donor compliance guide for all active donors.
• Implement standardised financial reporting and reconciliation templates.
• Deliver monthly cross‑functional grant review meetings with action logs.
• Zero late or inaccurate donor financial reports.
• Clean audit results across donor and statutory audits.
• Leads automation projects and tooling improvements for the Foundation.
• Improved Workday configuration to support accurate grant tracking.

About You

Experience and Skills

• Significant experience in post‑award grant finance within an INGO, foundation, or multi‑donor environment.
• Demonstrated expertise with high‑compliance donors (e. g., FCDO, SIDA, EU institutions, GIZ, US Government) and complex reporting requirements.
• Proven people management experience, including coaching and developing Post‑award partners.
• Strong audit management experience (donor and statutory), including preparation of PBC documentation and issue resolution.
• Strong analytical skills, ability to translate donor requirements into workable controls and processes.
• Systems‑oriented; experience with Workday financials and grant/worktag configuration is highly desirable.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills across programmes, operations, legal and leadership.

Behaviors

• Proactive, solutions‑focused mindset
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to compliance
• Ability to coach and develop team members
• Collaborative approach with high integrity
• Comfortable working across time zones and geographies
• Contract type
• Regular
• Worker type
• Employee

What We Offer

Benefits include learning & development opportunities, generous holiday allowances, four additional days off for professional development, and standard competitive compensation.

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