Grant Making Officer

Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropy South Africa (AGGP_SA) contributes to the advancement of dynamic entrepreneurship ecosystems in South Africa, improving the contexts in which entrepreneurs operate so they have a greater chance to scale, achieve lasting success, and create jobs.

Grant-making support sits within the Incubation & Programme Unit, which serves a dual purpose: fostering the development of new, impactful initiatives and supporting the implementation of established programmes. Through grant-making, AGGP_SA leverages financial assets to make impactful grants that strengthen organisational capacity, increase the sustainability of supported initiatives, improve programme effectiveness, and encourage catalytic change.

Reporting to the Grant-Making Lead, the Grant-Making Officer is responsible for developing and managing grant investments made by AGGP_SA. This is not a purely administrative or compliance-focused role: we are looking for a technical grant-maker who combines strong grant-making discipline with deep, applied knowledge of programmes in entrepreneurship or education. The successful candidate will draw on that programme expertise throughout the grant-making cycle, from assessing the technical soundness of a proposal, to shaping learning questions, to advising partners on design choices, rather than treating technical judgement and grant administration as separate tracks.

The role also carries a genuine interest in programme design: supporting AGGP_SA's own teams as they shape new initiatives and engaging with grantee partners on the design and refinement of their programme models, theories of change, and measurement frameworks. The Grant-Making Officer ensures the effective, compliant, and timely management of grants, supporting partners across the full grant lifecycle, from due diligence and contracting through to monitoring, reporting, and close-out, while acting as a technical thought-partner to those programmes.

A successful Grant-Making Officer is adept at managing a project from inception to completion, with the ability to prioritise and synthesise information in an analytical and systematic manner. Essential skills include excellent communication and analytical ability, in-depth knowledge of the non-profit sector, sound technical grounding in entrepreneurship or education programming, and a track record of engaging diverse communities and stakeholders around a common goal.

Purpose of Role

Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropy South Africa (AGGP_SA) contributes to the advancement of dynamic entrepreneurship ecosystems in South Africa, improving the contexts in which entrepreneurs operate so they have a greater chance to scale, achieve lasting success, and create jobs.

Grant-making support sits within the Incubation & Programme Unit, which serves a dual purpose: fostering the development of new, impactful initiatives and supporting the implementation of established programmes. Through grant-making, AGGP_SA leverages financial assets to make impactful grants that strengthen organisational capacity, increase the sustainability of supported initiatives, improve programme effectiveness, and encourage catalytic change.

Reporting to the Grant-Making Lead, the Grant-Making Officer is responsible for developing and managing grant investments made by AGGP_SA. This is not a purely administrative or compliance-focused role: we are looking for a technical grant-maker who combines strong grant-making discipline with deep, applied knowledge of programmes in entrepreneurship or education. The successful candidate will draw on that programme expertise throughout the grant-making cycle, from assessing the technical soundness of a proposal, to shaping learning questions, to advising partners on design choices, rather than treating technical judgement and grant administration as separate tracks.

The role also carries a genuine interest in programme design: supporting AGGP_SA's own teams as they shape new initiatives and engaging with grantee partners on the design and refinement of their programme models, theories of change, and measurement frameworks. The Grant-Making Officer ensures the effective, compliant, and timely management of grants, supporting partners across the full grant lifecycle, from due diligence and contracting through to monitoring, reporting, and close-out, while acting as a technical thought-partner to those programmes.

A successful Grant-Making Officer is adept at managing a project from inception to completion, with the ability to prioritise and synthesise information in an analytical and systematic manner. Essential skills include excellent communication and analytical ability, in-depth knowledge of the non-profit sector, sound technical grounding in entrepreneurship or education programming, and a track record of engaging diverse communities and stakeholders around a common goal.

Objectives of Role

Grant-making & portfolio management

• Actively lead and manage the entire grant lifecycle - from request for proposal to grant closure - including drafting grant agreements, preparing payments, tracking milestones, analysing grantee reporting, and developing and maintaining grantee relationships, with a particular focus on larger, strategic grant-making.
• Conduct thorough due diligence, including critical analysis of proposals, budgets, work-plans, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, organisational strengths and weaknesses, risk factors, and regulatory requirements.
• Develop, write, and present concise, high-quality investment recommendations.
• Critically monitor programmatic effectiveness and grantees' financial management of grant funds, through review of periodic reports and grantee site visits.
• Assess the performance of assigned portfolios against agreed outcomes and help design solutions to improve performance and impact where progress is off-track.
• Diligently manage all aspects of grants administration and maintain and update the grant management system so that up-to-date, accurate, and complete data is kept for all grants.

Technical and programme expertise

• Apply deep, current knowledge of entrepreneurship-support or education programming to grant-making decisions - assessing not just financial and governance risk, but the technical soundness of a partner's programme model, pedagogy, or venture-support methodology.
• Review, and where appropriate, support the development of grantees' programme designs and theories of change, bringing a technical, evidence-informed perspective to how partners structure their interventions.
• Support the success of grantee partners by identifying capacity needs and facilitating and/or coordinating capacity-building interventions, workshops, and presentations.
• Take an active interest in programme design processes internally, contributing technical input as AGGP_SA shapes new initiatives and refines existing ones within the entrepreneurship and education portfolios.
• Keep abreast of developments, evidence, and practice in the entrepreneurship ecosystem and/or education sector and translate this knowledge into sharper grant-making judgement and stronger partner support.

Relationships, learning & organisational contribution

• Proactively develop strong, professional relationships and partnerships with key external and internal stakeholders, including grantee partners, other funding entities, and the Allan and Gill Gray Philanthropies.
• Increase technical knowledge in core focus areas and share insights and observations with the grant-making team and other stakeholders, as relevant, contributing actively to cross-team learning and strategy development.
• Contribute to the development of systems, processes, and frameworks for the grant-making team and other internal stakeholders.
• Provide input and data to support the preparation of Board reports, organisational learning, and other communication materials.
• Other duties, as assigned.

Experience and Qualifications

Qualifications & Experience

• Postgraduate qualification in development, business, economics, education, or a related field.
• At least five years of family/private philanthropic grant-making experience, preferably in the entrepreneurship and employment or education sectors.
• Substantive, applied programme experience in entrepreneurship support (e.g. incubation, acceleration, enterprise development, access to finance) or education (e.g. teacher development, competency-based learning, institutional strengthening).
• Experience developing and managing multi-stakeholder grant investments focused on systemic change.
• Experience analysing and reporting on budgets, and identifying risks.
• Experience reviewing or contributing to programme designs, theories of change, or measurement frameworks, either as a grant-maker or as a practitioner.
• Programme management/delivery experience is an added advantage.

Technical & Sector Expertise

• Given AGGP_SA's focus on entrepreneurship ecosystems and education pathways, we are specifically seeking a candidate who can point to:
• Depth in one focus area (entrepreneurship or education), evidenced by prior roles designing, delivering, or funding programmes in that space, not only reviewing them from a distance.
• The judgement to translate sector expertise into grant-making practice: shaping due diligence questions, sense-checking a partner's model, and identifying where a programme design is likely to succeed or struggle.
• A genuine interest in programme design: comfortable working alongside AGGP_SA's own teams on new initiative design, and alongside grantee partners on strengthening theirs.
• Familiarity with how learning and measurement frameworks are built and used in practice (e.g. codifying indicators, structuring learning partnerships, or running learning labs), rather than only administering reporting templates.

• You thrive in a purpose-driven organisation and are outcomes-driven.
• You are a quick learner who is adaptable and can handle the dynamic nature of a growing team and organisation.
• You have a positive demeanour and strong interpersonal skills, and can constructively partner with others to build effective teams and meet common goals.
• You are a great communicator with excellent English verbal and written communication skills.
  You have strong analytical ability, excellent attention to detail, and can synthesise large volumes of information.
• You can prioritise and complete multiple tasks independently, effectively manage and shift priorities, and meet deadlines.
• You are good at identifying linkages and building relationships and partnerships with key external and internal teams and organisations.
• You can practically apply your technical knowledge across the diverse entities within the grant-making portfolio.
• You love being organised: creating order, systems, and processes helps you thrive.
• You are comfortable with technology and have experience using grant management systems.
• You enjoy going beneath the surface of a grantee's programme model rather than just reviewing it on paper; you ask good technical questions and can tell the difference between a well-designed intervention and one that requires further strengthening.