Grants Officer - E-ffective Governance Project

The Grants Officer will support the delivery of the project grants mechanism, including grant process administration, applicant communication, application management, selection coordination, contracting support, grantee monitoring, reporting follow-up, compliance documentation and grant closure. The role will work under the overall guidance of the Head of Finance, who will provide grants management oversight, and in close coordination with programme colleagues responsible for technical content, district engagement and CSO partnerships.

Project Objectives

The project aims to enhance transparency, accountability, and responsiveness in public service delivery through improved e-government tools and processes. Implemented by the e-Governance Academy (eGA) and the British Council, the project focuses on three main objectives:

• Enhancing digital interoperability across government ministries, agencies, and departments (G2G).
• Strengthening public sector capacity to improve service delivery (G2E).
• Ensuring efficient, user-friendly digital public services for citizens (G2C).

This initiative addresses challenges such as fragmented e-services, infrastructure gaps, and inefficiencies in public service delivery by advising government agencies on citizen-centric and interoperable digital transformation strategies.

Focus of position:

The Grants Officer will support the Head of Finance and programme colleagues to facilitate transparent, timely and compliant delivery of the grants process, rather than redesigning the grants scheme.

Key relationships:

Accountabilities, Responsibilities and Main Duties

The scope includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Grants administration and compliance

• Maintain grant files, trackers, reporting calendars, compliance checklists and supporting documentation in line with British Council and donor requirements.
• Support adherence to approved grant procedures, eligibility rules, documentation standards, safeguarding requirements and conflict of interest procedures. Track key deadlines, deliverables, disbursement milestones, reporting requirements and grant closure actions.
• Support preparation for internal checks, external audits and project reviews by ensuring complete and well-organised grant documentation.
• Flag compliance risks, documentation gaps or delays to the Head of Finance and relevant programme colleagues in a timely manner.

Application management and selection support

• Support publication and dissemination of grant calls, concept note templates, applicant guidance and related communication materials.
• Manage applicant communication, respond to routine grants-related queries and coordinate information sessions, orientation meetings or Q&A sessions as required.
• Receive, register, organise and screen grant applications and supporting documents for completeness and eligibility.
• Support the two-stage grants process, including concept note screening, communication with shortlisted CSOs, coordination of proposal development support and preparation of final award documentation.
• Coordinate documentation for the evaluation and selection process, including scoring sheets, evaluation summaries, selection reports, due diligence records and risk assessment files. Ensure transparency, fairness, confidentiality and proper record keeping throughout the application and selection process.

Contracting, payment and budget follow-up

• Prepare draft grant agreements and supporting documents using approved templates and coordinate internal review and approval processes.
• Ensure all contractual documents, approved budgets, workplans, due diligence records and supporting annexes are complete and properly filed.
• Liaise with the finance team to support timely and accurate disbursement of grant funds in line with approved milestones and documentation requirements.
• Monitor expenditure against approved grant budgets and flag risks related to over-spending, under-spending or ineligible expenditure.
• Support preparation of information required for budget revisions, management decisions and donor reporting, under the guidance of the Head of Finance and programme leads.

Grantee monitoring and reporting

• Monitor grantee implementation progress against approved workplans, budgets and deliverables in coordination with programme colleagues.
• Review interim financial and narrative reports submitted by grantees and follow up on missing information, inconsistencies or supporting documents.
• Participate in grantee follow-up meetings, monitoring visits and compliance checks as required.
• Provide practical guidance to CSO grantees on reporting templates, eligible costs, documentation standards and basic compliance expectations.
• Maintain updated grant monitoring records and reporting schedules, and coordinate with programme and finance teams to compile accurate reporting data.
• Identify implementation, financial, safeguarding or compliance risks and recommend corrective actions to the Head of Finance and relevant programme colleagues.

Final reporting and grant closure

• Review final financial and narrative reports submitted by grantees and follow up on any outstanding documentation.
• Support financial reconciliation, asset verification where applicable, and completion of grant close-out documentation.
• Ensure all deliverables, supporting documents and compliance requirements are completed prior to grant closure.
• Maintain complete grant files for audit and learning purposes.
• Support documentation of lessons learned from the grants process, including implementation challenges, good practices and recommendations for future community-based grants.

Coordination and communication

• Act as the day-to-day coordination point for routine grants administration and grants-related queries.
• Coordinate closely with the Head of Finance on compliance, budgets, payments, risk and audit readiness.
• Coordinate with programme colleagues to ensure grants are aligned with project objectives, district-level delivery plans, CSO engagement and citizen-centred digital inclusion priorities.
• Support grants review meetings, internal planning meetings and grantee coordination sessions. Contribute to clear communication with applicants and grantees, using simple, respectful and practical language.

Key competencies, skills and experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Development Studies, Social Science, Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, Management or a related field.
• Minimum 3-5 years of experience in grants administration, grants management support, partner management, compliance, finance or a similar role within a reputable NGO, INGO or development programme.
• Experience supporting grants or partner-funded activities, preferably including CSO grants, community-based initiatives, partner engagement or programme implementation monitoring.
• Experience reviewing financial and narrative reports and following up on documentation gaps.
• Understanding of donor compliance requirements. Experience with EU-funded projects is an advantage.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to maintain accurate trackers, files, budgets, reporting schedules and implementation data.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel and practical experience using grant trackers or similar monitoring tools.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive for communication, file management and collaboration.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate clearly with CSOs, applicants, grantees and internal teams.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks, prioritise effectively and meet deadlines.
• Understanding of safeguarding, fraud prevention, conflict of interest and ethical engagement with communities. Experience applying these in grants or partner management is an advantage.
• Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, including respectful engagement with women, persons with disabilities, rural communities and other underserved groups.
• Fluency in both written and spoken Bangla and English.

Desirable experience

• Experience working with local CSOs or community-based organisations in Bangladesh.
• Experience supporting grants linked to digital inclusion, public service access, citizen engagement, governance, accountability or community outreach.
• Experience supporting monitoring visits, partner capacity support or district-level programme delivery.

Interested candidates are invited to submit:

• A cover letter outlining the relevance of your skills and experience to the advertised position.
• An updated CV
• Please mark the email subject line as: “E-Governance: Application for Grants Officer”.
• Applications should be sent to: recruitment.nfe@britishcouncil.org and cc info.egov@britishcouncil.org

Closing date: May 31, 2026.

No hard copy applications will be accepted. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for the next stage of the recruitment process.

For detail, please see the ToR

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality Statement

The British Council is committed to a policy of equality and to valuing diversity and is keen to reflect the diversity of the societies in which we work at every level within the organisation. We welcome applications from all sections of the community. We aim to abide by and promote equality legislation by following both the letter and the spirit of it to avoid unjustified discrimination, recognising discrimination as a barrier to equality of opportunity, inclusion and human rights. All staff worldwide are required to ensure their behaviour is consistent with our policies.

The British Council has Disability Confident Employer Status. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role. Applicants are encouraged to highlight any specific requirements or adjustments needed to enable participation in the recruitment process.

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with.

We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989.

Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.