Grants & Compliance Manager

This position can be based in Washington, DC or Yarmouthport, MA

Staff work a hybrid schedule with 2 days/week in the office

The Grants and Compliance Manager, in close collaboration with Programs, Program Operations, and Finance, will support effective and efficient execution of restricted donor funded projects through effective project management, communication, and collaboration. The Grants and Compliance Manager will support implementing best practices to improve overall project management and compliance across the organization, including tracking and reporting the conformance and compliance with policies, procedures, regulations and expectations of the organization and respective donors.

The Grants and Compliance Manager supports tracking and monitoring of project health against established tolerance levels to help ensure successful project delivery. The Grants and Compliance Manager facilitates the improvement of restricted funding and award compliance by working in close coordination with Institutional Giving, Program and International Operations teams, Legal, Finance, Human Resources and Communication departments, proactively engaging with teams to help ensure compliance to relevant internal organizational and donor requirements.

Role and Responsibilities

•  Monitor project/team compliance with internal project management standards, policies, procedures and donor requirements and regulations by means of project audits and award report reviews.
•  In close collaboration with Human Resources and Program Operations, build internal project management and award compliance capacity by creating opportunities such as coaching, mentorship, direct support, and effective training to project teams, sub recipients and contractors as needed, to appropriately deliver the agreed-upon goals and objectives.
• Proactively engage with teams to support restricted funded projects and awards throughout the lifecycle, most notably throughout implementation and close-out.
• Review and evaluate opportunities to improve the project management best practices to achieve higher maturity in project portfolio management.
• Coordinate with Project Managers, Program and Regional Directors, and other internal stakeholders to support project performance within accepted tolerance levels.
• Contribute to institutional reporting and planning by providing compliance updates and consolidated award status reports to senior management on quarterly intervals and/or upon request.
• Support risk assessments of potential sub-recipients to assess financial, program, and organizational capabilities to receive government funding and recommending monitoring priorities to project teams.
• Work with Program Operations, Finance and Legal departments to support project teams during award implementation with maintaining contracts, grants and expense budgets and accounting to help ensure accuracy, including adherence to award policies and procedures during award close-out.
• Support the annual budgeting process by providing information to program and finance staff related to restricted balances, revenue recognition, and staff time tracking.
• Design and monitor systems to help ensure adherence to all relevant compliance requirements, and work with internal stakeholders to regularly assess the efficiency and efficacy of processes to inform improvements.
• Support proposal development teams with reviews to ensure the final proposal document and budget are prepared in “compliance” with the solicitation requirements.
• Help ensure all project management teams are educated on the latest guidance, regulations, processes and relevant compliance requirements and guidelines throughout the project/award lifecycle.
• Work proactively to identify potential areas of compliance risk. Track the evolution/dynamics of compliance needs and trends and communicate appropriately to all relevant staff and provide recommendations to help ensure timely remedial action and adherence to procedures, regulations, and other compliance requirements.

Qualifications and Education Requirements

• BA in management, administration or equivalent preferred.
• At least 2 years of experience managing both contracts and cooperative agreements or grants from USAID, other USG agencies as well as bilateral or multilateral donors including DFID, SIDA, and UN agencies, and an understanding of the full grant and contract cycle.
• Solid understanding of administrative, financial management and operational processes. Experience with grant-based project implementation required.
• Substantive experience contributing to international development assistance projects.
• Must be willing to travel to project sites in Africa and Asia.
• Demonstrated ability to use word processing, database, and spreadsheet software packages; Intermediate to advanced experience with Microsoft Excel in particular.
• Experience managing resources allocation, project budget, project documentation, and driving continuous process improvement.
• Strong attention to detail; superb follow-through; propensity to approach tasks and goals in a manner that advances collaborative learning.
• Proven track record of collaborating effectively across organizational boundaries, building relationships, and importing and exporting talent and ideas to achieve a broader organizational goal. Ability to influence cross-functional teams without formal authority.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills that drive executional impact. Multi-lingual language skills preferred.
• Ability to understand the complex relationship between the organization and its environment, identify connections, adopt different perspectives and quickly respond to changing circumstances in a strategic way.
• Ability to learn, work and perform independently as well as in a collegial manner, as a team player, in a remote environment with global teams.
• Flexibility required; able to work flexible work hours, as needed, to accommodate staff working outside of the US.

At IFAW, we aim to create and foster a workforce that reflects and contributes to the diverse, global community in which we work to improve the lives of both animals and people. We are dedicated to fostering justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion so we actively encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds.