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Executive Director - Grants Management and Compliance

Job Description

Executive Director - Grants Management and Compliance

SUMMARY OF POSITION FUNCTION:
Reporting jointly to the VP/Comptroller & Global CFO and VP, Global Operations, the Executive Director provides strategic leadership and direction in the areas of grant proposal development and grants management and compliance. This position entails high-level responsibility for ensuring that WCS is in compliance with grant agreement provisions, internal policies and procedures and other applicable legal and regulatory guidelines. The Executive Director Oversees a department that serves as the knowledge center and organizational lead for grants compliance, grants management best practices and lessons learned. The department is responsible for overseeing all aspects of proposal review and submission, review and negotiation of award terms and conditions, compliance with administrative and fiscal award terms, as well as identifying and resolving issues through the life cycle of the awards.

This position is responsible for the oversight of grant/contract proposal preparation, management and compliance. WCS has over 870 active grants from over 360 donors, with a value of $150 million, including sub-awards, to organizations with varying capacity. The grants and contracts are denominated in multiple currencies with specific and varying donor compliance requirements. Grant activity takes place across 13 different regions in over 45 country offices and on 5 campuses in NY. Reporting directly to this position are 2 direct reports who oversee a team of 10, with functional oversight of grant managers who report into business managers. Critical to the success of the Executive Director is the ability to understand the specific business needs of the programmatic and operational departments, and, working in close partnership together with the private fundraising team, the Accounts Receivable Unit, and the Office of General Counsel, to translate those needs into compliant, forward-thinking contracts and grants.


PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Executive Director will provide a key leadership role in establishing, improving and overseeing policies, procedures, and systems for Grants Management & Compliance, ensuring efficient management and compliance with donor requirements, internal policies and procedures and legal obligations.

Grant/Contract Development
  • Responsible for setting and ensuring compliance with guidelines and policies related to the proposal review and grant process.
  • Review of large proposals $5 million and over and all proposals without full overhead coverage.
  • Advise on the development and submission of grant and contract proposals.
  • Provide expertise and guidance on contract terms, cost structures, budget development to maximize cost coverage, and compliance requirements.
  • In coordination with Executive Director, Financial Planning and Analysis, review and approve requested exceptions to WCS’s standard ICR rates
  • Provide process leadership to ensure efficient and timely proposal development and submissions.
  • Coordinate and approve responses to grant compliance questionnaires received from various donors
  • Train staff in aspects of sound proposal development practices, including budget development, contracting documents, negotiation of terms, compliance, etc.
  • Analyze, develop and maintain strategies for cost coverage, including indirect costs, rates based on donor cost principles and organizational business needs.

Grant/Contract/Subaward Management & Compliance
  • Oversee ongoing grant monitoring activity and ensure systems are in place for tracking reporting to donors.
  • Develop and maintain expert understanding of specific compliance requirements of various donors, e.g. USG (2CFR200 & FAR), UN, EU, KFW, Green Climate Fund, private foundations, etc., with department serving as central knowledge hub.
  • Responsible for developing grant and sub-award management policies, procedures and templates.
  • Work with grant managers so that contracts, subawards, grants and cooperative agreement reviews, approvals, extensions, modifications, supplemental funding requests, key personnel notifications, close-outs and other actions are handled promptly and effectively.
  • Negotiate with sponsors to standardize the finance and administrative cost principles that will apply to WCS awards, e.g. eliminate different cost principles applying to different awards by the same sponsor.
  • Ensure strong collaboration between Accounts Receivable and programs to monitor grant activity, with respect to financial reporting, program reporting, contract/grant payments.
  • Maintain a close link with WCS’s Office of General Counsel and the Office of Global Financial Operations.

Other
  • Serve as subject matter expert and further institutional knowledge of compliance and advise on emerging changes in grant administration, federal and otherwise;
  • Oversee management, training and coordination of the activities of the regional grant managers from a functional perspective, coordinating with regional business managers to whom they dually report from an operational perspective. Facilitate regular training sessions for new staff on grants management and reporting requirements.
  • Be responsible for the management and data integrity of the organization’s grant management database in SAP and centralized document repository
  • Report monthly on the status of the grant activity to senior/executive management.
  • Keep up to date on latest grant management best practices.
  • Meet on a regular basis with colleagues in similar positions at other International NGOs and academic organizations.
  • Facilitate the professional growth of staff (direct reports and grants managers) by assessing learning needs, styles, barriers to learning and coordinating learning opportunities.

#LI-MT1

Qualification Requirements

WCS is seeking a dynamic and accomplished executive who can work in a highly matrixed and relationship driven culture. The individual must be an experienced leader in this field, with proven ability to think strategically, execute plans deliberately and with success. The individual will have prior experience effectively managing growth, and process improvement in a complex and dispersed but system-oriented environment.

  • Advanced degree or equivalent combination of education and experience in business, accounting, nonprofit management, grants and contracts, development or related field.
  • Extensive current knowledge of the grant and contract requirements of one or more of WCS’s significant donors is required, e.g. USAID, EU, Germany, GCF, GEF, etc
  • Minimum 10 years demonstrated experience in administration of international grants and contracts with at least 7 years in a senior leadership role.
  • Candidates must be skilled in analyzing contracts from a compliance perspective, and have expertise in dealing with non-routine and complex projects.
  • A record of accomplishment developing effective grant/contract compliance procedures, ensuring proper resource allocation, facilitating funding acquisition, and ensuring recordkeeping & administrative systems for grant awards.
  • Proven expertise in budget and financial management with the ability to analyze complex financial agreements, prepare budgets with realistic cost share and indirect cost recovery.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills in English; ability to communicate in Spanish and/or French a plus
  • International experience working in developing countries a plus.
  • Experience negotiating with more than one of the following grantors is required: a United States government agency, United Nations, European Union, KFW, GIZ, World Bank.
  • Experience negotiating with a private corporation that primes on USG contracts preferred (e.g. Chemonics, DAI, TetraTech, etc).
  • Demonstrated understanding of how to work with information technology to increase effectiveness and efficiency of WCS’s operations, including process redesign and simplification.
  • A client focused attitude, with the ability to communicate with grantors and funders.
  • Ability to travel, for several weeks at a time to WCS country offices around the world.
  • Effective “roll up the sleeves” work ethic.
  • Effective management and leadership skills and the ability to operate effectively in a highly matrixed, global environment

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