International Grants and Contracts Officer

The International Grants and Contracts Officer will be tasked with leading the administrative processes for grant and contract administration, from pre-award to contract close-out. This role will also assess potential subrecipients for financial and compliance risk prior to signing an agreement, and oversee and document ongoing compliance with those grants and contracts, as well as confirm, or if needed, develop any additional policies or procedures necessary to reinforce compliance. This role will also support CORE’s Legal team in assessing and ensuring CORE’s compliance with relevant local, state, and/or federal law. The position will report to the CORE VP of Programs, and serve as a liaison to the CORE Finance, Legal, and Partnership teams.

We require all employees to comply with our Mandatory Vaccination Policy. As a condition of employment individuals will be asked to provide proof of compliance

Responsibilities:

• In collaboration with the Pricing Manager, perform a comprehensive analysis of terms and conditions included within solicitations (RFPs, RFAs, NOFOs, etc.), to ensure that the organization has the capacity or is able to acquire the vital capacity to successfully perform and meet contractual obligations.

• Works with the VP of Programs and Program Officers to improve grants and contracts processes and procedures including refinements to templates.

  Develop CORE’s grants manual, to include:

• CORE’s pre-award assessment process for sub-grantees and sub-contractors.

• Standard grant and contract templates for use by program teams throughout the organization.

• Monitoring standards, and milestones

  Design and implement trainings for program staff on use of templates (which to use, what modifications can be made, etc.) Provide support to program teams to prepare and draft the terms and conditions of contractual agreements such as grant agreements, general service contracts, donor agreements, and MOUs.

• Work with colleagues in a timely manner to develop a project’s overall contractual structure so that the full suite of potential agreements and obligations is laid out and well understood.

• Facilitate the life cycle of grants and contracts, including but not limited to the execution and delivery of grants and contracts, reporting and close out of the agreements as obligations are fulfilled and/or agreements are terminated.

• Keeps meticulous files on grant and contract-related documents.

• As appropriate, help track CORE and counterparty compliance with, and reporting on, existing agreements.

• Develop checklists/protocols for analyzing instruments drafted by counterparties and format templates into a consistent form.

• Provide excellent customer service to project/business owners at all levels of the organization; be responsive, efficient and friendly with counterparties.

• Capacity-building and replication of contract portfolio management systems and standard methodologies in award and sub-award management.

Accountabilities:

Pre-award

• Serves as a technical resource to proposal development units (Partnerships, Cost and Pricing) by analyzing solicitations, interpreting regulations and award provisions, clarifying compliance issues, etc.
• Reviews and negotiate critical award terms and conditions.
• Identify significant risks and recommend a plan for mitigation including justification of working at risk.

Post-award

• Manages agreement set-up in the contract management and/or financial management system.
• Advises senior management on matters of concern and elements of risk that can be detrimental to successful performance. Recommend alternative approaches to overcome any negative impact.
• Reviews the work of program staff before submission to donors. These will include agreement add-ons, budget realignments, cost extensions, and other transactions requiring donor approval such as sub-awards, salaries, consultant rates, waivers, etc.
• Conducts sophisticated negotiations requiring senior staff engagement.
• Develops and maintains positive relationships with counterparts (internal and external).
• Responds to audit matters (internal and external).
• Articulates and advocates for the organization’s position on matters of regulation and other contractual issues.
• Collaborates with operations, program, finance staff, and other enterprise services staff to monitor prime contract and subcontract performance.
• Negotiates substantive provisions in lower- tier subcontracts.
• Trains other staff in standardized procedures for efficient award and sub-award management.
• Manages input to contract close-out.
• Advises executive leadership and general staff on critical contractual issues and indications of high-risk, based on established commanding knowledge of organizational policy, donor regulations, and specific award terms and conditions.
• Reviews and negotiates critical contracts, subcontracts and modifications.
• Closely engage in handling disputes, business-sensitive transactions, and sensitive customer relationships to preserve the reputation and good standing of the organization. Leads in seeking reconsideration of requests denied by donors such as those for salaries, consultant rates, budget revisions, procurement, subcontracts, waivers, etc.
• Contributes to the development and delivery of niche training to staff on policy, regulations, and standard methodologies in contract administration.
• Conducts periodic reviews of the CORE’s portfolio with the senior management.
• Other duties as assigned.

Skills:

• Must have minimum 3 years of experience managing grants and contracts.
• Must have experience managing grants and contracts in an international context.
• Must have experience managing grants and contracts under federal awards.
• Minimum bachelor’s degree in International Development, Economics, or relevant field; masters preferred.
• Additional training and/or certificates in federal grant supervision is a plus.