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Senior Awards and Compliance Officer

This job is no longer available

Washington, DC, USA
Full-time

PSI’s Grants & Contracts Department serves as the one-stop shop for guidance on donor regulations, award negotiation, and compliance training. We’re responsible for helping our staff navigate the complexities of donor requirements and the terms and conditions of their awards. We approach grants and contracts compliance holistically – ensuring the correlation between programmatic, financial, and donor requirements. Our aim: Collaborative compliance solutions for sustainable PSI programs.

We are looking for a Senior Awards and Compliance Officer to provide guidance to our Program Management Teams (PMTs) in the following areas: Review of prime awards and subawards; Provide regulatory compliance support and guidance to regional support PMTs and country office staff; Create concise guidance documents that explain donor requirements and reflect best practices;  Support the development of award monitoring tools and templates; Promote subrecipient monitoring best practices; and (for candidates with applicable language skills) translate documents into French, Spanish, and/or Portuguese and facilitate comprehension of requirements for country office staff as needed.

Areas of Responsibility: 

Award Administration

  • We aim to provide compliance support across the PSI Global Network. Each award is different, and that is how we approach award administration – a tailored compliance approach for each award. At the beginning of each new award, the Senior Officer reviews award terms and conditions prior to signature, advises during the negotiation process, extracts relevant requirements for HQ PMTs, and participates in project kick-off meetings. During implementation, the Senior Officer supports systems to track subaward and prime award terms and conditions and maintains permanent files including prime and subaward documentation. Project closeout rounds out the award cycle, and the Senior Officer ensures staff understand the entire process.

Subaward Management Support

  • As the issuance and complexity of subawards increases at PSI, the Grants & Contracts Department provides support for the development of tools to be used by PSI Network Members and PMTs in reviewing subagreements / modifications, analyzing risk assessment to identify potential areas of compliance vulnerability, and developing corrective action plans to mitigate the risks.  In addition, the Grants and Contracts Department develops tools, including subaward templates, manuals, pre-award assessments, and monitoring. We provide guidance and training on the use of these tools. The Senior Officer will help develop these tools and facilitate their rollout and use. 

Training and Capacity Building

  • We don’t operate in isolation in the Grants & Contracts Department, and a lot of what we do is focused on working in conjunction with HQ PMTs and PSI’s Network Members to determine how we can collectively improve compliance oversight for PSI. This is a substantial part of what we do. It’s sort of what makes us tick. The Senior Officer, with the guidance of the Deputy Director, may be involved in supporting that effort in terms of the development, organization, and presentation of training modules.  

Compliance Support

  • Who ever would have thought that compliance support could be innovative? We do. The basic compliance roles and responsibilities are inherent in what we do: We develop recommendations for standard language to ensure consistency of practice for use in awards. We ensure alignment of subawards with prime award terms and conditions. We conduct regulatory research and develop guidance for HQ staff and country offices in response to questions related to allowability and approval requirements. We take it a bit further though – We’re creative detectives, essentially. Often all of the facts are not evident, so we try to determine what the real compliance issues are. The Senior Officer would work closely to that end and will also be expected to remain current on donor changes within the industry through resource sites, publications, and continuing education. The Senior Officer will act as the “compliance go-to person” and will provide guidance and advice to PSI Network members on compliance issues and questions, in addition to other duties as assigned.

Records Management

  • The Officer the Officer will work with country offices and the Document Review Coordinator to assess compliance and ensure correct systems and filing are in place.
Educational Background: 
Master’s degree or equivalent years of experience.
Skills/Experience: 

The candidate we hire will embody PSI’s corporate values:

  • Measurement: You use hard evidence to make decisions and guide your work. You set clear goalposts in advance and explain clearly if you need to move them.
  • Pragmatism: You’ll strive to deliver the best possible result with the resources available. You won’t be paralyzed by a need to make things perfect.
  • Honesty: You own your mistakes and are open about your shortcomings – it’s the only way you’ll learn and improve.
  • Collaboration: You’ll quickly establish a mental map of whom you can rely on for what, on your team, at headquarters, and in our country offices – if you try to do it all yourself, you won’t succeed.
  • Trust: You accept limits to your sphere of control and give colleagues the benefit of the doubt
  • Commitment:  You are in it for the long-haul and want to grow with the organization, just like PSI serves its consumers and partners with host-country governments through thick and thin

The basics

  • 5+ years of increasingly responsible experience in federal and/or private grants/contracts management (Master’s degree may be substituted for experience).
  • Ability to compose reports, presentations, memos, emails, and other written documents in an organized, logical, and concise manner.
  • Ability to write well is extremely important, as are attention to detail and correct grammar usage.
  • Written and spoken fluency in English, French, Spanish, and/or Portuguese is preferred.
  • Demonstrated project management and organizational skills – especially with time-sensitive work.
  • Previous experience in training using adult learning techniques and experience coordinating and facilitating in person and virtual training.
  • Demonstrated expertise with researching, interpreting, and applying donor regulations. Knowledge of the Uniform Guidance, Standard Provisions, FAR/AIDAR, and other donor rules and regulations regarding implementation of Federal awards.
  • Familiarity with other donors such as The Global Fund, DFID, KfW, World Bank, UN Agencies, and foundations.
  • Proficiency in MS Word and Excel.
  • Ability to collaborate and participate in teams with a can-do, positive attitude.
  • Stellar communication skills and an ability to develop strong partnerships, especially in a diverse, global environment.
  • Knack for exercising discretion.
  • Ability to maintain a customer service solution-oriented attitude and a positive approach in a fast paced, high volume work environment.
  • Ability to think logically and analytically, rapidly assess diverse information, and draw correct conclusions.
  • References will be required.
  • Must be authorized to work in the United States.  N.B. PSI will not consider work visa sponsorship and relocation expenses will not be covered for this position.
  • The successful candidate will be required to pass a background check.

Organization Info

Population Services International

Overview
Headquarters: 
Washington, DC, United States
Annual Budget : 
More than $500M
Size: 
10,001+ employees
Founded: 
1971
About Us
Mission: 

PSI makes it easier for people in the developing world to lead healthier lives and plan families they desire by marketing affordable products and services. PSI's global health network of more than 50 local organizations focuses on serious challenges like a lack of family planning, HIV and AIDS, barriers to maternal health, and the greatest threats to children under five, including malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition.

A hallmark of PSI is a commitment to the principle that health services and products are most effective when they are accompanied by robust communications and distribution efforts that help ensure wide acceptance and proper use.

PSI works in partnership with local governments, ministries of health and local organizations to create health solutions that are built to last.

Listing Stats

Post Date: 
Feb 17 2019
Active Until: 
Mar 17 2019
Hiring Organization: 
Population Services International
industry: 
Nonprofit