Grants Compliance Manager

Who We Are

International Justice Mission (IJM) is the global leader in protecting vulnerable people from violence around the world. Our team of over 1,300 professionals are at work worldwide in over 30 offices. Together we are on a mission to rescue millions, protect half a billion, and make justice unstoppable.

We are a global community that cares for one another. We believe that the way we work is as important as the results we achieve. We provide professional excellence with joy and celebration to all those we serve.

The Need

For over 25 years, IJM has pioneered the work to protect vulnerable people from violence. 9 out of 9 times in the last decade, IJM’s Justice System Strengthening Projects have reduced slavery and violence between 50 and 85% for very large populations of people in poverty. As we grow to expand our impact to protect 500 million people from violence, we are seeking a Grants Compliance Manager to strengthen IJM’s capacity to manage grant compliance and grant partnership risk. This role serves as an authoritative compliance resource for IJM’s global institutional funding portfolio and works closely with regional and global teams to ensure adherence to donor regulations and internal policies. The Grants Compliance Manager leads grant administration and compliance efforts, oversees Global Grants Standards, supports organizational policy and assurance initiatives, strengthens grants capacity across the organization, and contributes to strategic portfolio operations and risk management.

This position is hybrid (onsite Tuesdays & Thursdays) in the Washington, DC area. It reports to Director, Grants Portfolio and is only available for candidates with the right to work in the US.

Responsibilities:

Oversight of Grant Administration and Compliance

Oversee award administration frameworks for various types of financial assistance awards and partnership agreements, including cooperative agreements, grants, sub-grants, sub-contracts, contracts, memorandums of understanding, etc.;

Serve as authoritative guide for day-to-day grants compliance questions and concerns, drawing on expert regulatory knowledge and interpretation in the application of award terms and conditions;

Collaborate across functions to ensure holistic compliance support for staff implementing grants;

Ensure teams are fully informed of relevant donor compliance requirements, supporting portfolio managers with grant start-up, close-out, and compliance matters over the life of the award;

Maintain administrator oversight of both internal and external grant repositories to maintain complete, audit-ready compliance files, including MyGrants and other institutional online grant management platforms with regular review and support to ensure that Regional Grant Managers are submitting reporting and maintaining files according to required reporting intervals and deadlines;

Supply compliance and regulatory input during the negotiation of award terms and conditions for new awards, subawards, and modifications, ensuring they are agreeable for the organization;

Support grant teams in identifying and requesting formal grant approvals, modifications or amendments over the life of each award;

Understand and communicate practical application of changing regulations and requirements to key stakeholders;

Review grant proposal documentation, including budgets and narratives, to ensure compliance with donor regulations and internal guidelines;

Provide input and review in the drafting, negotiation and execution of subgrant agreements;

Collaborate with the Global Risk and Legal Affairs where needed to ensure subaward and partnership templates are continuously updated to reflect changes in government regulations, donor requirements, and/or internal policy;

Provide input into pre-award risk assessments and screenings for subrecipients as well as for ongoing monitoring to ensure subrecipient compliance is reviewed and documented according to donor requirements and IJM standards.

Policies and Procedures Development

As designated owner of the Grants Standards, oversee internal compliance and coordination, diligently upholding the prescribed standards and ensuring seamless alignment with global governance and organizational initiatives;

Institutionalize protocols and practices for grants activities from start-up to close out, and, where necessary, establish systems to help project teams to work more efficiently and independently to meet grantor requirements;

Develop and maintain grant-related policies, guidelines, tools, and systems that lead to effective grant compliance;

Work closely with global function leaders to make recommendations for policy and procedural changes related to institutional donor and partner compliance, integrating new requirements with organizational readiness initiatives;

Ensure enterprise data systems and platforms are responsive to grant-related needs.

Cross-functional Collaboration and Risk Management

Partner with the Global Assurance team as they conduct internal audits and create corrective action plans in Project Offices implementing grants;

Identify risks within the portfolio and recommend plans for mitigation, including reputational and audit-related risks, to ensure IJM’s compliance and to safeguard its reputation;

Coordinate with Global Finance and support IJM teams and senior management on necessary actions regarding compliance and/or audit risks, including drafting of documents as necessary;

Support cross-regional grants community of practice agenda, contributing key compliance and portfolio management inputs to meeting agendas and forums for the geographically dispersed portfolio managers on a regular basis to strengthen rapport, communication, learning, and consistent application of best practices;

Represent Global Grants in interdepartmental initiatives, committees, and working groups, advocating for and shaping robust systems that enable effective grants management and compliance.

Training and Capacity Building

Develop human-centered trainings, guidance, resources, and coaching for staff implementing grants, taking both a proactive and reactive approach to building staff capacity to compliance with grant terms and conditions;

Lead grant compliance training sessions for program and advancement staff, identifying when international travel would enhance learning and adoption of relevant policies and practices;

Mentor grants management and compliance staff in training and building effective working relationships across teams;

Deliver timely and constructive coaching and feedback for staff supporting and/or implementing grants;

Partner with other Global Grants team members to draft monthly communications and learning content; and

Participation in IJM’s community of spiritual formation.

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree in international development, business administration, or related field is strongly preferred;

Minimum 7 years of experience leading institutional grant compliance, legal and/or capacity building at the portfolio level;

Certificate in Federal Grants Management preferred;

Expertise in U.S. government grant regulations including the Uniform Guidance and other federal grant policies required; knowledge of other donor government grant regulations preferred;

Understands and applies human-centered design techniques for problem solving;

Experience designing training programs and conducting training sessions in person and remotely;

Familiarity with a variety of capacity development methods, training, and mentorship approaches with regional staff;

Capable of executing systematic courses of action for diverse teams to ensure accomplishment of an objective and/or adherence to a standard; determines priorities and allocates time and resources effectively; and

Mature orthodox Christian faith as defined by the Apostles’ Cree