Senior Associate, Energy Grants Administration

SUMMARY

The nation’s Community Action Agencies are a robust state, and local force – reaching children and families in 99% of America’s counties with life-changing services, from early childhood education to job training to services for seniors. The National Community Action Partnership (NCAP) is the national hub that links the nation’s 1,000+ Community Action Agencies to each another – and to leaders looking for solutions that connect Americans to greater opportunity. To read more about NCAP’s mission, vision, and values click here.

Under the immediate supervision of the Project Director, Grants Management and supporting the leadership of the NCAP Energy portfolio, the Senior Associate, Energy Grants Administration is responsible for supporting standard financial operating practices and procedures and grants management processes, specific to NCAP’s energy-related funding streams (inclusive of federal grants, federal subgrants, and contracts). This position will support grants and contracts management processes from application through close-out with all phases in between. They will provide ongoing analysis of programmatic expenditures in relation to deliverables and requirements of funders and implement processes that enhance the efficiency of the energy-related programmatic team.   

The ideal candidate for this position will have a keen eye for details, be highly organized and proactive, and committed to being in a support role for projects. The salary range for this position is $65,000 - $70,000, based on experience. This is a full-time, exempt position and eligible for NCAP’s competitive benefits package, which includes health insurance, retirement options, and a generous paid leave policy. NCAP’s offices are in Washington, DC, but this position is eligible to be remote.

TO APPLY: External Applicants: Send a cover letter and resume to jobs@communityactionpartnership.com and indicate “Energy Grants Administration” in the subject line. Internal NCAP Applicants: Send a cover letter and resume to J Tolbert and indicate “Energy Grants Administration” in the subject line.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES/ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Review Invoices for Compliance & Budget Tracking  

• Review of invoices for compliance with accounting policies and procedures, requirements of funding source, and consistency. Ensure that expense items billed to grants and contracts are properly supported by invoices/receipts, agreements, W9s where necessary, and supporting documentation of work accomplished or product purchased.
• Manage speaker agreements and consultant/partner MOUs – ensuring proper documentation for payables and audit processes     
• Review across the Energy-related portfolio in preparation for budget vs. actual meetings and monthly financial close -
• Identifying items for addition or correction,
• analyzing trends, and
• identifying concerns and elevating those to Energy team leadership.
• Design, input, and maintenance of tracking mechanisms and dashboards for expenses – actual, in process, and planned. Design, maintain, and continually hone projections for projects within the portfolio with the Energy team leadership.     
• Identify fiscal intersections for sharing funding – expenses that can be allocated to better represent a projects fair share, deliverables that may cross funding streams, and coordination of shared staff or expenses with other projects or fee-for-service work.
• Initiate grants/contracts receivable invoicing when necessary, reviewing for accuracy and compliance with requirements of the funder, and ensuring invoices are submitted and paid in a timely fashion.    
• Serve as a liaison with Project Director - Grants Management, fiscal staff, and other teams regarding finance, reporting, and invoicing activities and needs.

Grant Start-up, Tracking, and Reporting

• Review team and organization activities for compliance with grant deliverables.      
• Prepare for success at start-up of grants and contracts by:
• organizing files and maintaining record-keeping,
• calendaring,
• ensuring that fiscal processes are started up timely, and
• supporting workplan development   
• Preparation of grant budgets for online accounting software, and updating when modifications, supplements, or extensions are requested.     
• Analyzin budgets, projections, and workplans in coordination with leadership of the NCAP Energy portfolio to determine course corrections, or when to seek budget modifications, carryovers, or extensions. Prepare budget worksheets for project directors for these actions and manage the submission requirements.     
• Maintain calendar of due dates and internal targets for completion of grant reports.    
• Support Energy team leadership as a thought partner on structuring the report writing and review processes and timelines and create templates or outlines.     
• Manage financial reporting requirements and formats. Assist in review of SF-425 Federal Financial Reports.      
• Maintain up to date login credentials for online grant management systems and professional relationships with project officers. Become the internal expert on those systems and a responsive go-to for grant related questions from project officers.     
• Maintain awareness of OMB guidance and all applicable federal funding regulations and guidance and keep abreast of the funding environment.

Proposal Development     

• Assist in the evaluation of potential funding opportunities.    
• Prepare budget building worksheets for leadership of the NCAP Energy portfolio to support proposal development. Assist in write-up of budget narratives for applications.     
• Serve as a thought partner on structuring the proposal writing and submission processes and timelines.      
• Review proposals for format, completeness, and technical requirements.       
• Assist in proposal development with any compliance or internal policy and procedure questions. Assist in gathering of attachments and organizational documents.      
• Maintain library of typical organizational documents, past proposal elements, and templates to support efficiency in proposal development.       
• Development of projections for invoicing/drawdowns/fee schedules.

Other    

• Assist as needed at on-site NCAP events.     
• Support preparation for board meetings, funder meetings, and leadership team requests as needed
• Assist Project Director - Grants Management in reconciliation for events – review of revenue, expenses, and items to be allocated.
• Support information gathering for annual organizational budgeting process, annual audit, and potential monitoring or site visits by federal agency.    
• Performs all other duties as assigned by the Project Director - Grants Management and leadership of the NCAP Energy portfolio.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

None

QUALIFICATIONS

To execute this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required:      

• Knowledge of the principles of financial management and accounting in a nonprofit organization.
• Understanding of fund accounting and ledgers in an automated system. Particular familiarity with Sage Intacct, Bill.com, Nexonia, and PAGE (US DOE specific system) or similar systems would be appreciated.      
• Knowledge of federal and state regulations governing grants administration and fund accounting.     
• Demonstrated experience in:
• Internal operations in nonprofit setting, including bookkeeping, accounting, and audit support
• Budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting for associations and nonprofits
• Grant reporting.     
• Ability to interpret, explain and apply applicable laws, rules, and regulations     
• Excellent oral, written, and group communication skills.      
• Excellent interpersonal skills and high ethical standards.     
• Sensitivity to diverse cultures, ethnic groups, and low-income family situations.·       
• Ability to think creatively and be a key contributor to not just the Energy portfolio, but overall NCAP team.

Minimum 2 years of experience in a financial management or grants management role for a federally funded nonprofit or association, or a federal agency.

Minimum four-year Bachelor of Arts or Sciences degree in finance, accounting, business information systems, nonprofit management, or a related field of study. Demonstrated equivalent experience will be considered.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions:     

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and talk or hear.       
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.     
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions:    

• The noise level in the regular work environment is usually moderate.     
• The ability to travel for activities such as meetings, classes, and workshops within the United States
• Must be able to travel by air as needed to attend training, conferences, and related activities.
• Regular overnight, out-of-state travel is required approximately 5% of the time.