Director of Contracts, Grants & Compliance at IPAS

Job ID.: R481

Job Description

• The Director of Contracts, Grants & Compliance is a member of the global Ipas leadership team and brings significant expertise and experience in the areas of contracts and grants management, compliance, and procurement to advance the Ipas mission and strategic framework.
• The Director demonstrates a strong commitment to the individuals and communities we serve, models the Ipas values, and provides leadership, coaching, and strategic advice to the global team leaders, as well as country and regional team leaders.
• The Director manages a team that leads the development of processes, tools, trainings and other efforts to help mitigate risks associated with compliance with donor requirements, Ipas policies, and local laws to the extent practicable.
• The team is accountable for building and strengthening Ipas’s programmatic and operational capacity to assess, coordinate review of and comply with donor requirements, Ipas policies, and industry best practices in the areas of organizational compliance, contracts and grants management, and procurement.
• To accomplish these activities and promote a culture of compliance, this role collaborates closely with colleagues across the organization to promote knowledge of donor requirements, provide expertise in assessing training needs and develop needed activities and tools, and serve as resource for the consistent application of policies and procedures globally.
• This role will focus on providing support and technical assistance to global staff to ensure Ipas C&G meets the needs of the organization through a global approach to the implementation of and strengthening of grants management skills and processes.
• Encouraging and supporting a global team of informed trainers and practitioners to help promote compliance across the organization, the C&G function assists program and operational staff to achieve a shared understanding and application of the terms and conditions of their awards.
• This includes monitoring and training on new awards, guidance documents on individual funders, lessons learned and ongoing shared feedback based on questions and advice given all in support of implementation activities.
• The Director will support the Ipas Road Map, a multi-year plan shifting from its current, traditional international non-governmental organization (NGO) model to a networked organization with decision-making and leadership shared across the network.
• The Director is expected to contribute to this transition by actively working to dismantle hierarchy and racism within Ipas, supporting local decision making, fostering collaboration across the network, and improving organizational efficiency.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic guidance and leadership to Ipas’s global contracts and grants function to strengthen Ipas capacity to comply consistently with stakeholder and Ipas award requirements and to skilfully represent Ipas’s interests with donors and downstream partners.
• Develop options and encourage the G&C global team to develop options to meet the business needs of internal customers that align to the spirit of donor and Ipas requirements, but allow for the necessary flexibility to meet the needs of internal customers and the people they serve. 
• Creating a culture of open-mindedness and curiosity to translate skills to customer-centered options.
• Support the review and approval process of Ipas award terms and the seamless, well-informed transition from funded proposal to award implementation and close out
• Collaborate with the Director of Finance and their team in providing guidance and support to Ipas’s proposal budgeting, donor, and downstream partner negotiations, and donor financial reporting.
• Provide strategic oversight to Ipas’s global procurement function to include the development of donor and item/product expertise, training staff carrying out procurement functions globally, and the establishment of thresholds and preferred vendor lists that meet the needs of and address the unique risks of a certain country program. 
• Spearhead creation of robust internal policies, processes, and tools, to reduce organizational financial and contractual risk.
• Develop department’s strategic direction in alignment with and in support of the organization’s strategic plan.
• Provide subject matter expertise in areas of departmental leadership to inform the development of Ipas organizational objectives, strategies, and budgets and promote a compliance perspective in the same
• Strengthen organizational capacity through supportive supervision of department staff. Recruit and develop department staff as needed.
• Establish minimum standards and support implementation of hiring and development of C&G staff globally.
• Participate in the oversight of Ipas’s Whistleblower/Ethics hotline program, managing third party hotline and investigator relationships, liaising with external counsel, creating standards and establishing processes, and reporting on the results of investigations to Ipas management, the Board of Directors, and Ipas donors, as required.
• In response to identified training needs, create and disseminate capacity-strengthening tools and trainings to build an informal network of staff carrying out and associated with C&G function to  increase organizational skills and improve Ipas-wide fluency around award negotiation, compliance with donor terms and conditions, procurement and industry best practices.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Requirements

• A Master’s Degree in a relevant subject (MPA, MBA, MIA, etc.) or Bachelor’s degree with increased relevant experience
• Eight (8) years professional experience in the international nonprofit sector, with proven expertise in the areas of operations and management relevant to this position
• Two years’ professional experience in Asia, Africa, and/or Latin America
• Fluent in English, with excellent written and oral communication skills
• Supervisory experience
• Ability to maintain confidentiality
• Ability to travel internationally up to 10%
• Proven customer service-orientation with a focus on capacity building
• Demonstrated ability to develop simple global solutions to address complex global compliance requirements. 
• Demonstrated ability to build teams and promote collaboration to share learning, experience and create a culture of continuous improvement to support compliance.

Preferred Skills:

• Legal or compliance credentials
• Direct multi-region awards management experience
• Experience working with Ipas’s multi-region donors/partners, including DFID, MSI, Amplify Change, and private family foundations
• Ability to work in Spanish, French, or Portuguese
• Proven cross-cultural communication skills.

Competencies:
Decisive Risk Management and Problem Solving:

• Anticipates challenges and finds solutions. Seeks the necessary inputs, analyses the data at hand, identifies potential risks, and takes a decision. Can move forward even when information is imperfect. Documents analysis, intentions and desired outcome of key decisions. Reviews the impact and consequences and openly learns from mistakes.

Communication and Collaboration:

• Actively listens, communicates easily with her/his team, and gains their trust and respect. Works well across all organizational teams. Demonstrates clear and concise information and idea sharing.

Critical Guidance and Conflict Management:

• Has the skills to face conflict and provide critical guidance with empathy and facts. Can deliver difficult feedback with care. Encourages team members to directly share their concerns and helps develop the skills to make it a productive and valued experience. Understands the benefits of conflict and supports colleagues to embrace different perspectives, learn from others, to understand themselves and co-create new ideas.

Take the Work Seriously but Not Yourself:

• You strive to do your best but know no one is perfect. You can laugh and learn from your mistakes. You also know when the search for perfection will have a negative impact on the women and girls we are trying to serve.