Senior Programs & Grants Accountant

About the Legal Aid Justice Center:

The Legal Aid Justice Center is a nationally recognized, non-profit organization that partners with low-income clients and communities of color in Virginia to fight for racial, social, and economic justice. We understand that the harms our clients endure are inextricably linked to overarching systems of injustice. Together we are dismantling those systems through a combination of community organizing, litigation, policy advocacy, public relations, and individual legal services.

Founded in 1967, LAJC has offices in Charlottesville, Richmond, Petersburg, and Falls Church and provides services under six key program areas: Civil Rights & Racial Justice (focuses on the criminal legal system), Housing & Consumer Justice, Youth Justice, Health Justice & Public Benefits, Immigrant Justice, and Worker Justice. As examples of LAJC’s recent work, our lawsuit and organizing against the state forced reform of Virginia’s unemployment insurance system, including advocacy that resulted in the distribution of over $1 billion in illegally withheld payments to over 160,000 Virginians. During the pandemic, we demanded and secured a statewide eviction moratorium and emergency pandemic protections that helped hundreds of families avoid eviction. We reduced incarceration across the state, including reducing the population of a local immigration detention center down to historically low levels through a coordinated effort of organizing paired with impact and individual litigation. Our staff are on the front lines of some of the most important anti-poverty fights happening today.

With a staff of over 90, the past few years have been a time of exciting growth and opportunity for the organization. In addition to the growth of programmatic efforts including increased organizing capacity, LAJC has expanded its operations and administrative capacity, created new opportunities for professional growth and leadership among staff, engaged in ongoing race equity work, and explored changes to organizational structure to deepen its efforts to create long-term, sustainable, community-driven change.

LAJC’s latest strategic plan is available at https://www.justice4all.org/lajc-strategic-plan-2022-2026/#area%20d.

For more information about LAJC’s work and programs, visit www.justice4all.org.

About the Position:

Reporting to the Director of Finance, the Senior Programs and Grants Accountant, takes ownership of maintaining the grant revenue and expenses of the organization annual budget, all financial aspects of grants management, and various other financial functions of organization.

Job Duties:

Grants - Accounting, Reporting, & Compliance

• Working closely with the Development Department and colleagues in the Finance Department, prepare budgets in support of funding requests.
• Prepares expenditure reports and required documentation for non-government grantors.
• Prepares monthly journal entries to allocate expenses to grant projects in Sage Intaact.
• Process payroll allocations in a timely manner and work closely with the Director of Finance to remediate errors.
• Prepares and submits periodic contract billings to funders, including the federal government, in accordance with relevant regulations including federal Uniformat Cost Principles.
• Assists Director of Finance in applying Revenue Recognition standards.
• Assist Director of Development with selection of and implementation of Grants Management System as needed.
• Assist with planning Grant Kick-off meetings.
• Works closely with colleagues responsible for grant deliveries, including members of the Development Department and various program staff, to ensure proper spend-down of grant awards and appropriate monitoring and tracking of grant expenses.
• Develops and maintain tools and methods to track and monitor cost-reimbursable and/or restricted grants.
• Collaborates with owners of related information systems including LegalServer and UKG to ensure the accurate flow of timekeeping information for payroll allocations in Sage Intaact.
• Periodically provides training on timekeeping policies and procedures to all LAJC staff to ensure compliance with grant requirements.
• Maintains accounts receivable to ensure appropriate revenue recognition in accordance with US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) as related to non-profit entities.
• Assists with preparation of the indirect cost rate proposal.
• Manages grant-specific audits providing requested information and preparing document support.
• Performs sub-recipient monitoring for all LAJC subgrants of federal contracts.
• Maintains complete and accurate records for all grants and contracts.

Finance - Accounting Policies & Procedures

• Responsible for maintaining up-to-date documentation of LAJC's accounting policies and procedures.
• Responsible for training staff on policies and procedures on a regular basis

Finance - Lobbying Expenses

• Working closely with the Director of Policy, stays current with all guidelines on limitation and documentation requirements.
• Assist Director of Policy with annual report.
• Provides training to all staff on how to record time and expenses related to lobbying to maintain compliance with lobbying regulations.

Finance - Donated Services

• Working closely with LAJC Attorneys, manage process for collection of donated time in accordance with GAAP.
• Transition process from annual collection of data to quarterly collection.
• Record donated services revenue and expense in Sage on a quarterly basis.
• Prepare documentation to be provided to auditors on an annual basis.

Racial Equity: Promote racial equity across all dimensions, including within LAJC by doing the following:

• Helping to recruit, retain, and support both staff and leadership that reflect the racial composition of our community;
• Cultivating respect for the work and expanding resources for non-attorney staff that are disproportionately people of color;
• Creating spaces for staff to discuss issues of racial, gender, and all other issues of marginalization.
• Pushing for institutional and cultural changes by management, the board, and staff to further promote racial equity.

A Note to Potential Candidates: Studies have shown that women, trans, non-binary folks, and BIPOC are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every single one of the qualifications as described in a job description. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organization, and strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don't believe you meet every one of the qualifications described.

Vaccination Requirement: The Legal Aid Justice Center requires all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have an approved medical or religious exemption as a qualification of employment. Proof of vaccination or accommodation request must be provided within one day of employment.

The Legal Aid Justice Center is an equal opportunity employer, committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in our work and staff. We strongly encourage candidates of all identities, experiences, and communities to apply. The Legal Aid Justice Center is committed to strengthening the voices of our low-income clients, working in collaboration with community partners, and rooting out the inequities that keep people in poverty. We strive to take on the issues that have broad impact on our client communities and to be responsive to client input. Recognizing the particular impact of racism on our clients and staff, we devote special attention to dismantling racial injustice. All applicants must be dedicated to working in and sustaining an environment that enables staff and clients to feel empowered, valued, respected, and safe. In reviewing applications, we look for evidence that applicants have experience and/or thoughtfulness in working with traditionally marginalized populations.