Grants Manager

Job Title: Grants Manager

FLSA Status: Salary Exempt

Position Type: Full time

Department: Finance

Job Level: 4P

Pay: $111,600

Reports To: Finance Director

About Earth Island

Earth Island Institute (EII) is a leading nonprofit environmental organization that has been at the forefront of efforts to protect the environment and its inhabitants for over forty years. EII supports grassroots activists through a powerful network of approximately 65 sponsored projects working in the United States and around the world. EII's projects safeguard forests, oceans, and wildlife; support youth and women’s environmental leadership and underserved communities; combat climate change; and promote environmental justice, sustainability, and resilience. EII further advances, informs, and inspires action through the New Leaders Initiative and its annual Brower Youth Awards, which provides youth leadership recognition and mentoring; Earth Island Journal, which provides unparalleled coverage of global environmental news and perspectives, both in a quarterly print issue and in daily stories online; and Earth Island Advocates, which uses the law to fight for the planet and its inhabitants. For more information, please visit earthisland.org.

Earth Island has launched a contract lifecycle management system, as well as a new grant management feature in their established financial software, providing greater visibility for staff and projects to track contract execution, understand their financial status, support successful spend down of grants, and track cost-reimbursement awards for their grant lifecycle. This new role will bring capacity to the project support staff in the finance and program advisor departments to utilize new grants management tools in order to understand the financial outlook for the project network, while being a resource to individual projects to plan their revenue management.

Position Overview

As a member of the Earth Island finance team, the Grants Manager will serve as the primary coordinator and reviewer of all outgoing and incoming grants, will be responsible for federal grant compliance and reporting on restricted and unrestricted awards, and will work across departments to anticipate, identify, and resolve issues. This role is especially critical for providing big picture revenue trends, assessing risks and liabilities, and communicating effectively the overall financial health of Earth Island’s fiscally sponsored projects to its leadership team. In addition, the Grants Manager will lead efforts with the Service Coordination team to improve internal processes and increase organizational effectiveness, particularly with respect to grants and revenue management.

Reporting to the Finance Director, the Grants Manager role is a full time exempt position. This role works cross-departmentally, specifically directly with program staff supporting the fiscal sponsorship program, the legal team to elevate compliance issues, and the finance team to streamline and utilize grant management systems.

This position has a direct impact on the programmatic and operational performance of the organization. This position is an excellent match for an experienced nonprofit finance professional who loves thinking about systems and how to improve them; is a problem-solver by nature; understands budget and financial reporting and grant requirements; and seeks to join a dynamic, innovative, and high impact organization.

Key Responsibilities

Grants & Contracts Management:

• Manage the entire grants lifecycle management system (currently including DocuSign CLM, Sage Intacct award management system, TimeClock Plus), including developing associated processes workflows for users interfacing with the system,
• Administer data entry for all new private and public awards and for preparing monthly financial reporting.
• Manage the contract/grant review process for all public grants (federal, state and local government) at Earth Island, including review of applications, award terms and conditions, and financial reporting requirements.
• Manage administrative support staff work related to grants and contracts administration, including due diligence checks, grant/contract execution, and application submission.
• Lead review of new public funding grants and complex contracts to delineate and develop the specific documentation needed to qualify, manage, and prepare invoices.
• Manage implementation of procurement for goods and services under public grants including documentation of federal procurement requirements.
• Oversee escalated related legal issues, including any potential conflicts proposed by grants and contracts, to the legal team Work closely with project support and legal support to curate and maintain a library of preferred contract and grant provisions, workflows, and templates, including checklists, amendments and termination processes.
• Support the Service Coordination team and Program Advisors in ensuring clear, timely, and transparent communication of changes in Earth Island policy, systems, and protocols and their impact to projects and relevant stakeholders.
• Lead on training relevant staff on grant management processes.
• Stay updated and informed on changes to federal standards and requirements.

Financial Management

• Track and present metrics on receivable grants, including data entry to grant management system and oversight on restricted public grant, monthly financial reports on federal awards, and pending accounts receivables.
• Support with annual single audit tasks, including preparation of grant files, review of invoices, and reconciliation of subaccounts.
• Maintain government-affiliated registrations, rates, and licenses.
• Allocate personnel costs to grants using data from TimeClock Plus and Paycom and include documentation of detailed personnel reports for invoicing.
• Review and approve all governmental funding invoices from Projects prior to submission for accuracy and compliance, then ensure submission to and approval by the funders.
• Ensure that Finance receives timely, complete, signed governmental funding invoices for posting to the accounting records.
• Provide budget forecasting for project networks based on financial data and trends.
• Prepare an annual assessment of overall financial health of projects including assessment of restricted vs unrestricted net assets.
• Work one-on-one with projects to assess their project budgets including receivable grants, expenses tracking, and reporting, and to provide training on internal accounting systems and Earth Island’s policies and procedures.
• Assess project capacity to receive and manage public grants; create a learning or training pathway for project staff to build capacity to manage complex public awards and reporting requirements.
• Hold annual and as-needed financial management training for Earth Island internal staff and project staff on federal award management and changes to OMB Uniform Administrative Guidelines.

Supervisory Responsibilities and/or Key Relationships:

• No supervisory responsibilities.
• This position requires close coordination with the Legal, Finance, and Project Support departments.

Education and Experience:

• B.A./B.S. or higher degree, or equivalent experience.
• At least 3 years in public award management.
• 7 or more years experience in financial oversight, including budgeting, accounting and financial reporting for a nonprofit organization.
• Familiar with both contract lifecycle and accounting and financial management systems (i.e., DocuSign CLM or similar program; SAGE Intacct, Salesforce, or similar program).
• Strong customer service, communication (verbal and written), and administrative skills.
• Ability to hold self and others accountable for providing high-quality and effective services.
• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to and appreciation for diverse viewpoints, different communication styles, and a wide range of diverse colleagues and project partners.
• Ability to work as part of a team and across departments, and to support the professional development of team members.
• Ability to manage in an environment of change, or ability to lead through adaptive change.
• Ability to manage, track, understand and explain financial management concepts.
• Strong project management skills and high level of analytical skills, including the ability to work with input and information from multiple sources, and assimilate and present information in a clear and concise manner.
• Familiarity with legal frameworks governing organizations exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
• Computer proficient with a comprehensive working knowledge of MS Word, MS Excel, Adobe, and Google Suite.

Compensation:

The salary for this position is $111,600. This salary may be adjusted upward to the maximum of $120,000 if a candidate has prior experience at Earth Island but is otherwise not negotiable.

Earth Island (Network Services) has adopted a compensation philosophy and set of practices to promote equity, remove bias — whether implicit or explicit — in the salary adjustment process, and to promote transparency around salaries. Each position has a grade and has a corresponding range of pay based on our peer market pay practices and an employee’s tenure in a job. Full benefits include medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, 13 paid holidays per year, a week-long winter break, paid vacation and sick leave, and a 403(b) plan.

Work Location:

Staff are required to work in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are 3 days/week in-office hybrid at the Earth Island Institute office in Berkeley, California.

Application

Please send your resume along with a cover letter expressing your interest in Earth Island and how your qualifications align with the responsibilities of this position, and your LinkedIn profile (optional), to jobs@earthisland.org with “Grants Manager" in the subject line. Application initial review timeline Applications sent in by February 1 will be considered for priority review. Applicants may receive contact prior to February 1 to participate in a short screening call. The position will be open until filled.

Affirmative Action/EEO Statement:

Earth Island Institute provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

We strongly encourage individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, including women and people of color, to apply. Research has shown that these groups are often less likely to apply unless they meet 100% of the listed qualifications. At Earth Island, we value diversity and believe that a range of perspectives contributes to our success. If you have at least 60% of the qualifications listed and a growth mindset, we encourage you to submit your application.

Reasonable accommodation will be made so that qualified disabled applicants may participate in the application process. If you seek an accommodation, please advise in writing at the time you apply. If you seek an accommodation for the application process, please send an email to Michelle Thompson at HR@earthisland.org.

Full benefits include medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, 13 paid holidays per year, a week-long winter break, paid vacation and sick leave, and a 403(b) plan.