Compliance Officer (Volunteer)

Compliance Officer (Volunteer)

PromiseTrust | Organizational Compliance, Ethics, Policy & Risk

Organization: Mentor A Promise (MAP)

Division: PromiseTrust

Location: Remote — United States

Type: Volunteer Compliance Role

Commitment: Approximately 5–10 hours per week

Minimum Commitment: 6-month commitment required

Works Closely With: Executive Leadership, PromisePeople, PromiseShield, PromiseFinance, PromisePrograms, and division leaders

About Mentor A Promise

Mentor A Promise (MAP) is a New York City–based nonprofit supporting children and youth ages 5–18 experiencing housing instability through mentorship, education, literacy, social-emotional learning, creative opportunity, career development, advocacy, and community-centered support.

As MAP grows, strong compliance systems are essential to protecting our mission, the children and families we serve, our volunteers, our partners, and the organization itself.

Role Overview

Mentor A Promise is seeking a knowledgeable, highly organized, and solutions-oriented Compliance Officer to help strengthen organization-wide compliance practices.

The Compliance Officer will help MAP identify requirements, develop policies and controls, maintain appropriate documentation, monitor compliance obligations, identify gaps, and ensure concerns reach the right organizational leaders.

The goal is not simply to respond when something goes wrong.

It is to build systems that help MAP do things correctly from the beginning.

Key Responsibilities

Compliance Program

• Support the development and continuous improvement of MAP’s compliance framework.
• Maintain a clear inventory of key organizational compliance obligations.
• Develop compliance calendars, checklists, procedures, and tracking systems.
• Monitor deadlines, required reviews, certifications, and organizational commitments.
• Identify compliance gaps and recommend corrective action.
• Track remediation through completion.

Policies & Procedures

• Review and help develop organizational policies and procedures.
• Maintain clear policy ownership, review schedules, and version control.
• Help ensure policies are translated into practical operating procedures.
• Identify areas where organizational practices and written policies are inconsistent.
• Coordinate periodic policy reviews with appropriate leaders.

Nonprofit & Organizational Compliance

Support compliance efforts involving areas such as:

• Nonprofit operations
• Volunteer management
• Conflicts of interest
• Ethics and conduct
• Recordkeeping
• Grants and restricted funding
• Fundraising practices
• Partnerships and agreements
• Youth-serving operations
• Organizational policies
• Required filings and documentation
• Other applicable regulatory and contractual obligations

Monitoring & Risk

• Conduct periodic compliance reviews.
• Identify emerging compliance risks.
• Maintain compliance trackers and documentation.
• Develop practical corrective-action plans.
• Follow up with responsible teams until identified issues are resolved.
• Escalate significant or unresolved concerns to appropriate leadership.

A compliance issue is not resolved because it was identified. It is resolved when the underlying problem has been addressed and verified.

Training & Organizational Awareness

• Help develop compliance training and guidance for volunteers and leaders.
• Translate complex requirements into clear, practical expectations.
• Help teams understand when specialized review is required.
• Promote a culture where questions and concerns can be raised early.
• Strengthen organizational understanding of individual compliance responsibilities.

Cross-Functional Coordination

Partner with specialized MAP functions while respecting their ownership:

• PromiseShield on privacy, cybersecurity, data protection, and safeguarding controls
• PromisePeople on volunteer and people-related compliance
• PromiseFinance on financial controls and accounting compliance
• PromisePrograms on youth-program requirements
• PromiseTrust leadership and legal counsel on legal and governance matters
• Executive Leadership on enterprise risk and significant compliance concerns

The Compliance Officer connects these responsibilities into a stronger organizational compliance system without replacing the specialists who own them.

Documentation & Reporting

• Maintain organized compliance records.
• Develop compliance dashboards or status reports where appropriate.
• Track findings, owners, deadlines, and remediation.
• Document significant reviews and decisions.
• Provide leadership with clear visibility into material compliance risks and outstanding actions.

Role Boundaries

The Compliance Officer supports compliance oversight but does not independently provide legal advice unless appropriately licensed and authorized.

Questions requiring legal interpretation should be escalated to qualified counsel.

Likewise, safeguarding, privacy, cybersecurity, HR, financial, and other specialized matters should be handled in partnership with the MAP function responsible for that area.

The Compliance Officer should know both when to act and when specialized expertise is required.

Ideal Candidate

This opportunity may be particularly well suited for an experienced:

• Compliance Officer
• Compliance Analyst or Manager
• Risk & Compliance Professional
• Nonprofit Compliance Professional
• Regulatory Affairs Professional
• Internal Controls Professional
• Ethics & Compliance Professional
• Governance or Legal Operations Professional

Strong candidates will demonstrate:

• Experience with compliance, risk, governance, audit, legal operations, or related work
• Strong research and analytical skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Ability to interpret requirements and translate them into practical processes
• Strong documentation and organizational skills
• Sound judgment and discretion
• Ability to identify problems without creating unnecessary bureaucracy
• Confidence raising difficult issues respectfully
• Strong follow-through
• Commitment to ethics, accountability, and MAP’s mission

Nonprofit or youth-serving organization experience is highly valued.

What Success Looks Like

Success means:

• MAP understands its major compliance obligations.
• Responsibilities and deadlines have clear owners.
• Required documentation is organized and accessible.
• Compliance concerns are identified earlier.
• Findings result in documented corrective action.
• Policies reflect actual organizational practices.
• Teams understand when and how to escalate concerns.
• Leadership has visibility into significant compliance risks.
• MAP develops systems capable of supporting responsible organizational growth.

Why This Role Matters

Compliance should not exist only as a collection of policies sitting in a folder.

It should show up in how an organization makes decisions, protects people, keeps records, manages risk, and follows through on its commitments.

For an organization serving children and families, that responsibility is especially important.

The Compliance Officer helps MAP turn its obligations into everyday organizational practice.

Commitment

• Approximately 5–10 hours per week
• 6-month commitment required
• Regular collaboration with PromiseTrust and organizational leadership
• Participation in compliance reviews and follow-up
• Reliable communication and completion of assigned priorities
• Maintain strict confidentiality, professionalism, and integrity
• Complete applicable MAP onboarding and training requirements

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply directly through Idealist and submit:

• Resume or CV
• Cover Letter

Please highlight relevant experience in compliance, nonprofit operations, risk management, governance, regulatory affairs, internal controls, audit, ethics, legal operations, or related fields.

This is an unpaid volunteer position.

At this time, MAP volunteer opportunities are limited to individuals based in the United States due to legal, safeguarding, data-privacy, compliance, and programmatic requirements.

Know the requirements. Build the systems. Find the gaps. Follow through. Protect the mission.