Grants and Contracts Accounting Manager

The Organization and Role

About Us

Access Now is a growing international human rights organization dedicated to defending and extending the digital rights of users at risk around the world, including issues of privacy, security, freedom of expression, and transparency. Our Policy, Advocacy, Helpline, RightsCon, Grants, and Operations teams have staff presences in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East/North Africa (MENA), North America, and South/Southeast Asia, to provide global support to our mission.

About the Role

The Grants and Contracts Manager plays a key role with both the finance and development teams of our growing, global organization. The Grants and Contracts Manager leverages their financial management experience with grants within international/global nonprofits, and collaborates across the Organization to ensure smooth and timely grant processing, grant reporting, grant allocation, accurate spending against grants budgets, and compliance with funder requirements and applicable laws. The Manager brings a detail-oriented approach to managing competing priorities and deadlines, and drives exceptional coordination across cross-functional teams in a dynamic, collaborative, and mission-based environment.

The Grants and Contracts Manager reports through the global Director of Finance, and works closely with the Development Director and the Financial Controller, and with Access Now’s Development and Finances teams more broadly.

What You Will Do

The Grants and Contracts Manager is responsible for the day-to-day coordination of the organization’s financial management of its grants & contracts awards and sponsorships. The Manager’s work encompasses two primary bodies of work spanning financial grant analysis and compliance, and budget preparation and adjustments.

Financial Grant Analysis and Compliance

• Coordinate all financial reporting aspects of Access Now’s grants by working closely with accountants to allocate expenses to specific funders according to budget and need.
• Provide timely and accurate financial reports for donors to Director of Finance, Global and Development Director to meet rolling deadlines across all funding relationships.
• Review all incoming grant agreements for their financial requirements to provide advice on their application, feasibility, and practical implementation.
• Work with directors and managerial staff to ensure that they understand and comply with funders’ terms and conditions as set out in grant agreements.
• Lead and manage the maintenance of financial documents for funding agreements (Master Grant Tracker, Disbursement Schedules, Disbursement Requests, Financial reports and other G&C specific files) and help us continue to build strong internal processes which intersect with the Development team .
• Analyze and report on general ledger account activity for variances from budget
• Support Financial Controller (& Director of Finance) on audits and agreed-upon-procedures as needed, reviewing documentation and drafting responses to audit questions(reviewed/finalized by Controller and/or DOF).
• Work with the Controller’s group on the preparation of a periodic and annual restricted revenue release schedule .
• Support decision-making on grant expenses in coordination with the Development Director and team, interpreting whether the expense is appropriate and allowable within the grant framework, budget, goals, and general conditions
• Work closely with our EU counterparts to align and ensure financial reporting and compliance obligations as they relate to grant revenue and expenses
• Keep abreast of accounting pronouncements and industry best practices with respect to revenue recognition and grant financial reporting for not-for-profits
• Pursue additional training in grant management requirements/regulations, as needed
• Perform administrative tasks (information management, maintenance of financial aspects of grant files, document destruction, etc.) as needed

Budget Preparations and Adjustments

• Develop and review budgets for grant proposals aligned with organizational priorities (and available expense categories) whilst being responsive to funder interest in close coordination with the Development Director and team.
• Support Development Director in responding to and managing follow-up financial requests from funders.
• Work closely with the Financial Controller to track adjustments and projections
• Support creation of the organizational budget, primarily from a “budget by funder” and an unrestricted vs. restricted perspective.
• Other financial projects/tasks as assigned

Related Projects

• Participate in and contribute to our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) process that will include implementation of a new accounting software solution.
• Be a lead change agent to update and create an improved process and methodology for time allocation to grants to ensure that allocations meet funding requirements.
• Assist in global implementation of the annual RightsCon summit series.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

About You

As a top candidate you will bring:

• Four years of relevant experience working with grants from a diverse range of non-US funding sources; e.g. governmental (European and other) funding, foundations, and sponsorships in a not-for-profit global context
• Non profit accounting experience encompassing basic accounting concepts, TRNA (Temporary Restricted Net Assets)/funding with restrictions, deferred revenue, balance sheet items, projection and project/fund budget building
• Detailed familiarity with principles of GAAP as it relates to grant-making , as well as typical not-for-profit policies, procedures, and best practices. Work in collaboration with the Controller’s team on revenue recognition.
• Multi-year foreign government grant financial management and reporting experiences
• Advanced Excel skills, including creation and use of complex pivot tables, lookup functions, and other features for formatting, manipulating, and analyzing data
• Ability to set and manage priorities, meet funder deadlines, and exercise sound judgment
• Work style that allows for both independent work, as well as strong collaboration with a fast-paced, global team
• Outstanding interpersonal and communications skills, with the ability to build working partnerships with colleagues from many cultures and backgrounds
• A detail-oriented approach, possessing keen analytical skills organization
• A bachelor’s degree or equivalent, through a combination of education, training, and/or experience, plus four years of related experience

The Details

Location

This is a full-time position, ideally located in New York City, with ability to attend occasional in-person meetings. At this time Access Now Team Members in New York City are working through hybrid office arrangements, combining remote at-home work with flexible use of Access Now’s offices.

Candidates elsewhere in the US, Berlin, Brussels, San José (CR), or Tunis who meet skills and background requirements will be considered. The successful candidate must have the legal right-to-work in the location in which they will be based. Visa sponsorship and/or relocation assistance are presumed to be unavailable for this recruitment.

Remuneration

Access Now offers competitive salary – commensurate with experience – and benefits packages that align with our office localities. For candidates in the US, placement within the salary range for this role is anticipated near $85,000 USD annually, and will be determined by depth of experience and preparation. Benefits for this specific role, if filled within the US, include paid healthcare – medical, dental, and vision – insurance, as well as access to a 401k retirement savings program match. If filled in one of the other locations listed above, salary and benefits will align to the corresponding Region, accordingly. All Team Members also benefit from a strong global culture aligned around:

• Work-life balance…including a generous paid time-off program
• Professional development and growth opportunities
• Extensive workplace flexibility
• Connection to a diverse, global team of passionate, principled professionals
• Organizational resilience and support for all team members
• Opportunities to recharge (including one month of paid refresher leave after 4 years)

How to Apply

Please submit the following documents:

• Résumé/CV (removing all personally identifying information such as age, gender, marital status, address, and photo)
• Cover letter outlining your specific interest and suitability for this role

Our hiring teams review applications submitted through our Career Openings page; email submissions are not accepted. In order for us to communicate with you on the status of your application, please be sure to add apps.bamboohr.com to your contacts list, and check spam or junk folders so that you do not miss updates from us.

We are a global human rights organization committed to inclusivity and equity, and seek the most talented team members who bring their true selves, with diverse backgrounds, cultures, perspectives, and experiences. As an equal opportunity employer, we value and encourage diversity and consider applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other legally protected status. Our commitment applies with regard to all aspects of one’s employment, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits, and termination.

Published: 2024-01-10