ABOUT US
The Nature Conservancy is the world’s leading conservation organization, working in all 50 states and more than 33 countries. Founded in 1951, the mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
The Grants Specialist I is directly responsible for the fiscal oversight, administration and coordination of government-funded grants and contracts for the Washington Operating Unit of The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Fiscal and administrative responsibilities include preparing financial reports and tracking budgets for project managers, reviewing incoming award agreement documents, working with attorneys to draft contracts for services documents from standard templates, setting up awards in the central finance system, preparing and submitting invoices, financial and progress reports to agencies, and maintaining master agreement files and databases. The Grants Specialist I is an essential part of a public fundraising team with duties that include prospecting for government grant funding opportunities, reviewing proposal documents and budgets, compiling and submitting grant application packets to agencies, and tracking outstanding proposals, fundraising goals and dollars raised to date.
The Grants Specialist I works closely with:
• Project managers, protection staff and partners to review proposal budgets and financial reports to ensure that the terms and conditions of agreements are met and properly documented;
• TNC’s legal staff and external agency contracting officers to negotiate financial and administrative requirements of new agreements;
• Contract managers and legal staff to draft and finalize contracts for services and ensure that contracts meet TNC standard operating procedures and administrative requirements;
• Scientists, conservation program and public fundraising staff to identify fundable priority work and government grant funding opportunities and to coordinate the proposal drafting and submission processes;
• Government Relations staff to track public fundraising prospects and chart progress for quarterly board reporting and fundraising campaigns;
• Internal Audit and Grants Services Network staff to respond to inquiries and the resolution of action items detailed in audit response reports; and with
• Finance Department staff to draft annual budgets and communicate issues relevant to TNC’s operations.
The Grants Specialist I will be based in Seattle and support the Washington Operating Unit.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting or business administration and 2 years related experience in pre- and post-award grants administration or equivalent combination.
• Experience, coursework, or other training with applicable U.S. Federal government circulars (OMB Circulars A-110, A-122 and A-133), state and local regulations, and of meaning of standard contract clauses.
• Experience working with grants accounting.
• Experience in MS Office, including Word, Excel and Access.
• Experience using accounting and financial reporting systems.
KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS:
• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting or business administration and 2 to 3 years related experience or equivalent combination. Minimum 2 years of successful experience in government grants and contracts administration preferred.
• Current knowledge of applicable U.S. Federal government circulars (OMB Circulars A-110, A-122 and A-133), state and local regulations, and ability to interpret standard contract clauses.
• Demonstrated experience in MS Office, including Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint. Requires adeptness with Excel and ability to manipulate, analyze and interpret data and produce reports.
• Demonstrated experience using accounting, database and financial reporting systems.
• Excellent organizational, proofreading, written and verbal communication skills, and attention to detail.
COMMUNICATIONS/INTERPERSONAL CONTACTS:
• Communication and presentation skills include ability to persuasively convey TNC‘s mission and standard operating procedures to staff, partners and sponsoring public agencies.
• Ability to solicit program support through clear written communications, including proposal writing and other written materials.
• Provides a variety of information to staff and others to assist workflow throughout the organization.
• Communicate with internal and external contacts to seek or convey information and coordinate arrangements.
• Must be able to coach and work collaboratively with others.
COMPLEXITY/PROBLEM SOLVING:
• Proven ability to organize priorities, meet deadlines, and manage peak periods of activity while maintaining related paper and electronic records.
• Experience in interpreting guidelines and analyzing factual information and ability to modify processes in response to changing circumstances.
• Successful experience in researching and compiling information from many sources.
• Strong problem solving skills, including ability to act as a resource to others to solve problems.
• Ability to analyze situations, evaluate alternatives, and implement solutions.
RESPONSIBILITY/OVERSIGHT –FINANCIAL & SUPERVISORY:
• Financial responsibility may include negotiating and contracting with vendors, government agencies and grantees, and assisting with budget development, and external reporting to funders.
• Ability to identify and resolve issues having financial implications.
• May need to gain cooperation from individuals or groups over whom there is no direct authority in order to accomplish program goals.
DISCRETION/LATITUDE/DECISION-MAKING:
• Makes sound decisions based on analysis, experience and judgment. Work affords significant opportunity to act independently on assigned tasks.
• Act in supervisor’s stead when instructed.
• Ability to exercise discretion and maintain confidences.
WORKING CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL EFFORT:
• Work requires only minor physical exertion and/or strain.
• Ability to work under stress during peak workload periods.
• Willingness to travel to area project sites/offices and to organization-wide meetings.
HOW TO APPLY
Please apply online at www.nature.org/careers.
Complete all sections of the online application form and
upload a resume and cover letter as a single document.
Application Deadline: December 3, 2009 or until filled
The Nature Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer
- Location: Seattle, Washington
- Compensation: DOE
- This is at a non-profit organization.
- Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
- Please, no phone calls about this job!
- Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.