Compliance Manager

The Role:

• The Compliance Manager is an integral member of the Center’s recently expanded Office of the General Counsel (OGC). Reporting to the Director of Compliance, the Compliance Manager will help ensure that the Center fulfills its legal obligations, including those required by the organization’s funders, and adheres to industry best practices.
• As part of this role, the Compliance Manager will help identify, create and enhance Center policies, systems, and processes to ensure compliance with legal and grant requirements. The Compliance Manager will provide strategic input and operational support to Center staff throughout the proposal/award lifecycle. The Compliance Manager will assist in the development and rolling out of compliance trainings to build staff and partner capacity, with the goal of mitigating risk and maintaining compliance with donor requirements.

The Compliance Manager will be based in Nairobi, Kenya. The Center currently operates in a hybrid model, allowing staff to work 3 days in the office and 2 days from home.
Primary Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with the Office of the General Counsel in the development and/or enhancement of Center policies, processes, and procedures to ensure compliance with legal and award requirements.
• Review Donor and Partner funded solicitations and award terms and conditions and provide guidance on mandatory requirements and/or potential risks, including those posed by partners.
• Participate in planning, designing, and executing periodic internal compliance audits and assist in response to external audits, including as related to Donor funded projects. Draft audit reports and proposed corrective action plans. Conduct follow-up of action plans and recommendations.
• Participate in award kick-off meetings to ensure that donor requirements are well understood and that plans are in place to meet the requirements.
• Help create and maintain a dashboard and tools to facilitate grants management compliance.
• Review Center Partnership and Donor Funded Procurement Actions as necessary.
• Assist in correspondence to donors, partners, and auditors.
• Provide donor compliance and risk management guidance to staff and partners throughout project implementation.
• Develop and conduct trainings to support the Center’s compliance programs and build staff and partner capacity.
• Take on additional responsibilities as assigned.
• Local and International travel to locations of assignment (10%)

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in finance, business administration, commerce, law, or related field is required.
• Eight years of progressively responsible professional work experience in a similar position at an International Organization, Non-Governmental Organization, Donor Agency, or Embassy. Experience working with restricted donors, specifically, DFID, SIDA, UN Agencies, EU-based donors, foundations, and Global Affairs Canada is a plus.
• Experience with grants and partnership management, donor compliance, budgeting, and financial reporting.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and interpersonal skills with ability to work effectively with diverse groups of stakeholders, both internal and external.
• Excellent communication, report writing, and presentation skills.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to anticipate issues and address issues proactively.
• Demonstrated knowledge of internal controls and best practices with ability to support adherence to policies and procedures among various programs/functional units for both staff and partners.
• Able to juggle competing priorities, follow through on assigned tasks or projects, and exercise good judgment in consulting supervisor when needed.
• Demonstrated ability in designing and delivering trainings.
• Experience assisting with internal and external audits is a plus.
• Flexible to make calls and meetings outside standard working hours to accommodate colleagues working in other time zones.

Behavioral Competencies:

• Develop & Manage Self & Others: Takes ownership of individual growth in order to achieve full potential; recognizes the value of team members and helps them develop their full potential while also achieving set objectives.
• Collaboration (People First): Works intra- and/or cross-departmentally to support the goals and overarching strategies of the Center and its strategic plan.
• Feedback (Improve & Innovate): Actively engaged in feedback cycles: Gives and requests feedback to and from peers, supervisors and direct reports about work products, behaviors, values, style, and approaches with a view on how this impacts self, other individuals, and teams.
• Accountability: Follow-through on each commitment made to individual contributors, teams and partners and proactively informs others of any delays that occur along the way.

Work Competencies:

• Project Management: Works effectively on project teams in order to achieve long-term project goal and objectives.
• Problem Solve & Make Decisions: Identifies, analyzes and resolves existing and anticipated problems, using common sense to make timely decisions in order to reach the best solutions for the organization.
• Internal/External Focus: Anticipates internal and external partner’s needs; assesses requirements and identifies new solutions that align with overall goals and objectives of the organization.
• Communication & Influence: Communicates with and influences others to gain agreement and commitment to the strategic goals of the organization.