Grants Accountant (part-time)

POSITION TITLE: Grants Accountant (part-time)

PROGRAM: Finance

FOCUS AREA: Grants Administration

SUPERVISOR: Chief Financial Officer

LOCATION: Washington, DC or Remote (US)

SALARY RANGE: $61,000 - $72,000/year, prorated to level of activity, depending on qualifications

DEADLINE: Rolling, with priority deadline/first review on Sept 24

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION:

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) uses the power of law to protect the environment, promote human rights, and ensure a just and sustainable society. The finance team is responsible for managing the organization's financial resources, including its budget, investments, and cash flow that sustains a 60+ person staff. The Grants Accountant is a new position, designed to support the financial tracking, reporting, technical accounting, and administration of CIEL’s approximately 40-grant portfolio, under the supervision of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). 

The Grants Accountant’s responsibilities include monitoring, analyzing and maintaining financial transactions for a wide variety of grants and contracts; tracking revenues and expenditures; preparing required internal and external financial reports; and ensuring compliance with all relevant regulations. This position will support the organization in implementing and providing ongoing financial oversight to grants management operations, ensuring the appropriate use and accurate reporting of all financial transactions on grants and contracts, and coordinating with relevant program and development staff.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Grant Financial Monitoring (45%)

• Serve as primary fiscal contact for funders and subgrantees.
• Work closely with Grants Manager to understand, monitor, and ensure timely completion of specific grant financial inquiries and requirements.
• Ensure compliance with contract financial conditions and assurances.
• Work with CFO and Managers to track revenues and expenditures according to workstream or grant.
• Prepare grant allocation journal entries.
• Provide information to finance staff as necessary to assist in month-end, end of fiscal year, and annual budget activities.

Grant Reporting (45%)

• Reconcile and generate financial reporting of budget to actuals for grant budgets.
• Prepare a variety of reports, statements, records, analyses, and financial compilations for entities with various reporting periods according to specifications according to program needs, and ensure reporting requirements from funders are met.
• Prepare grant close-out and interim reports.
• Reconcile grant and program financial statements and assist in grant audits, as relevant.

Administration: (10%)

• Maintain timesheets and submit them on time.
• Meet periodically as requested with supervisor and other team members.
• Participate in weekly staff and team meetings and other organizational activities, including a regular staff performance evaluation.
• Meet target dates, prioritize tasks, and ensure high-quality work products.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Four years of progressive accounting experience, at least two of which are directly related to grant accounting
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets
• Experience with financial management software
• Commitment to incorporating principles of justice, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of the work.
• Ability to successfully work on multiple priorities concurrently, including having strong planning and organizational skills, and ability to work well under pressure.
• Exceptional attention to detail.
• Ability to work both independently and in close coordination with a team.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with Intacct accounting software
• Experience with project management software such as Asana
• Experience in a small advocacy and/or legal nonprofit

A successful candidate will demonstrate the following competencies: 

• Action-Oriented: Makes things happen. Takes on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of curiosity, proactivity, and constructiveness.
• Nimble Learning: Approaches unfamiliar tasks proactively and with an open mind. Can quickly adapt to new situations and to draw on past successes and failures to solve current problems.  
• Effective Communication: Understands the value of effective communication. Can deliver messages in a clear, compelling, and concise manner. Actively listens, checks for understanding, and adjusts content and style to meet the needs of different stakeholders.  
• Collaborates: Brings people together to leverage their skills, talents, and knowledge to achieve a common purpose. Creates synergy resulting in a combined effort with greater results than what can be achieved by individuals.  
• Resourcefulness: Is able to make the best of limited resources and find a way to get things done even when the odds are against them. Can look beyond the obvious for viable approaches to accomplish the goal. 

This position may be eligible to work from our Washington DC office or elsewhere remotely in the US (some jurisdictions excluded), provided you have obtained your own legal work authorization. CIEL cannot sponsor work visas.

This is a full-time, exempt position. If you are selected for this position and elect to work remotely, you are expected to provide your own space from which to work. CIEL will contribute a one-time stipend of USD $750 for fully remote workers, with an additional USD $250 per year for the purposes of maintaining your remote work space.

For those working at 20h/week and above, CIEL offers a strong benefits package including employer-subsidized health, dental, and vision; paid vacation, sick, and parental leave; a 5% contribution of gross annual salary into a 403(b) retirement account; a relocation stipend; dedicated professional development funding; and paid sabbatical leave after 7 years. CIEL is a 501(c)3 nonprofit in the US, and full-time employees qualify for the US Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. 

Application instructions: Applications will be considered on a rolling basis; the first application review will take place on September 24. Desired start date: As soon as able. Please submit a cover letter, resume, and any other required materials or responses. Only applicants selected for interviews will be contacted. No telephone calls, please. Note that CIEL does not sponsor visas of any kind. You must have prior authorization to work in the United States in order to be considered for this position.

Anonymous Demographic Survey: Please complete this anonymous demographic survey as part of your application to CIEL. The survey will only be used to help us evaluate our efforts to recruit a diverse pool of candidates. Your answers will not in any way be linked to your application, and the answers to the survey will not be handled by anyone on the hiring committee for the role.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: In accordance with CIEL’s duty to provide and maintain a workplace that is free of known hazards and our commitment to safeguard the health of our employees, clients, and communities, CIEL requires US candidates to furnish proof of full COVID vaccination status in order to be hired for this position. ​​If you are not eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or vaccination is contraindicated by a licensed medical professional, you must provide documentation verifying this ineligibility or contraindication.

About CIEL: For 30 years, CIEL has used the power of law to protect the environment, promote human rights, and ensure a just and sustainable society. CIEL’s dynamic team of international attorneys and experts work together in a collaborative and supportive work environment to tackle some of the most interesting and challenging issues facing people and the planet. 

CIEL is actively committed to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, and building an organization that is as diverse as the communities we serve around the world. We know that diversity and inclusion make us stronger, and we actively encourage qualified applicants with various backgrounds, identities, perspectives, and (dis)abilities to apply. If you need an accommodation or assistance with this application, please contact Human Resources at jobs[at]ciel.org.