Federal Award Specialist

About the Lincoln Institute

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a private operating foundation, envisions a world where prosperous cities and regions provide essential public goods and services through coordinated land use planning and public finance; where efficient and equitable allocation of limited land resources supports thriving communities; and where stewardship of land and water resources ensures a livable future. We organize our work around three areas where we believe effective land policy can have a positive impact. These impact areas are: Land and Water; Land and Fiscal Systems, and Land and Communities. We have locations in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Phoenix, Arizona; and Beijing, China, but our work has a global scope. We have several centers and initiatives that focus on land policy in key geographies (China, Latin America, Europe, Africa), as well specifics tools, topics and issues related to our three impact areas.

Position Overview 

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy continues to increase our impact and influence. Because of this, we are looking for a Federal Award Specialist to report to our Director of Legal Compliance. The Lincoln Institute is a prime recipient and subrecipient of federal funding and serves as a pass-through entity. Your primary focus will be reviewing and negotiating federal award agreements and ensuring the Lincoln Institute’s compliance with the award terms. Your work will also involve creating subawards and working with colleagues to monitor subrecipient and subcontractor compliance. You will also be a back-up reviewer for all other Lincoln Institute grants and contracts.

What You’ll Do:

• Assess the risks and potential changes to policies and procedures that may be needed at the application or submission stage of a federal award.
• Assist in the review of federal award budgets at the application or submission stage.
• Review federal award agreements to ensure the Institute is compliant with requirements; provide recommendations for changes to policies and procedures for the Institute to be compliant.
• Assist in conducting risk assessments of potential subrecipients.  
• Draft subrecipient and subcontractor agreements that use federal funds.
• Develop and implement ongoing compliance auditing and monitoring mechanisms for staff and subrecipients working on federally funded projects.
• Partner with program and operational teams to ensure reports for federally funded projects are submitted complete and on time.
• Assist in preparing communications to staff regarding compliance with federal awards and related laws and regulations.
• Stay well-informed of changes in federal laws and regulations related to federal awards and propose updates to internal policies, procedures, and templates for continued compliance.
• Assist with training initiatives for staff working on federally funded projects.
• Work with staff, federal agencies, prime recipients, subrecipients, and subcontractors to resolve questions or issues quickly.
• Take initiative to identify opportunities for improvement and involve team members in the design and implementation of solutions.
• Be a back-up reviewer of non-federally funded grants and contracts that the Institute enters.
• Other compliance tasks as assigned.

What You'll Need:

• 4-7 years relevant experience, preferably with at least 2 years working in federal government award administration/management and 2 years working in compliance and/or operations for a multi-state employer
• At least 1 year experience managing subrecipient grant agreements
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• Exceptionally detail-oriented
• Positive attitude
• Ability to handle sensitive or confidential information
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously assessing importance and urgency to prioritize appropriately
• Ability to work well as part of a team and independently
• Expertise with Microsoft Office required
• Experience using Asana preferred