Associate Director of Contracts and Programmatic Compliance

Code for America believes the government can work for the people, by the people, in the new digital age, and that government at all levels can and should work well for all people. For more than a decade, we’ve worked to show that with the mindful use of technology, we can break down barriers, meet community needs, and find real solutions.

Our employees build and transform government and community tools and services, making them so good they inspire change. We merge the best parts of technology, nonprofit, and government to help support the people who need it most. With a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and deep empathy for partners in government and community organizations and the people that our partners serve, we’re building a movement of motivated change agents driven by meaningful results and lasting impact. At Code for America, you contribute to exciting work while learning and developing in a supportive and flexible environment. Our compensation and benefits are holistic and thoughtfully curated to represent our employees and our mission. Help us drive real generational change that lasts.

Code for America is looking for a talented Associate Director of Contracts and Programmatic Compliance who will support the legal, contractual, and compliance foundation necessary for the government partnerships that unlock the organization’s social impact. The role will ensure that we:

• Negotiate government contracts, grants, and legal agreements that meet the needs of the organization
• Stay compliant with legal and regulatory requirements
• Improve policies, systems, and procedures to work cross-functionally and take a whole-organization approach to following through on contract and compliance needs
• Support Code for America’s pursuit of sustainable government revenue streams
• Build awareness of the constraints and opportunities that we face in our governmental legal agreements, and in order to better navigate them to ultimately achieve our mission

As of October 27, 2023, Code for America has reached a CBA (collective bargaining agreement) with Code for America Workers United, affiliated with OPEIU (Office Professional Employees International Union, Local 1010). This position is not designated as part of Code for America Workers United.

About the Role:

The Associate Director of Contracts and Programmatic Compliance plays a pivotal role in ensuring that we have the contracts and legal agreements in place to unlock sustainable, mission driven revenue and impact. The role oversees the negotiation, revenue, execution, and administration of a variety of contracts and legal agreements, with an emphasis on governmental ones. The role will also lead the setup of new and improved processes and procedures to collaborate cross-functionally and to ensure compliance across all staff and departments. The role will also support organizational growth initiatives and lobbying compliance efforts. This role demands not only a deep understanding of contractual language and compliance regulations but also strategic thinking, strong communication skills, a mind for new processes and systems, and meticulous attention to detail.

The Associate Director of Contracts and Programmatic Compliance will report to the Senior Director of Finance and may travel up to 10% of the time.

In this Position You Will:

• Contract and legal agreement negotiation:

  • Develop, review, edit, and negotiate a variety of governmental legal agreements and contracts. This could include earned revenue agreements, government subcontractor teaming agreements, state/federal/local government contracts and/or grants, zero-dollar memorandums of understanding, data sharing agreements, and non-disclosure agreements that interface with federal, state, and local governments
  • Liaise with other departments including Programs, Product, Finance, Operations, and HR to ensure these government agreements are in line with Code for America standards, financial and operational needs, and business strategies
  • Drive the development of new government-facing templates and standards to expedite the negotiation of new agreements and create adjustments to existing templates based on programmatic, financial, or operational challenges
  • Actively interface with government partners to negotiate or discuss legal agreements
  • Make recommendations to senior leadership regarding negotiations, appropriate risk controls, and tradeoffs

• Contract and legal agreement compliance, monitoring, and administration:

  • Maintain an organized tracking system for all necessary compliance requirements for government-facing MOUs, data sharing agreements, earned revenue agreements, government grants, and contracts
  • Proactively ensure end-to-end government contract compliance, reporting, and administration. This includes flagging lobbying restrictions; security, privacy, and other training requirements; completing forms and other requirements; and collaborating and coordinating with other departments as needed (e.g., Programs, Product, Security, Engineering, Finance, Operations, and HR)
  • Maintain up-to-date registrations in relevant procurement systems and for government contract vehicles
  • Monitor progress against government agreements; identify risks in complying with agreement terms and troubleshoot issues accordingly

• Staff coordination, training, and guidance:

  • Ensure staff are compliant with project-specific background check and security processes; manage that process in collaboration with HR and Security
  • Ensure and track that staff are adequately trained organizationally on security and privacy, and ensure project-specific compliance
  • Provide staff with other training and guidance as needed to ensure compliance
  • Collaborate and communicate effectively and proactively with teams and departments to ensure smooth business operations

• Support our growth and innovation:

  • Collaborate with Finance, Operations, and HR staff to ensure that organizational systems and processes align with the needs of government partnership agreements
  • Review the terms of contracting vehicles and procurement options
  • Proactively develop and implement new systems, policies, operational processes, systems and approaches to streamline operations and improve compliance
  • In collaboration with the Contracts Team, educate Code for America leadership and staff on existing and potential contractual constraints and flexibilities
  • Elevate programmatic areas of flexibility and constraint within the contracts and legal agreements; collaborate with leadership to mitigate these barriers

• Manage Lobbying Compliance:

  • Complete lobbying compliance training
  • Develop, manage and monitor lobbying program, including ensuring required state and federal registrations and reporting requirements are met
  • Provide government partners with an understanding of our lobbying approach
  • Provide guidance and support to staff, including coordinating legal support
  • Coordinate, prepare and conduct lobbying guidance and training for staff and fiscally sponsored projects

• Other duties as assigned

About You:

This role is a great fit for you if you want to join a mission-driven organization and help unlock more impact through your technical contracts knowledge.

• 8+ years of experience in contract management, contract administration, compliance management, grant management, or the paralegal field
• Significant experience with government contracts and grant agreements
• Solid knowledge of pertinent procurement regulations and practices, including the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS)
• Extensive knowledge of contractual language, agreement types, standards, and terminology
• Ability to negotiate elements of the contract with an appropriate level of judgment, including ability to identify, analyze, and suggest solutions for contractual and compliance risks and concerns
• Significant experience with legal, regulatory, and privacy requirements and expectations
• Ability to understand business context and think strategically, make recommendations, and identify trade-offs and short term vs. long term risks and benefits
• Ability to clearly explain complex concepts and ideas
• Strong organizational skills
• Mindset for operations; ability to develop new processes and/or improve existing ones
• Project management skills, including the ability to juggle multiple competing priorities
• Attention to detail
• Cross-functional collaboration, including the ability to communicate and understand other perspectives

It’s a Bonus if You Have:

• Professional designation: CPCM, CFCM, CCM, FAC-C, etc
• Knowledge of technology and intellectual property
• IAPP Certification (CIPP-US or CIPM)
• Experience with compliance training and awareness efforts
• Nonprofit or philanthropic experience

What You’ll Get

Salary:

Code for America’s salary bands are transparent as a part of our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are happy to extend this transparency in the recruitment process. As part of our equitable hiring practices, we target the 2nd quartile midpoint number of each salary band, for all new hires.

Offer targets vary based on market / geographic location. The target offer numbers for this role range from $108,503 to $132,825, annually.

Benefits and Perks:

• Values:

  • Leadership and teammates who value Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity (DE&I)
  • A collaborative, cross-functional, hardworking, and fun environment

• Medical:

  • Full benefits package with options up to 100% coverage towards select medical, dental and vision plans
  • Employer contributes up to 80% of the cost towards dependent and family coverage

• Retirement & 401k Plans:

  • Employees under 3 years eligible for a 100% employer match of up to 3% of employee contribution
  • Employees with 3+ years eligible for an additional 50% employer contribution over 3%, to a maximum of 5%

• Professional Development:

  • $1000 annual (per calendar year) stipend towards professional development; prorated at time of hire
  • Up to $1000 of professional development funds can be rolled over each year, up to a maximum of $2000

• Time Off:

  • Open personal time off, a minimum of 16 paid holidays, and an org-wide closure Christmas Day through New Years Day
  • Paid sick time; up to 96 hours annually
  • Competitive paid parental and family leave
  • 4 weeks of paid sabbatical after 4 years of service, with an option of up to 4 additional weeks of unpaid time away

• Remote Work:

  • Code for America employees may work remotely across the US
  • Code for America employees main residence must be within the US
  • Full-time employees work 40 hours per week, Monday - Friday
  • Collaborative working hours: we aim to hold all internal meetings between 10 AM - 3 PM PT. We expect all Code for America staff to be available during these set working hours

• Employee Enablement Support:

  • Laptop provided
  • $700 remote environment setup; $200 stipend and up to $500 reimbursement, in accordance with our equipment policy
  • Cell phone and/or internet reimbursement of $50 per month

Equal Employment Opportunity:

Code for America values a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace and strongly encourages women, people of color, LGBTQ+ folks, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply. Code for America is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will not be discriminated against because of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, citizenship status, disability, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, medical condition or any protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws.

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