Senior Grants Manager

The Choice firm is managing a search for Senior Grants Manager. The selected candidate will be hired by our client, a national philanthropic organization; this is a direct hire, benefits-eligible position.

• Hybrid: 8-10 days a month in downtown DC office
• Term length: at least one year, with potential option to extend up to 2, depending on the volume of work.

This role will coordinate a complex, multi-stakeholder project celebrating America’s 250 years of independence as well as our historic landmarks, sites, and parks. The project is funded by several large multi-million-dollar federal grants and private/philanthropic contributions.

The Senior Grant Manager will lead day‑to‑day project delivery, monitor grant performance, and ensure full compliance, including the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements outlined in 2 CFR Part 200 (Uniform Guidance) and applicable cooperative agreements terms and conditions.

Qualifications:

• At least 7 years of experience in complex federal grants administration and project management, including federal award compliance (2 CFR 200) and multi‑fund portfolios.
• Demonstrated success implementing grant monitoring frameworks, subrecipient oversight, and audit‑ready documentation.

Key Responsibilities

Grant Monitoring & Compliance

• Establish robust grant monitoring routines (financial, programmatic, risk/compliance) for both federal awards and private funds; maintain clear documentation and audit readiness at all times.
• Operationalize requirements under OMB Uniform Guidance (allowable, allocable, reasonable costs), indirect cost limitations, and approvals/permits; maintain evidence of compliance.
• Where applicable, design and manage subgrantee monitoring processes, collecting, and analyzing data, documenting results, and identifying and discussing implications, including initial review and risk assessment of potential subgrantee operational and organizational risk, performance reviews, review of subgrantee audits, review of subgrantee audit findings and corrective action plans, and issue management decisions when needed.
• Proactively interpret and assess subgrantee risks, provide technical assistance as necessary and surface and address issues.
• Ensure agreements and amendments follow proper authorities and signatures and, where relevant, support multi‑party structures

Project & Portfolio Management

• Build and manage a master project plan (milestones, dependencies, risks, change control) spanning multiple awards and sub‑projects; lead recurring stand‑ups and cross‑functional reviews.
• Develop and maintain an in-depth understanding of funding mechanisms, funding requirements, budget conditions, and spending status for all grants and awards.
• Track deliverables to commitments in cooperative/task agreements and private funding agreements; drive timely issue resolution and decision-making with stakeholders.

Financial Stewardship

• Coordinate with Finance to align budgets, encumbrances, payments, and reconciliations across federal and private sources
• Implement guidance, templates, and toolkits to ensure timely submission of narrative and financial funder reports; ensure that funder financial reports are both timely and accurate.

Data, Systems & Reporting

• Maintain accurate grant records in Fluxx (applications, agreements, payments, reports, closeout); uphold data integrity standards and naming conventions.
• Coordinate annual and program‑specific reporting cycles (including the standard annual report due October 31 unless otherwise specified); aggregate outcomes, metrics, photos/media, and narrative.
• Create executive‑ready dashboards and briefs for leadership and funders; contribute to Board reporting as requested.
• Close out all grants according to the funder's requirements and the organization’s policy, and reconcile all final deliverables and payments, in conjunction with finance and program staff.

Risk & Quality Assurance

• Maintain a live risk register (financial, compliance, schedule, stakeholder, reputational); propose mitigation strategies and document decisions.
• Conduct periodic internal compliance checks; prepare for monitoring visits and audits.

Stakeholder & Partner Coordination

• Serve as a point of coordination
• Facilitate information sharing and best‑practice documentation.