Contracts And Compliance Specialist
Contracts And Compliance Specialist
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$ 47000 - 52000
1 Vacancy
Job Description
CONTRACTS AND COMPLIANCE SPECIALIST
About Cara Collective
Cara Collective seeks to fuel a courageous national movement to eradicate relational and financial poverty. Throughourthree entities Cara Cleanslate and Cara Plus weengage job seekers employers and other organizations across the country to break the cycle of poverty through the power and purpose of employment.
We believe there is an incredible untapped talent pool in our country one comprised of people often experiencing homelessness and poverty. Our job is to unlock the strengths they already have and open new opportunities to gainful employment. We do this by takingthe insights learned over the past 30 years to prepare job seekers and equip other organizations and employers with practices to build a more inclusive economy.
To ensure that we are centering our work around the individuals and communities we serve Cara Collective commits to taking an inclusive and equitably approach in all we do: in our program design diverse representation in our staff partnerships we choose to enter and our external and internal communications and policies. We leverage our individuality and differences as a way of deepening community and expanding opportunity in and around our organization.
Discover the impact we are making and explore the impressive numbers behind our success at .
About the Cara Collective Contracts and Compliance Team
The Contracts Team works with our public funders to support our mission by ensuring we are meeting all benchmarks and successfully propelling our participants forward. We build and maintain positive relationships with Caras public (governmental) funders while complying with all contract guidelines ensuring programmatic outcomes to fulfill our public grant-based obligations and supporting Cara Collectives mission.
About the Role
The Contracts and Compliance Specialist is tasked with building and maintaining positive relationships with Cara Collective funders while complying with contract guidelines fulfilling our contractual obligations and supporting the mission of Cara Collective. We are looking for an individual that has strong administrative and interpersonal skills to assist in accomplishing our goals.
Qualifications
- Excellent organizational skills and the ability to meet deadlines are essential.
- Strong oral and written communication skills.
- High level of self-motivation and strong attention to detail.
- Strong analytical skills.
- Ability to work quickly and efficiently in a fast-paced environment balancing multiple priorities while adhering to tight deadlines.
- Proficiency in MS Excel.
- Experience with Salesforce and City and State databases (e.g. iSupplier ECM STARS ISETS) is preferred.
- Bachelors Degree or applicable combination of education and experience.
The Responsibilities of the Position
Grants Billing Reporting & Administration (50%)
- Manage the complete grant lifecycle for a portfolio of approximately two grants. This includes overseeing all stages from participant enrollment and tracking to final reporting and billing while serving as the primary point of contact for the grantor.
- Complete all data-entry tasks in accordance with contract requirements.
- Prepare and submit monthly billings to public funders. This includes reconciling expenditures against approved grant budgets and preparing all necessary supporting documentation.
- Ensure the timely and accurate submission of all monthly reports and other required documents to the grantor.
Compliance Management (20%)
- Ensure compliance with all grant administrative requirements including participant recruitment tracking online enrollment and submitting all required reports to DHS and DFSS.
- Serve as the primary liaison with Cara Collective staff and public funders such as Illinois DHS and the City of Chicago DFSS. This includes participating in regular meetings responding to their questions and information needs and maintaining positive working relationships with all contacts.
- Coordinate site visits from funders interact with and respond to questions from government and foundation representatives and participate in relevant discussions and meetings on primary grants with manager.
- Perform other duties as assigned with a focus on tasks related to grant funding billing or financial analysis.
Internal Outreach (15%)
- Support the onsite in-person collection of grant enrollment documentation from Cara Collective participants during participant orientations pre-cohort and the beginning of cohort as necessary.
- Provide technical assistance interpretation and guidance to the program staff on matters relating to the compliance of applicable contracts.
- Collaborate with the Recruitment team to ensure timely follow-up on all DHS SNAP and TANF referrals. Support additional recruitment efforts by working with TANF participants at DHS offices throughout the city.
- Coordinate regular lunch and learn or Contracts and Compliance office hours to ensure smooth internal communication between departments and improve overall understanding of the departments role.
Assist the Senior Grants Billing and Compliance Specialist in tracking and verifying participant employment and retention. This includes collecting the necessary data from The Work Number database and internal colleagues.
Data Integrity (10%)
- Assist with grant-related administrative tasks including data entry the digitization and organization of documents and files and the verification of participant income and employment.
- Provide support on special projects aimed at developing more efficient reporting and datatracking procedures.
- Regularly review data in city and state databases against Cara Collectives internal data in Salesforce highlighting and escalating any discrepancies.
Identifying new grant opportunities (5%)
- Assist in researching and identifying new public and private funding opportunities by utilizing publications subscription services and other resources.
- Assist with annual budgeting for all public grant renewals and new grant applications.
- Collaborate with the Development and Finance teams during the grant proposal and contract negotiation processes.
- Provide support for grant writing as needed.
Reports To
Manager of Public Grants and Compliance
Workplace Type & Team Culture
Cara Collective has a strong team culture that values collaboration communication and camaraderie. We believe in the power of working together in person which is why we expect our employees to be onsite at one of our Chicago-based locations multiple days each week. The exact number of onsite days per week may vary by role employee tenure and other commitment to in-person collaboration fosters a sense of belonging and teamwork among our employees creating a supportive and dynamic work environment.
We consistently measure staff satisfaction through employee surveys and have found that year over year the vast majority of staff agree that Cara Collective is a great place to work and grow. This high level of employee satisfaction reflects our dedication to creating a positive and fulfilling workplace for all members of our team.
Starting Pay Range
We take budget and starting salary very seriously. We market our roles and are using a salary analysis tool called Payscale and offer competitive market-based compensation to all employees.
This positions expected starting pay range is $47000-$52000.
Benefits
Cara Collective recently benchmarked benefits offerings and found that we exceed industry standards in terms of employee-friendliness and benefit offerings. Employee out-of-pocket contributions are substantially lower in some cases up to 63% less. Our comprehensive benefit package include:
- Medical Dental Vision Plans
- Basic Life Insurance
- Long Term Disability
- Personal Technology Reimbursement
- 4 Weeks Paid Parental Leave
- Starting with 17 Vacation Days 8 Sick Days
- 14 Paid Holidays
Employee Paid Benefits
- Pre-Tax Medical Flexible Spending Account
- Pre-Tax Dependent Care Account
- Pre-Tax Transit & Parking Options
- Supplemental Life and AD&D Insurance
- Short-Term Disability Insurance
- 401(k) Retirement Plan (employer match up to 4% upon hire & immediately vested)
As of this posting we annually review our benefit offerings to meet our employees needs and be competitive in the market. All listed benefits offerings a at the discretion of the employer.
Equal Opportunity Employer
Cara Collective is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Cara Collective does not discriminate on the basis of race color national origin sex gender identity religion sexual orientation age disability parental status veteran status or any other protected status under applicable laws. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability please email us at if you require reasonable accommodation to complete this application.
Required Experience:
Unclear Seniority
Employment Type
Full-Time
