Director, Grants Management & Compliance

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) seeks motivated professionals who want to use their talents and skills to make a difference. Our 750+ FTE staff are adaptive problem solvers and passionate about enriching people’s lives. If you are mission-driven, dedicated to superior service and support, can diligently work independently and in a collaborative environment, join our team. LAHSA is leading the fight to end homelessness in LA County. Here, not only would your work have a real impact on the community, but we also offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package.

Created in 1993, LAHSA is a joint powers authority of the city and county of Los Angeles. As the lead agency in the HUD-funded Los Angeles Continuum of Care, we coordinate and manage over $800 million annually in federal, state, county, and city funds for programs providing shelter, housing, and services to people experiencing homelessness.

This position is the head of the Grants Management and Compliance Department of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA). The Grants Management and Compliance Director sets both the grants management and the compliance framework for the organization and is responsible for the management of coordinating post-award activities, overseeing the compliance systems organization-wide as well as assisting with pre-award planning. The Director will oversee and proactively manage potential and actual adverse events, including the identification, investigation, and management of those events, advising and guiding leaders on suitable actions around managing the administration for Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and Contracts.

This leadership position will directly supervise employees in the Grants Management and Compliance Department, carrying out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization’s policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems. The Director of Grants Management and Compliance will design, implement, and modify various grant management and compliance related workflows both internal and external to LAHSA as necessary, and will similarly be responsible for assigning and prioritizing work amongst Department staff to optimize resource utilization and outcomes.

The Grants Management and Compliance Director is responsible for establishing, managing, and maintaining an effective Grants Management and Compliance Program. This position will foster a common vision and provide clear direction on grants management and compliance priorities across our organization. The primary role is to ensure LAHSA complies with the contract requirements, rules and regulations of regulatory and funder agencies, developing and overseeing program implementation in accordance with LAHSA’s strategic plan, risk policies and risk monitoring procedures, and that behavior in the organization meets our Mission and Values. This includes providing oversight of the department operations, the implementation and coordination of grants and contracts management, identifying what legal, regulatory, and contractual requirements the organization must comply with, performing risk assessments, identifying gaps, developing controls & standards, implementing monitoring/testing measures, managing remediation efforts, creating and reporting metrics, and the provision of technical assistance as well as support to grantees and contractors.

• Direct, develop, supervise department staff and mentor’s management team as the team leader.
• Drives change, process improvements and cultural transformation and act as change leader.
• Engage staff in the strategic planning processes to develop concrete implementation plans to achieve department goals and contribute to LAHSA-wide objectives.
• Assess the skills and resources within the department and LAHSA on a regular basis to inform the strategic deployment of those resources to address Department and LAHSA-wide needs.
• Analyze the capabilities of department staff and the effectiveness of department processes to inform future work assignment, hiring, and training decisions.
• Collaborate with other Los Angeles Continuum of Care (CoC) participants—including organizations not funded or contracted to LAHSA—to reduce the occurrence, recurrence, duration, and impacts of homelessness in the Los Angeles CoC using LAHSA-funded grants and contracts.
• Create and distribute policies, procedures, best practices, and reference or provide guidance documents to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Contracts and Grants Department and LAHSA-wide processes.
• Provide training to LAHSA staff, subrecipient personnel, funding officials, and other audiences as necessary to improve collaboration on and understanding of LAHSA grant management and compliance processes.
• Develop and continuously refine the tools, templates, and methodologies necessary to analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of LAHSA grant management and compliance practices of both LAHSA sub-recipients and LAHSA itself.
• Works collaboratively with other LAHSA departments to maintain information regarding contracts and grant metrics and criteria necessary to accurately assess, measure and report on the performance and effects achieved by LAHSA and its subrecipients on various program components and funding sources given and across multiple types of variables.
• Prepare and deliver reports, analyses, and other technical documents to communicate and explain the progress and impact of both LAHSA’s work and the work of its subrecipients to the LAHSA Commission, funders, the public, and other audiences as necessary.
• Participate in LAHSA negotiations with current and prospective funder personnel to ensure that LAHSA’s concerns and priorities are accounted for in its agreements with funders.
• Lead LAHSA’s efforts with respect to resolving disputes stemming from various grants management or compliance related issues, centering approach in community and equity.
• Advise LAHSA executive and department management of the effects of potential contracting, sub-contracting, modifications, amendments, reprogramming, and funding transfers with various funding sources and program components to inform decisions and future practices.
• Maintain accurate, comprehensive records for documents and communications pertinent to LAHSA grants management, contracting and compliance activities.
• Maintain knowledge of current developments regarding grants management, and compliance processes as well as best practices in the nonprofit, private, and public sectors to ensure that LAHSA resources, practices, and staff capacity are kept up to date.
• Undertake special projects and other duties assigned by CFO and Executive Management.
• Assist with the development and maintenance of the standard terms and conditions for grant award letters, agreements, contracts, amendments, modifications, and other related documents.
• Prepare and revise draft templates for Grant Management and Compliance Department, and other documents pertinent to LAHSA post-award processes.
• Identify the requirements and processes associated with opening and closing out both Grants and Contracts and Manage the implementation of those processes.
• Establish and improve processes through which outcome data from programs is used to inform future program development and revisions to LAHSA contracting and active grant management policies and procedures.
• Develops and implements an organizational framework that identifies and addresses the organizational capacity building needs of grantees and contractors, to include individual and group strategies for strengthening capacity; sustainability issues related to initiative implementation.
• Facilitates the development and periodic review of grantee/contractor project document formats (i.e., scope of work), progress and evaluation reporting systems, formats, and monitoring instruments.
• In collaboration with the component departments, it facilitates the defining of program-level data and data collection processes and collects and disseminates performance data.
• Collaborate with other LAHSA departments to expand, downsize, or redistribute resources for existing programs and develop new programs—at the behest of the LAHSA Commission, LAHSA funders, or in response to findings made by LAHSA itself.
• Analyze the performance of homeless programs and strategies on the program, contract, agency, grant, community, and system levels, in collaboration with LAHSA department directors.
• Oversee the contracting and active grant management processes of LAHSA for over 13 major Funders, 100 sub-recipient provider agencies, and 700 contracts.
• Assist with the funding, allocation, reallocation, transfer, amendment, and modification processes for both Funders providing programmatic funding to LAHSA (such as Housing & Urban Development Department- HUD and Los Angeles Housing Community Investment Department- HCID) as well as sub-recipient agencies receiving funding through LAHSA contracts for the direct provision of services and housing.
• Oversee the development and execution of contract and grant related technical assistance (TA) plans to support the programs and services delivered by sub-recipients and funded by LAHSA contracts to facilitate higher performance levels and client satisfaction.
• Collaborate with other local service agencies, governmental institutions, foundations, schools and businesses to identify additional support for grantees and strategic partners.
• Represents the organization and participates in meetings and conferences as appropriate.

• Offers guidance to LAHSA and stakeholders on federal homeless statutes and funder requirements and their impact on program design and modifications.
• Facilitates the monitoring of compliance and the provision of support for grantee/contractor project implementation.
• Facilitates the monitoring of program-level evaluation plans and the provision of technical assistance as necessary.
• Serves as a resource for interpretation of application statutes and regulations.
• Directs activities such as contract monitoring, internal audit, special investigations, and risk management.
• Drafting, establishing, updating and revising all compliance related policies applicable to LAHSA.
• Prepare reports identifying exceptions and risk exposures to regulatory violations and make appropriate control recommendations.
• Serve as primary liaison with sub-recipient compliance, serving as their primary contact and ensuring all monitoring issues are appropriately addressed.
• Ensure solid processes are developed and executed for new federal, state, and local regulations.
• Oversee documentation efforts to ensure sub-recipient compliance/risk mitigation and process improvement initiatives.
• Provide the leadership on regulatory strategy and tactics contributing to the achievement of business objectives.
• Creates and manages processes and procedures assuring compliance of programs and procedures.
• Works collaboratively with other departments to enforce established policies and procedures.

• Other duties and special projects as designated by the CFO.

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum of five (5) years of experience working as a senior member of a governmental entity or large federally funded non-profit organization working in grants management, compliance, accounting or auditing within a, and a minimum of two years working as a leader of grants management and/or compliance, supervising the work of others or a body of work and a demonstrated record of accomplishment in those positions.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Business or Public Administration or a related field. A Master’s or Advanced Degree in a related field (such as an MBA, MPA, DPA or JD) is preferred, but not required.
• Any combination of extensive and applicable work experience and educational credentials to perform the above duties successfully.
• Management experience in a governmental entity or a large nonprofit organization receiving government funding is preferred; experience working in entities involved in the provision of social services is highly desirable.
• Experience in the implementation, oversight, and evaluation of programs, initiatives, and strategies in the nonprofit, government, or private sectors; experience conducting or responding to audits is a plus.
• Direct experience in drafting, executing, and administering contracts and grant agreements, or with similar processes (such as active grant management) is highly desirable.
• Competency in budget preparation and fiscal management on a program level.
• Competency in contract development, administration, and monitoring.
• Demonstrated knowledge of technical assistance, capacity building, quality assurance and community development techniques and principles.
• Understanding of public policies and trends related to homeless services in Los Angeles County and the State of California.
• Understanding of the community dynamics and socio-economic and political issues in LA County.
• Experience working within the Homeless Services field is highly desirable.
• Any combination of extensive and applicable work experience and educational credentials to perform the above duties successfully.

Schedule

• The Executive Director or designee may change the schedule of positions between hybrid and onsite, as necessary to accomplish LAHSA business.

Applicants may make a reasonable accommodation request for this job by calling the Human Resources Department at (213) 683-3333; or via email at humanresources@lahsa.org.

We are an Equal Opportunity / E-Verify Employer