Senior Contracting Officer

The Senior Contracting Officer is responsible for independently developing  department operational procedures that align with U.S. Government acquisition principles and requirements, *management of Grants & Contracts staff including in-country staff and procurement staff, and efficient and effective award administration, regulatory and compliance (contractual) technical support to projects implementing prime awards with U.S. Government and non-U.S. Government donors. The support to projects includes the entire life of an award from pre-award to post-award, providing written guidance and directives on regulatory compliance, assessment and mitigation of business risks, and enforcement of Pact’s policies and procedures. In addition to prime award administration, the Senior Contracting Officer is responsible for  providing subaward administration including independently developing specialized, complex acquisition templates  and providing written guidance and directives on regulatory technical and compliance matters and advice regarding subaward administration.  Other responsibilities include a broad range of activities related to contracting, and procurement activities under complex USG acquisition prime awards and independent review and assessment of new business bid reviews and proposal development for complex USG and foreign government acquisitions including, but not exclusively,  FCDO.  For any ethical and improper conduct matters that are assigned or reported to the Senior Contracting Officer, the Senior Contracting Officer is responsible for tracking those matters through completion, working with members of the Ethics Committee and other staff members as directed, facilitating and completing any tasks and activities as directed by a member of the Ethics Committee including but not limited to assisting in investigations, performing desk audits, independently developing and submitting notifications and reports to Funders via the appropriate means in accordance with any applicable laws, regulations and terms and conditions of the award with approval from the Ethics Committee, and providing regular and consistent updates and status reports to the Ethics Committee via the Chief Compliance Officer.

The Senior Contracting Officer is a lead role that will serve as a technical expert of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), specific agency supplements to the FAR, general acquisition and contracting principles based in common law, donor rules and regulations to Pact staff. The Senior Contracting Officer is responsible for , preparing memorandums with the applicable rule of law(s) (regulation, contract award term and condition, policy, Executive Order), the relevant facts, an analysis and application of the rule of law(s) to the facts, and a summary to advise on any actions that should or should not be taken and any associated risks, and works closely with other members of the Legal department and on a cross-functional basis across the organization.  The Senior Contracting Officer is responsible for working closely with the Global Finance and Corporate Finance/Accounting teams on any requests or actions required in support of internal and external audits and/or other award related requests especially as it relates to USG acquisition regulations, applicable laws and award terms and conditions for acquisition/procurement matters.

This position will work closely with members of the operational team and with our Zambia Integrated Health program.

*Management as defined by responsible and accountable for staff’s performance and deliverables, responsible for the day-to-day oversight of staff and the review of staff’s work product throughout the life cycle of the transaction, managing and resolving staff’s escalations with limited escalations to leadership, conducting ongoing performance monitoring, assessment, review and feedback including the annual performance review, managing staff’s workload, managing staff’s request for time off, and approving timesheets.

Management and Leadership:

• Lead the Grants and Contracts team, any applicable country office team on contractual, compliance and regulatory matters by scheduling meetings, lead the facilitation of the meetings, initiate substantive engagement in the meetings, provide consistent face-to-face interaction via video conferences to gain rapport and build relationship and community between DC staff and country office staff.
• Leads the development of contractual documents including not limited to templates, notifications, reports, prior approval requests, consent to subcontract requests, memorandums, forms and any other submissions to funders and/or donors with limited support and escalations to your Supervisor.
• Manages staff within the Grants and Contracts Department, such as Coordinator, Specialist, and Officer/Manager and staff in-country including Grants and Contracts and Procurement staff.
• Lead a quality assessment and improvement function:  conduct desk audits of contracts and procurement actions, identify errors or omissions, identify any trends, develop corrective actions and plans, manage corrective actions and plans, perform and complete actions assigned to the Senior Contracting Officer, track the implementation of the new actions, provide regular and consistent updates to your Supervisor, repeat monitoring and process as needed.
• Train, prepare materials, and  provide technical guidance to staff providing Grants and Contracts, procurement, and compliance support to projects.
• Provides ongoing training and mentorship to other members of the Grants and Contracts department, country office, and DC staff.
• Be proactive in developing solutions independently, then working collaboratively as needed with cross-functional roles and departments and emphasizing teamwork in solving problems.
• Closely engages in managing disputes, business-sensitive transactions, and delicate customer relationships to preserve the reputation and good standing of the organization. Leads in seeking reconsideration of requests denied by donors such as those for salaries, consultant rates, budget revisions, procurement, subcontracts, waivers, etc.
• Conducts periodic reviews of the contract portfolio with the senior management.
• Demonstrates deepened expertise, professional growth, and managerial and leadership skills through evidence of effective crisis management.
• Develop organizational policies, processes, and procedures, and trainings focused on compliance with acquisition regulations and laws and funder terms and conditions for contracts with limited support and escalations. 

Project Support: Prime Award and Subaward Management:

• Review, advise, and provide input regarding funder solicitations and proposal preparation with regards to regulatory, risk mitigation, or potential compliance issues for complex, USG and foreign government acquisitions.
• As needed supports the proposal team for matters relating to Grants and Contracts especially for USG and foreign government acquisitions in conducting pre-award due diligence assessments, advising and providing technical assistance on tasks including fee schedules, advanced understandings and prior approval requests, Consent to Contract actions and other requirements for compliance with submissions, advising and providing a written memorandum to Human Resources when requested on compensation, allowances and differentials, and other benefits, developing and implementing Subcontracting Plans, providing technical assistance to comply with “Utilization of Small Business Concerns”, tracking progress toward meeting small business goals for a project, other special acquisition requirements including but not limited to requirements such as Supply Partner Code of Conduct and Supply Chain requirements for FCDO acquisition awards.
• Leads the review and negotiation of prime award contractual actions and subaward actions.
• Provide guidance to portfolio team, including in-country staff, regarding agreement and funder technical, financial, compliance and any regulatory requirements throughout life of award.
• Lead the facilitation to resolve agreement-related issues and requirements with funder or sub-partner throughout life of award with limited support and escalations to your Supervisor.
• Prepares, collaborate with the appropriate internal stakeholders, and submits requests to funders, e.g. for approvals, authorizations, or waivers, and facilitates responses to donor inquiries throughout life of the award with limited support and escalations to your Supervisor.
• Drafts, prepares, and reviews subawards and procurements transactions along with reviewing and evaluating sufficiency of supporting documentation.
• Provides guidance to Grants and Contracts staff and the project staff on subaward management.
• Monitors award for compliance throughout its lifecycle, identifies and report any potential business risks and actively engages with cross-functional team on mitigation of risks as they arise.
• Supports internal audits and monitoring or facilitation of implementation of corrective action plan, as requested and directed.
• Assists in agreement close-outs, including providing technical guidance and directives and backstopping to country offices on contractual matters; assist with providing regulatory and award guidance on requirements for final disposition of property, assist with preparing documents and forms, and submitting documents to the Funder in compliance with the award requirements with limited support and escalations to your Supervisor.

Other duties:

• Develop acquisition templates, revise templates to add or delete terms and conditions for compliance requirements, revise any manuals and assist in maintaining template documents and manuals.
• Develop periodic regulatory or other guidance/ briefing materials or presentations for department purposes.
• Provide training on regulatory and other matters to staff across the organization, including remote training to country offices, and lead presentations on awards or other matters within the DC Grants and Contracts portfolio.
• Develop materials and presentations, supports and participates in community of practice and other mechanisms for knowledge sharing.
• Prepare status reports or other reports as requested (this is in addition to standard status reports required by the Senior Contracting Officer’s role and duties.

• Bachelor’s degree and 8+ years relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience, including 4 years of management experience.
• At least five years’ experience working in an acquisition function in international development.
• At least four years’ of significant experience with USAID acquisition instruments and procurements, specifically with management and/or administration of sub-contracts and GUCs.
• Expert knowledge of U.S. regulations and requirements applicable to development acquisition, including the , FAR, AIDAR, 22 CFR 228, , DSSR, FTR, and 2 CFR 200 and 700, FFATA, USG Single Audit Requirements and CAS.
• Ability to work in a changing environment and deal effectively with ambiguity
• Experience with private commercial for-profit organizations, private foundations, corporate engagement, and corporate donors.
• Experience working in multicultural work-environment and decentralized field-driven organizations.
• Demonstrated significant experience and proven efficacy in the management of a complex operation and working with diverse staff.
• Critical thinker with the ability to develop proactive solutions and processes.
• Proficiency balancing complex regulatory requirements with practical needs and limitations.
• Ability to initiate and lead communications effectively and diplomatically with a wide variety of audiences.
• Flexibility, high level of business acumen to create and develop tools and processes for efficient and streamlined processing, and ability to adjust, accommodate and manage multiple tasks during surge periods with  a positive approach toward managing change.

• Fluent English and proficiency in another language from a Pact region
• Ability to travel internationally periodically.
• Experience with accounting software such as Serenic, Navigator, ERPs, ACCPAC, or others.

The salary for this position is determined based on a wide variety of factors including but not limited to an individuals skill sets, experience, training, certifications, education, as well as business needs and internal equity. At Pact, employees are typically not hired at the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are made based on the aforementioned circumstances. A reasonable estimate of the current range is $80,000-130,000