Director of Government Contracts & Compliance

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION 

The Ali Forney Center (AFC) is the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness. Founded in 2002, AFC’s mission is to protect LGBTQ+ youth from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently. AFC provides a comprehensive continuum of housing, healthcare, educational, vocational, and supportive services through affirming, trauma-informed, and youth-centered programs that promote safety, stability, well-being, and long-term independence.

SCHEDULE: Monday–Friday, 9-5pm, 10am -6pm, (schedule negotiable) with occasional evening and weekend hours as needed to support organizational, programmatic, and funding requirements.

LOCATION: New York City; hybrid work schedule with regular on-site presence at AFC locations and travel between program sites, government offices, and external meetings as needed.

WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY: Hybrid four days in office, one day remote 

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Government Contracts & Compliance provides strategic and hands-on leadership for the Ali Forney Center’s portfolio of government grants and contracts, with primary responsibility for contract management, implementation, compliance, and performance. The Director oversees government contracts from award and registration through implementation, monitoring, reporting, amendments, renewals, and close-out, ensuring contractual requirements are clearly understood, assigned, tracked, and completed. Serving as AFC’s subject-matter expert on city, state, and federal contracting requirements, the Director works closely with Program, Finance, Development, Operations, and Executive Leadership to ensure programs operate within approved scopes, deliverables are achieved, compliance requirements are met, and contractual or administrative barriers are proactively addressed. This hands-on leadership role combines organization-wide oversight with direct execution of critical contract administration and compliance activities. The Director strengthens AFC’s systems for contract monitoring, cross-departmental accountability, audit readiness, risk management, and successful implementation of government-funded programs.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

This is a hands-on leadership role responsible for ensuring AFC’s government contracts are successfully implemented, administered, monitored, and maintained from award through close-out. The Director serves as both a strategic leader and individual contributor, establishing organization-wide contract management systems while directly managing critical contract actions, compliance requirements, reporting processes, and implementation activities. The Director works across Program, Finance, Development, Operations, and Executive Leadership to ensure contractual obligations are understood, assigned, completed, and documented.

Contract Management & Implementation

• Lead the full lifecycle of government grants and contracts from award and registration through implementation, amendments, renewals, and close-out.
• Review contracts, scopes, budgets, funder guidance, and performance requirements and translate them into clear implementation plans, deliverables, responsibilities, and deadlines.
•  Serve as the primary internal coordinator for government contracts, leading cross-departmental implementation and establishing clear ownership and accountability for contractual requirements.
• Maintain centralized contract files, records, calendars, and tracking systems for key documents, reporting deadlines, renewals, amendments, monitoring activities, and other milestones.
• Monitor contract performance, deliverables, utilization, spending, and implementation; conduct regular reviews and coordinate corrective action for performance, compliance, reimbursement, or implementation concerns.
•  Manage contract actions and government communication, including registrations, modifications, extensions, renewals, issue resolution, and close-out, ensuring required documentation and deliverables are completed.

Contract Compliance, Monitoring & Risk Management

•  Serve as AFC’s organizational lead for government contract compliance, monitoring, and audit readiness.
• Interpret contractual terms, regulations, funder guidance, and administrative requirements and translate them into clear internal expectations.
•  Establish monitoring processes and conduct periodic reviews to assess compliance and identify gaps in documentation, performance, reporting, fiscal requirements, or implementation.
• Coordinate preparation for government audits, monitoring reviews, desk reviews, and site visits, working across departments to ensure required documentation is complete and accurate.
•  Track monitoring findings, corrective action plans, and government follow-up requirements through resolution.
• Identify contractual, compliance, performance, and financial risks, maintain audit-ready systems, and escalate significant concerns to Executive Leadership with recommended corrective actions.

Contract Reporting & Performance Monitoring

•  Maintain a centralized reporting calendar and tracking system for government contracts, funding streams, deadlines, and outstanding requirements.
• Coordinate the timely preparation, review, and submission of required programmatic, performance, fiscal, and outcome reports.
•  Establish internal timelines and workflows to ensure Program, Finance, and other departments provide required information in advance of funder deadlines.
•  Review reports for completeness, consistency, and alignment with contractual requirements prior to submission.
•  Monitor contractual targets, deliverables, utilization, spending, reimbursement, receivables, and other key performance indicators.
•  Partner with Program and Finance leadership to address performance or fiscal concerns, implement corrective strategies, and ensure outstanding requirements are completed.

Government Systems & Contract Administration

• Maintain advanced working knowledge of government contracting, grants management, and reporting systems across NYC, NYS, and federal agencies, including PASSPort, HHS Accelerator, DYCD systems, CAPS, SFS, CMS, SAM.gov, Grants.gov, HUD systems, and eRA Commons.
• Manage or coordinate contract submissions, registrations, certifications, amendments, reporting, and other administrative actions within government systems.
• Ensure AFC’s government registrations, organizational profiles, certifications, and required filings remain accurate and current.
• Establish clear internal responsibility and documentation for system access, submissions, approvals, and supporting materials.
• Troubleshoot system or administrative issues that could delay contract registration, implementation, reporting, or reimbursement.
• Coordinate with government agencies to resolve contracting or administrative barriers and maintain records of submissions, approvals, correspondence, and government actions.

Fiscal Coordination & Revenue Realization

• Partner with Finance to ensure alignment with contractual requirements, budgets, and deadlines.
• Maintain visibility into contract spending, invoicing, reimbursement submissions, drawdowns, and outstanding receivables.
• Monitor for underspending, delayed reimbursement, budget misalignment, and other issues affecting contract performance or revenue realization.
• Coordinate with Finance and Program Leadership on budget modifications, reallocations, contract amendments, and other necessary fiscal actions.
• Track funder fiscal deadlines and resolve contractual or administrative barriers that may delay invoicing or reimbursement.
• Ensure fiscal activities remain aligned with contractual requirements while Finance retains responsibility for accounting, reconciliations, fiscal transactions, and core financial controls.

Cross-Departmental Contract Leadership

• Serve as the central connector across Program, Finance, Development, Operations, and Executive Leadership for government contract implementation.
• Establish clear roles, workflows, and accountability across departments for contractual requirements and deliverables.
• Convene cross-functional contract reviews addressing implementation, performance, spending, reporting, compliance, and upcoming deadlines.
• Partner with Program, Finance, and Operations to ensure service delivery, fiscal activities, staffing, documentation, facilities, and other operational requirements align with contractual scopes.
• Provide technical assistance and develop tools, templates, checklists, and dashboards that strengthen contract management practices across AFC.
• Support departments in resolving implementation barriers while maintaining accountability for successful contract performance.

Government Funding & Pre-Award Support

• Provide contract management, compliance, and implementation expertise during government funding applications and renewals.
• Review solicitations and proposed scopes to identify implementation requirements, compliance obligations, reporting expectations, and organizational risks.
• Partner with Development, Program, and Finance to assess the operational feasibility of proposed government-funded programs.
• Support government-specific certifications, registrations, organizational documentation, and technical application requirements.
• Review proposed deliverables, performance measures, staffing, and timelines to ensure contractual commitments are achievable.
• Lead the transition of newly awarded funding into contract registration and implementation, while Development retains primary responsibility for proposal development and grant writing.

Executive Reporting & Contract Portfolio Management

• Maintain an organization-wide view of AFC’s government contract portfolio and provide Executive Leadership with regular updates on status and performance.
• Report on renewals, modifications, implementation challenges, compliance concerns, performance risks, spending, receivables, and monitoring activity.
• Identify systemic issues and recurring barriers affecting contract execution and recommend organizational improvements.
• Advise Executive Leadership on contractual risk, implementation capacity, renewals, and government contract management strategy.
• Monitor changes in government contracting requirements, regulations, and administrative processes that may affect AFC’s portfolio.
• Support organizational decisions regarding the continuation, modification, expansion, or renewal of government-funded programs.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in public administration, Business, nonprofit management, finance, social services or other related education fields. 
• Minimum of 5–7 years of progressively responsible experience in government contract management, grants administration, compliance, or a related function within a nonprofit, government, or public-sector environment
• Demonstrated experience managing complex city, state, and/or federal government contracts from award and registration through implementation, monitoring, renewal, amendment, and close-out.
• Strong knowledge of government contracting, contract administration, compliance, reporting, and reimbursement requirements.
• Experience interpreting contracts, scopes of work, regulations, and funder guidance and translating requirements into clear implementation plans, workflows, and internal responsibilities.
• Demonstrated experience monitoring contractual deliverables, performance measures, reporting requirements, spending expectations, and compliance obligations.
• Experience coordinating government contract requirements across Program, Finance, Operations, Development, and organizational leadership.
• Experience preparing for and responding to government audits, monitoring reviews, desk reviews, and site visits, including management of findings and corrective actions.
• Hands-on experience with government contracting and reporting systems; familiarity with systems such as PASSPort, HHS Accelerator, DYCD systems, CAPS, SFS, SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and HUD systems is strongly preferred.
• Strong project-management skills with demonstrated ability to manage multiple contracts, deadlines, reporting requirements, and competing priorities simultaneously.
• Demonstrated ability to operate as both a strategic leader and hands-on individual contributor, including personally managing detailed contract administration, reporting, compliance, and follow-up activities.
• Strong written communication skills, including experience preparing government reports, contract correspondence, compliance documentation, and other technical materials.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience managing government contracts within homelessness services, housing, behavioral health, workforce development, youth services, or another human-services environment.
• Strong familiarity with the New York City and New York State government contracting landscape.
• Direct experience administering contracts funded by agencies such as DYCD, DHS, HUD, SAMHSA, or comparable city, state, and federal agencies.
• Experience managing a multi-million-dollar portfolio of government contracts and grants.
• Experience working within a complex, multi-program nonprofit organization with multiple government funding streams.
• Familiarity with government reimbursement structures, budget modifications, contract amendments, utilization monitoring, and contract close-out.
• Experience developing or improving organization-wide contract management, compliance, monitoring, and reporting systems.
• Experience completing and managing CREST forms and related NYC government contract reporting or compliance documentation processes, including accurate data entry, submission tracking, and coordination with internal program and fiscal teams.

WORK ENVIRONMENT & PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• This position is primarily office-based and involves extended periods of desk work, computer use, virtual and in-person meetings, and written communication. The role does not have specific physical demands beyond those typically associated with a professional office environment. Occasional travel between AFC program sites, government offices, and external meetings throughout New York City may be required. The position may occasionally require evening or weekend availability based on organizational, funding, or reporting needs

CORE & ROLE-SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES

BENEFITS & TOTAL REWARDS

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(k) with up to a 5% employer match (vested after five years)
• Generous Paid Time Off, Sick Leave, Personal Leave, and 12 Paid Holidays
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Professional Development Opportunities
• Mission-driven, inclusive workplace culture

Thank you for your interest in the Ali Forney Center. Due to the high volume of applications received, only candidates selected for further consideration will be contacted. We encourage you to apply for any positions for which you meet the qualifications .

Ali Forney Center is an equal opportunity employer committed to a workplace where all employees feel respected, supported, and able to thrive. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status.