Contracts and Compliance Administrator (35-2023)

Hours per week: Full Time, 35 hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent

Grade: Grade 4

Salary: £24664 to £27981  per annum

Closing Date: 23.59 hours GMT on Tuesday 28 November 2023

Who We Are

The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is a global leading institution for research, teaching and learning, and impact and communications, based at the University of Sussex.  We are ranked first in the world for development studies by the QS University Rankings, together with the University of Sussex. We are also ranked best international development policy think tank.

Our Vision

Our vision is of equal and sustainable societies, locally and globally, where people everywhere can live their lives free from poverty and injustice. We contribute to this by transforming the knowledge, action and leadership needed through our world-class research, learning and teaching.

Our Values

We aim to ensure that our core values based on respect, resourcefulness, excellence and inclusivity are reflected in the environment we work in. 

Our Commitments 

•           Upholding climate and environmental justice 

•           Reducing extreme inequities 

•           Fostering healthy and fulfilling lives 

•           Nurturing inclusive, democratic and accountable societies 

Our Priorities

•           Collaborate across sciences, sectors and communities to do research that brings about progressive change

•           Build future leadership for development

•           Champion the use of evidence for social and environmental justice

•           Work with partners to expand international research and mutual learning networks for development

•           Create a sustainable, resilient and equitable institution.

For more information go to: www.ids.ac.uk

Job Description

Team/cluster overview

The Contracts & Compliance team is a sub-unit within the IDS central Finance team. The Contracts and Compliance team provides four main functions which are 1) to review, negotiate and approve the terms of all contracts, grants and other funding agreements IDS enters into with funders 2) draft, approve and issue all sub-grants, contracts and other types of legal agreements IDS enters into with partners and suppliers 3) create and maintain the policy and process framework that relate to all aspects of contracting, including the way in which IDS conducts procurement and due diligence on partners and suppliers 4) respond to donor and partner due diligence and audit requests for information.

Role Purpose

The Contracts and Compliance Administrator is responsible for key administrative tasks which are vital for the way in which IDS issues sub-contracts and agreements to partners, ensuring that audit trails and information storage is maintained and that agreements are issued returned through docusign in an efficient way. The role holder also coordinates activities with the project management units, including the oversight and assessment of due diligence submissions and International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) reporting.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• During busy times, drafting standard service sub-contracts below £10K in value, ensuring that the terms of the contract are appropriate for the nature of the work and in consideration of the relevant funder terms.
• Uploading sub-contracts and agreements to docusign for issuing to sub-contractors and partners, ensuring that the right workflow is used, and appropriate contact details included.
• Daily monitoring of docusign inbox on the status of docusign envelopes, monitor queries and resolve or escalate as required and following up with sub-contractors and partners who have not accessed or returned their agreements in a timely manner
• Ensure filing conventions for fully executed sub-contracts and agreements are followed, extracting completed pdf’s from docusign and filing on appropriate CRM records
• Monitoring of the team’s sub-contract planner list including weekly check-ins with colleagues who have outstanding actions preventing the timely issuing of sub-contracts and agreements
• Formatting sub-contract Terms of Reference prior to issuing
Due Diligence
• Monitoring of partner due diligence submissions uploaded to CRM, checking for completeness against IDS policy, and liaising with relevant colleagues as required
• Conduct risk assessments on partner due diligence submissions, ensuring that the standard risk report is uploaded to the relevant records and disseminated to the relevant project team
International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) Reporting
• Managing the schedule for the regular capture of IATI data needed from relevant programmes where the IATI obligations exists, coordinating with colleagues on the collation of the data, ensuring the data complies with the IATI data posting standards.
• Create and maintain schedule of posting on the team’s intranet page, ensuring that requests are sent to programme teams in a timely manner and in accordance with the schedule
• Upload data to Aidstream in coordination with the senior project accountant, ensuring that the data posted is accurate and is published on the IATI registry following upload to Airstream
• Be the point person for IATI queries from programme colleagues
General
• Account management for key platforms (Docusign, Aidstream) including invoice processing
• Daily maintenance, organisation and monitoring of the Contracts and Compliance inbox, responding to queries where able or alerting other team members of queries that require their attention
• Other tasks commensurate with the role as they arise

Person Specification

Skills and experience

Selection Criteria Description	Essential [E] or Desirable [D]	Assessed by *
Qualifications
• GCSE’s or equivalent	E	A
Knowledge
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft applications (Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook), including a good understanding and practical experience of using databases • Understanding of work prioritisation within a dynamic environment	E	A/I
Skills
• Good written and verbal communication skills • Excellent organisation and planning skills • Excellent administrative skills, including high levels of attention to detail and accuracy whilst working at pace • Ability to plan, schedule and execute regular weekly tasks whilst dealing with ad-hoc and general tasks • Ability to work with and influence a broad range of colleagues to meet team objectives	E	A/I
Experience
• Experience of administration within a comparable professional environment • Experience in using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software or other database management tools	E	A/I
Other
• A tactful, assertive and articulate voice in meetings and other situations • Ability to work to deadlines by setting priorities and managing work loads • The ability to work autonomously with a high degree of motivation and initiative • Able to operate as part of a team • Enthusiasm, creativity and willingness to work flexible hours on occasion • Ability to interact effectively with a wide range of people	E	A/I

*A - Application I - Interview

Information to Candidates

Benefits At IDS we offer a number of additional benefits to staff. These include:

• a competitive salary, including cost of living awards and incremental increases on an annual basis as per policy and the option to join our pension scheme. 
• interest free travel loans, following successful completion of a probationary period
• support in attainment of a relevant professional qualification in line with the Professional Development Policy
• childcare fund
• competitive maternity and paternity policies that offer compensation above the statutory minimum
• 24 days annual leave per year (pro-rata for part-time), plus public holidays and up to 6 non-negotiable closure days
• enhanced sickness pay entitlements
• support with relocation costs for staff joining us from outside the EU
• eligibility to use the University of Sussex gym and sporting facilities at staff rates

Location
The successful candidate will be based at the Institute of Development Studies on the University of Sussex campus. The University of Sussex is located 10 minutes away from the lively and cosmopolitan seaside city of Brighton on the UK South Coast, 60 minutes away from central London, 30 minutes away from London Gatwick Airport and is surrounded by the beautiful countryside of the Sussex South Downs. Situated between the sea and the South Downs, Brighton is one of the most vibrant and unique cities on the South Coast, for more information please go to http://www.visitbrighton.com/

How to apply

Please apply using the online application form.