Budget and Contract Manager (Headquarters)

About Us

The Police Athletic League (or PAL) is New York City’s largest independent youth development organization. We operate diverse programs from Head Start, Day Care and Universal Pre-K programs; to elementary and middle school after-school programs, summer day camps and summer Playstreets. We run evening teen centers and college readiness programs, as well as youth employment and juvenile justice programs. In its over a century of service, PAL is continuing its evolution and remains a vibrant and vital New York City institution.

About the Role

The Budget & Contracts Manager plays an elevated, high-impact leadership role within the Fiscal Department, serving as the primary operational link between strategic contract oversight and tactical financial execution. Reporting directly to the Budget & Contracts Director, this position oversees the day-to-day management of the agency's government and foundation contract portfolios. A primary responsibility of this role is the direct supervision, training, and professional development of the Grants & Contracts Accounting team, ensuring that all team assignments align with the department’s monthly close schedule and established funder cadences. This position acts as a critical internal consultant and compliance gatekeeper, driving proactive, analytical fiscal management by establishing new workflows, tracking tools, and rigorous review processes to ensure public and private resources are utilized to their maximum capacity while mitigating the risk of disallowed costs. The ideal candidate balances highly developed technical accounting skills with a collaborative approach, effectively partnering with cross-functional program directors, executive leadership, and auditing bodies to demonstrate pristine stewardship of organizational funding.

Responsibilities

• Supervise, train, and mentor the Grants & Contracts Accountants; establish standardized tracking workflows, evaluate performance, and continuously cross-train staff on complex vouchering, allocations, and non-profit accounting principles.
• Serve as the mandatory internal review and approval authority for all contract vouchers, invoices, and required financial reports prior to portal submission, ensuring absolute data integrity and zero mathematical or compliance errors.
• Assist in guiding the end-to-end development of contract budgets and complex modifications; support collaboration with senior staff to manage the iterative back-and-forth negotiations with funding portals until final agency approval is secured.
• Actively analyze and monitor portfolio spending trends against approved budgets; identify financial risks, forecast structural over- or under-spending, and partner with program staff to build data-backed mitigation strategies.
• Oversee the comprehensive reconciliation of general ledger activity against active contract billings, resolving complex misallocations, tracking time and effort distributions, and balancing all receivables and advances.
• Act as the primary technical point of contact for external government funding agencies, promptly resolving compliance inquiries, escalating material risks to the Budget and Contracts Director, and managing necessary M/WBE reporting structures.
• Lead award closeout activities to ensure year-end spending aligns with strict cutoff periods; prepare all primary documentation, audit trails, and schedules to support agency-wide and desk audits.
• Play a lead role in the preparation and execution of the agency’s Single Audit, including preparing the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) and ensuring its accuracy, completeness, and integrity.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance or business management.
• 3 years of progressive, hands-on experience in non-profit or government agency grants and contracts accounting.
• Proven ability to supervise accounting staff, manage workloads, establish clear performance priorities, and provide constructive feedback.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and deep operational knowledge of fund accounting software.
• Direct experience owning month-end and year-end grant reporting cycles, supporting grant budget development, executing complex budget modifications, and managing full revenue-reimbursement lifecycles.
• Demonstrated background liaising directly with government funding agencies and internal program directors regarding strict grant compliance, allowable costs, and desk reviews.
• Excellent analytical, time management, and written/verbal communication skills, with a track record of meeting rigid deadlines in a fast-paced fiscal environment.
• Strong familiarity with Single Audit requirements and direct experience preparing a Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA).

Preferred Qualifications

• Expert-level proficiency with Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT and extensive direct experience navigating the NYC PASSPORT system.
• Experience supporting change management efforts and implementing modern tracking tools or standardized workflows for fiscal departments.

Schedule

This is a full-time, exempt position with a hybrid work schedule. Employees are expected to work three days remotely and two days in the office (Wednesdays and Thursdays). The work schedule may be modified at the discretion of the organization based on operational needs.

Pay

Salary Range: $90,000 - $100,000 annually, commensurate with experience and qualifications.

Benefits

This position is eligible for PAL's comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and other benefits in accordance with organizational policies.