Grants Monitoring Specialists - Judge Group

Our Federal Grants Monitoring Senior and Staff help the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on high profile financial management and strategic programmatic initiatives to support FEMA in achieving its critical mission goals. This includes supporting the strengthening of FEMA’s oversight of disaster grant funds to ensure timely distribution of funds using sound fiscal processes that decrease the risk of misuse of funds.

Our team is supporting this FEMA program for grants monitoring and for performing financial testing early in the life of a grant proactively identify: (1)  potential violations of its financial management policies or applicable federal regulation(s), and (2) areas where internal controls need to be strengthened. We are also looking for support to help implement enhanced internal control processes in Biloxi, MS, to help actively monitor and validate FEMA grants.

Validate-as-you-go (VAYGo). FEMA implemented the VAYGo pilot program to test PA and certain other disaster grant expenditures for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, in response to appropriations act provisions and OMB guidance that agencies implement additional measures to identify and address improper payments for disaster programs expending more than $10,000,000 in any one fiscal year. As part of VAYGo, FEMA reviews project documentation for a sample of funds as they are drawn down by recipients and conducts testing to verify whether the project funding was appropriately expended by the subrecipient. One goal of VAYGo is to identify potential problems earlier, allowing FEMA and recipients—including PA recipients—to correct or mitigate issues earlier in the process instead of waiting until grant closeout. According to FEMA officials that conduct the testing, the primary goal of VAYGo is to test for ineligible costs, which can serve as a gateway for the agency to be on notice of issues of fraud, waste, or abuse in the PA program.

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•For Senior level, must have at least five (5) years of experience, including some experience in project management, as well as CPA eligibility. Must have at least three (3) or more years of internal control testing and remediation experience.

•For Mid-level, must have at least three (3) years of relevant experience in Federal management consulting, financial internal controls, developing strategies for remediation of material weaknesses and other control deficiencies, and/or supporting the FEMA Public Assistance (PA) program. 

•Demonstrates proven knowledge and success in advising federal clients in improving internal controls over financial reporting as related to federal grant programs. Additionally, must demonstrate the ability to meet requirements of related federal guidance and requirements, including: OMB Circular A-123, Appendix A and C, the GAO Green Book, the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act of 1982 (FMFIA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Financial Accountability Act, and Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act (IPERIA).

•Must be computer literate and proficient with MS Office Suite applications (Outlook, Word, Excel).

•Strong critical thinking, written, and oral communication skills.

•Valid driver’s license required.

•Relevant Accounting and/or Project Management Certifications. Certified Public Accountants (CPA), CPA eligible, Certified Government Financial Managers (CGFM), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) or Certified Internal Auditors (CIA) and Project Management Professionals (PMPs) are preferred but not required.

•FEMA Public Trust Clearance within last 12 months.

•Knowledge and understanding of FEMA Public Assistance Program law, regulation and policy.

•Knowledge of Disaster Grant programs. 

•Experience in performing audits/assessments of internal controls over financial reporting and IT security in the Federal Government.