Contracts and Compliance Specialist

Feeding America; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Paid time off

Job summary

Food Lifeline seeks a Contracts and Compliance Specialist to manage contracts and compliance across Western Washington. The role develops reliable systems for administering agreements, tracking obligations, deadlines, and documentation, and ensuring issues are resolved efficiently.

You will coordinate with Finance, Legal, IT, HR, and program teams, maintain records, and support audits and corrective actions. The position is hybrid and reports to the Director of Business Operations.

Qualifications

• At least three years of relevant experience in contract administration, grant administration, compliance coordination, audit support, records management, or a related field.
• Experience coordinating agreements through intake, review, signature, renewal, amendment, termination, or closeout with accurate supporting records.
• Ability to read contracts, policies, regulations; identify obligations and required documentation; escalate when needed.

Responsibilities

• Organize organization-wide contract administration and ensure lifecycle management of vendor contracts, grants, and other agreements.
• Maintain central contract repository with owners, dates, notices, and amendments.
• Coordinate intake, review, approval, signature, distribution, renewal, and closeout workflows.
• Track contract calendars and alert stakeholders of upcoming actions or overdue items.
• Collaborate with Finance, Legal, IT, HR, and program teams on contract processes.
• Support program and partner compliance by tracking obligations and documentation.
• Maintain evidence of submissions, approvals, monitoring, remediation, and closure.

Skills

Contract administration

Compliance tracking

Documentation management

Calendar & deadline management

Cross‑functional collaboration

Audits & corrective actions

Risk assessment

Process improvement

Written communication

Job description

Title: Contracts and Compliance Specialist

Department: Business Operations

Reports to: Director of Business Operations

Status: Full-Time, Exempt

Position summary

The Contracts and Compliance Specialist helps Food Lifeline manage the agreements and requirements that support our work across Western Washington. This position creates reliable, practical systems for contract administration and assigned compliance obligations—helping teams understand what is required, stay ahead of deadlines, maintain complete records, and follow issues through to resolution.

Job Responsibilities

Organization-wide contract administration

• Manage the administrative lifecycle of organizational agreements, including vendor contracts, grants, government and network agreements, memoranda of understanding, distribution-partner agreements, amendments, and other assigned contracts.
• Serve as the administrative point of contact for employees initiating agreements and confirm that required intake information and supporting documents are complete before routing them for review.
• Manage contract intake, review, approval, signature, distribution, amendment, renewal, termination, and closeout using established workflows and approval requirements.
• Manage the central contract repository and maintain accurate records of contract owners, counterparties, key dates, notice periods, deliverables, insurance requirements, approvals, amendments, and supporting documents.
• Manage consistent contract-record standards, including executed agreements, amendments, approval history, financial commitments, naming conventions, document retention, and version control.
• Manage contract calendars and tracking tools; provide advance notice of upcoming actions and follow up on incomplete or overdue items.
• Coordinate review and routing across Finance, Legal, Information Technology, Human Resources, program teams, and other appropriate stakeholders.
• Support contract kickoff and handoff by preparing concise requirement summaries, owner lists, calendars, and documentation expectations.
• Support leaders with negotiation documentation and maintain a clear record of approved terms, decisions, and changes.

Program and partner compliance support

• Manage systems and records used to track assigned obligations under Feeding America agreements, distribution-partner requirements, WSDA/TEFAP programs, City of Seattle contracts, and other program agreements.
• Manage compliance calendars, partner-documentation requirements, monitoring schedules, and corrective-action records for assigned programs.
• Build effective working relationships with program leaders and staff responsible for partner relationships, program delivery, and monitoring, helping teams stay ahead of requirements and complete required work and documentation on time.
• Conduct assigned routine, periodic, and risk-based compliance reviews using established requirements, checklists, and sampling procedures. Identify missing, expired, inconsistent, or incomplete records; document exceptions; assess audit or monitoring readiness; and manage follow-up with appropriate staff and teams through resolution or escalation.
• When compliance challenges arise, look beyond individual errors to identify process gaps and patterns and partner with colleagues to develop practical, sustainable, improvements.
• Maintain evidence of required submissions, approvals, monitoring activities, remediation, and closure in accordance with established recordkeeping standards.

Organizational compliance, audits, and corrective actions

• Manage a centralized inventory of assigned compliance obligations, including responsible owners, deadlines, required documentation, review cycles, and escalation paths.
• Track assigned filings, renewals, certifications, inspections, required training, reviews, and other recurring compliance activities; follow up with responsible owners and elevate overdue or unresolved requirements.
• Manage the administrative coordination of assigned audits, inspections, certifications, desk reviews, monitoring visits, and other assessments, including schedules, request lists, document collection, submission tracking, meeting logistics, and follow-up. Finance retains responsibility for the annual financial statement audit and other Finance-led financial audits.
• Develop and manage a centralized corrective-action register for findings, observations, deficiencies, and management commitments, including root causes, owners, milestones, evidence, aging, and closure status.
• Coordinate with responsible departments to collect evidence, track agreed actions, monitor overdue or unresolved items, and elevate significant concerns.
• Collect implementation evidence and perform assigned follow-up checks before routing corrective actions to the appropriate leader for closure approval.
• Work with the appropriate subject‑matter owner to incorporate new or changing requirements into organizational tracking and documentation systems.
• As priorities and capacity allow, provide similar tracking, documentation, and audit‑readiness support for other assigned areas such as AIB and food‑safety standards, OSHA and workplace‑safety requirements, permits, licenses, and other regulatory obligations.
• Document material interpretations and decisions provided by authorized internal leaders, funders, network partners, regulators, or legal counsel.

Systems, reporting, and continuous improvement

• Manage and improve practical tools, templates, checklists, workflows, instructions, and records standards for contract administration and assigned compliance processes.
• Manage regular reporting on contract status, renewals, upcoming deadlines, overdue requirements, findings, corrective actions, and recurring issues.
• Identify patterns, process gaps, and repeat issues and bring them to the Director of Business Operations with practical recommendations for improvement.
• Help departments translate established requirements into usable calendars, checklists, evidence standards, and workflows without assuming ownership of their substantive work.
• Help staff understand and use contract‑administration and compliance processes by providing clear guidance, practical tools, and training.

Qualifications

Required

• At least three years of relevant experience in contract administration, grant administration, compliance coordination, audit support, records management, or a related field.
• Experience coordinating agreements through intake, review, signature, renewal, amendment, termination, or closeout and maintaining accurate supporting records.
• Ability to read contracts, policies, regulations, and detailed guidance; identify stated obligations and required documentation; and recognize when interpretation or escalation is needed.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and manage calendars, trackers, checklists, files, and reporting across multiple deadlines and stakeholders with consistent accuracy.
• Strong judgment, organization, follow‑through, written communication, and attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ability to verify completion through current, reliable documentation rather than relying solely on verbal confirmation.
• Ability to translate detailed contractual and compliance requirements into clear, practical instructions, checklists, and tracking tools.
• Ability to work effectively across departments and follow up respectfully and persistently while collaborating on shared work.

Preferred

• Experience with nonprofit or government contracts, regulated programs, audits or monitoring, municipal agreements, USDA/TEFAP requirements, or similar compliance environments.
• Experience supporting subrecipient, subcontractor, vendor, or distribution‑partner monitoring.
• Experience using contract‑management, project‑management, or compliance‑tracking systems.

Job Scope

Operates as an individual contributor with organization‑wide visibility and influence

Supervisory Responsibility

This position has no direct supervisory responsibilities but is accountable for managing assigned processes, coordinating deliverables, and ensuring timely follow‑through across departments.

Works independently and relies on partnership and strong working relationships to support alignment across teams

Does not have direct supervisory responsibility

Specific Job Skills

• Contract administration and document management
• Compliance monitoring and regulatory tracking
• Project management and organizational skills
• Attention to detail and recordkeeping accuracy
• Cross‑functional collaboration and relationship building
• Analytical thinking, problem‑solving, and risk identification
• Audit coordination and corrective‑action tracking
• Process improvement, reporting, and systems management
• Professional judgment, diplomacy, and the ability to influence without authority

Job Conditions:

Work is performed in an office setting with adequate lighting, heating and ventilation. Position requires patience and tact while managing multiple tasks and interacting with a variety of people. Occasional overtime related to special events or seasonal activities.

This is a hybrid position requiring a minimum of three days per week onsite. The onsite schedule is subject to change based on organizational needs and may require additional days in the office.

Physical Demands:

Position requires extensive keyboarding with repetitive wrist and hand movements and prolonged periods of sitting. Frequent talking and listening including phone conversations. Requires extended periods of sitting and use of desktop computer terminal

Compensation

The full salary range for this position is $85,000 to $95,000 annually. Starting salary will be determined based on relevant experience, skills, qualifications, and internal equity. Most new hires should expect to start in the middle portion of the range, with opportunities for compensation growth as they gain experience and proficiency in the role.

Why Food Lifeline?

When you join Food Lifeline, you’re joining a team committed to collaboration, compassion, and our shared mission of ending hunger in Western Washington. We offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, well-being, and growth, including:

100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance

Employer-paid life and disability insurance

403(b) retirement plan with employer match

Generous paid time off, holidays, and personal days

Organization-wide time off from December 24 through January 1

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Professional development and learning opportunities

A collaborative, mission‑driven workplace where your work directly helps nourish communities across Western Washington

Deadline

November 30, 2026

Food Lifeline is committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive, and equitable workplace where people of all backgrounds, identities, experiences, and perspectives have the opportunity to contribute, grow, and thrive. We strongly encourage candidates with lived experience related to food insecurity, poverty, or the communities we serve to apply.

We are an equal opportunity employer and consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran or military status, or any other status protected by applicable law.

If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, we encourage you to let us know.

Join us in working toward a future where everyone has access to the food they need to thrive.