The Company

Sofar is on a mission to connect the world’s oceans. We design, build, and deploy the largest privately owned network of marine weather sensors to power the world’s best marine weather forecasts. Our data helps our customers to increase efficiency and reduce emissions, delivering tools to governments and other stakeholders to understand impacts of climate change on extreme weather and ocean health. We live on Planet Ocean, and our goal is to create the ocean intelligence needed to ensure a sustainable future.

The Role

The Government Program Coordinator will play a critical role in managing Sofar’s Government contracting work, including researching current opportunities, preparing and submitting comprehensive proposals, supporting the project’s technical lead to manage the performance of the contract after award, and ensuring compliance with all relevant government regulations and contract requirements. You will work closely with other key stakeholders within Sofar, such as Sofar’s Government Business Development Lead, our Ocean Science and Fleet Hardware teams, and Operations, Legal and Finance. You will also be involved in interfacing with the government to submit programmatic reports and manage invoicing, as well as with external auditors during our annual audits.  

This role requires a strong attention to detail and process-oriented working style to create well drafted proposals, and lead the project management and compliance review of all active efforts. Sofar is a fast-paced startup, and after an initial training period, you will be expected to manage our portfolio of active government grants/contracts, and to take ownership for the relevant deadlines and compliance requirements. Sofar is a highly collaborative environment and you will be entrusted to pull in other team members as-needed, and it is a key value for us to support one another by “grabbing oars”. However, Sofar will depend upon you to keep the team organized and on track to meet deadlines and ensure the successful (and compliant) completion of all projects. 

Responsibilities

  • Identify relevant government opportunities which align with Sofar’s goals and business objectives. Your curiosity and effective communication skills should enable you to deeply understand customer requirements, gather information from many different sources, and work within the team to select those opportunities which are in line with the Sofar’s technical expertise and business objectives.
  • Manage proposal writing and submission process, to include identifying key proposal requirements, scheduling kickoff meetings, setting internal deadlines, owning the drafting of non-technical content, and handling submission of the final proposal package.
  • Prepare compliant budgets in collaboration with technical stakeholders and the Operations & Finance teams
  • Respond to Government contract inquiries and ensure proper execution of contract documents
  • Work closely with the technical lead to manage the overall execution of the project, including budget tracking, tracking and managing internal resources (team members, programmatic spending, usage of internal equipment and inventory), coordinating with external partners, contractors and subawardees, and preparing and submitting regular invoices to the government.
  • Ensure that Sofar remains compliant with all relevant Governmental contract requirements, such as DCAA cost-accounting standards, FAR and DFARS regulations, and contract-specific terms and conditions.
  • Coordinate with Sofar’s Legal and Finance teams, as well as external auditors, to ensure the timely completion of annual audits related to Sofar’s government work. 

Minimum Job Requirements

  • 3+ years of experience in a role primarily focused on managing government grants, contracts, or related.
  • Excellent written communication skills and high attention to detail, including experience with preparing documentation with strict compliance requirements. 
  • Familiarity with key government cost-based contracting standards, such as DCAA, FAR, GSA, OTA, etc.
  • Demonstrated experience in a collaborative role that requires coordination between multiple individuals and teams to achieve a joint goal on a tight deadline
  • Experience synthesizing inputs from different stakeholders with different writing styles into a single cohesive document.

Bonus Points

  • 5+ years of relevant experience
  • Experience working with agencies such as the Department of Defense, NOAA, NSF, NASA, DOE, etc. 
  • A passion for the ocean and/or climate
  • Experience working for a fast-paced startup
  • Experience writing about innovative technologies

Estimated Salary Range

  • $81,000 - $160,000
  • The range listed is what we reasonably expect to pay for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and may be modified in the future. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, experience, and equity package.

Sofar's Commitment to Climate Justice

We at Sofar Ocean acknowledge that careers in the marine sciences “... have traditionally been, and remain, non-diverse work environments”, thereby limiting the entry and prosperity of underrepresented groups in the space. (Johri et al., 2021) Many of these same groups are disproportionately affected by climate change, and are often excluded from decision-making that directly address their interests and needs.

We are committed to addressing these climate injustices and highly encourage people who identify as women, LGBTQ+, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) to apply.

Employee Conduct

It is the responsibility of every employee to contribute to a positive work environment through cooperative and professional interactions with co-workers, customers, and vendors.

Equal Employment Opportunity

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other factors prohibited by law.

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