Senior Lead, Grant Reimbursement and Closeout

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage the end-to-end reimbursement workflow across active broadband grant programs, including calendars, package preparation standards, review checkpoints, and submission readiness.
• Validate expenditure support, financial backup, and related reimbursement documentation for completeness, consistency, accuracy, and compliance with grant requirements.
• Maintain reimbursement trackers, closeout schedules, and visibility into submission timing, outstanding items, expected receipts, and reimbursement status.
• Serve as the primary cross-functional interface with Finance and Accounting for cost support, expenditure validation, receivables follow-up, and financial closeout documentation.
• Lead reimbursement-related support for ARPA closeout, including final package readiness, issue resolution, and follow-up on incomplete, disputed, or missing support.
• Build, maintain, and improve templates, standard operating procedures, and controls for reimbursement and closeout work, including preparation for BEAD reimbursement operations.
• Direct contractor work supporting reimbursement activities, file organization, documentation gathering, and closeout package preparation.
• Identify reimbursement, documentation, financial compliance, and closeout risks, and escalate issues requiring leadership awareness or intervention.
• Coordinate with the reporting and compliance Senior Lead to align on shared deadlines, submission requirements, documentation dependencies, and closeout readiness activities.
• Support responses to financial documentation requests, audit inquiries, closeout reviews, and related agency or stakeholder requests.
• Monitor recurring deadlines and deliverables across multiple grant programs to ensure timely completion of reimbursement and closeout obligations.
• May perform other duties as assigned. The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required.  

Required Qualifications

• Education & Experience:
• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 5–7 years of experience in grant compliance, financial operations, reimbursement processing, regulatory reporting, audit support, program controls, or related financial compliance functions.
• Strong experience in grant reimbursement, grant financial operations, closeout support, or a comparable documentation-intensive financial compliance role required.
• Financial-related certifications or directly relevant financial operations experience strongly preferred.
• Experience working in a deadline-driven, regulated, or audit-sensitive environment required. Skills & Competencies:
• Strong knowledge of reimbursement processing, expenditure validation, closeout preparation, and supporting financial documentation practices.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to review detailed spending support, financial records, and submission packages for completeness and accuracy.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office tools, especially Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams, and Adobe.
• Strong Excel and workflow tracking skills, including the ability to manage recurring trackers, schedules, and status reporting.
• Ability to coordinate effectively with Finance, Accounting, contractors, and operational business partners.
• Strong organizational, project coordination, and deadline management skills.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and issue escalation capabilities.
• Ability to build and maintain repeatable processes, templates, and controls for recurring reimbursement and closeout work.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage high-volume recurring work with precision and consistency. Preferred
• Experience in broadband, telecommunications, infrastructure, or government-funded program environments.
• Experience with ARPA, BEAD, or similar public funding programs.
• Experience preparing, reviewing, or managing closeout documentation, reimbursement packages, or audit support files.
• Experience supporting grant receivables tracking, financial closeout coordination, or reimbursement package development. Physical Demands & Work Conditions:
• Remote work environment with regular use of a computer and other standard office productivity equipment.
• Standard business hours apply; additional hours may be required periodically to meet reimbursement deadlines, closeout milestones, or audit-related requests.   #LI-RW1 WHY JOIN US? We aspire to contemporary ways of working. Recognized as a Top Workplace by the Charlotte Observer, Brightspeed HQ is located on the 7th floor of the new Vantage South End - East Tower in Charlotte, NC. We prioritize hiring talent in the Charlotte area, whenever possible, to make it a truly vibrant destination for our hybrid workforce. At Brightspeed, we have roles that are designated as remote, hybrid, office or field-based, depending on the position, business needs and individual circumstances. We also invest in technology that enables our entire team to stay connected. Why? Because Brightspeed recognizes the value of finding the best talent for the job, wherever they may be. We offer competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits. Our benefits and paid time off programs reflect our underlying belief in promoting overall wellness through physical, emotional and financial health. Brightspeed offers a comprehensive benefit program, including competitive medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; an employee assistance program; a 401K plan with company match and a host of voluntary benefits.  Inclusion and belonging are at the center of our grounding belief in Being Real.  When we bring our authentic selves to work, everyone is better as a result. A diverse team helps us be fierce advocates for more accessible, inclusive and high-quality internet, because we believe doing so promotes equity in the communities we serve. Brightspeed