Compliance Advisor (US Federal Contracting) - Part-Time Contractor

For over fifteen years, Zinc Network has been helping governments and businesses navigate the world's most complex challenges using communications, technology, and behavioural science. We work on some of the toughest briefs: protecting children online, strengthening democratic resilience, and championing purpose-driven technologies and organisations.

Working in partnership with a global network of media outlets, communities, and influencers, we help clients understand complex issues, design and deliver behavioural interventions, create compelling campaigns, activate trusted grassroots networks, and evaluate impact.

We're now building Kora — our AI-powered platform that systematises this expertise into scalable technology, enabling clients to work faster, more impactfully, and more cost-effectively.

We're looking for people who want to operate at the intersection of geopolitics, security, and technological disruption, and who are committed to building a safer, more secure world.

The Role

The Compliance Advisor will support Zinc Network's delivery of a new US government defense subcontract by ensuring Zinc's budgeting, invoicing, and ways of working remain compliant with US defense and federal contracting requirements. You will help identify and mitigate compliance risk before it accumulates, covering both contractual and regulatory compliance (subcontract terms, flow-down clauses, and modifications) and operational compliance (invoicing, budget tracking, and reporting against federal requirements). Working closely with the Program Lead and Zinc's finance function, you will provide advisory input on an as-needed basis rather than day-to-day operational delivery, bringing US federal contracting expertise Zinc does not currently hold in-house.

Key Responsibilities

• Review the subcontract and any subsequent modifications, advising Zinc on compliance obligations and flow-down requirements.
• Advise on invoicing, budget tracking, and financial reporting practices to ensure alignment with federal contracting and US defense requirements.
• Identify compliance risks arising from Zinc's ways of working as a US federal subcontractor, and recommend practical mitigations.
• Advise on labor category classification, timekeeping, and other federal contracting administrative requirements as they apply to Zinc's program workstreams.
• Support the Program Lead and finance function in preparing for and responding to compliance-related requests from the prime contractor or government customer (e.g. DCAA/DCMA-related correspondence).
• Escalate material compliance risks promptly to the Program Lead and Zinc leadership.
• Attend meetings with the prime contractor or government customer, as required, to provide specialist compliance advice.

Requirements

Qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
• Significant professional experience in US federal contracting compliance, ideally including subcontract administration, flow-down compliance, and/or federal invoicing and budget practices.
• Working knowledge of relevant FAR/DFARS requirements and DCAA/DCMA processes.
• Comfortable operating as an independent advisor on a part-time, as-needed basis, without close supervision.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, able to translate compliance requirements into practical guidance for a non-specialist audience.
• Desirable: experience working with or advising organizations new to US federal contracting.