Forest & Watershed Health Manager

The Nature Conservancy - Lansing, MI

Full-time

Lansing, MI

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations

About the position

The Forest and Watershed Health Manager is responsible for developing, administering, and advancing the goals of forest and watershed health in New Mexico, particularly through the Rio Grande Water Fund. This role involves managing programs, plans, methods, and partnerships across a large geographic area, contributing to broader landscape initiatives. The Manager will work closely with various programs to ensure project integration and achieve multiple benefits related to forest and watershed health, especially in the context of climate change.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement strategies for maintaining and improving forest and watershed health and resilience.
• Plan, direct, and implement agreements, projects, monitoring, and partnerships to achieve the Rio Grande Water Fund goal of restoring 600,000 acres of at-risk forests.
• Address critical threats to natural systems, particularly fire-adapted forests in southwestern US and New Mexico.
• Foster cross-site learning among diverse partners, including tribal nations and traditional communities.
• Develop and implement conservation strategies and employ a full range of conservation tools.
• Secure public and private support for conservation priorities and coordinate partner engagement.

Requirements

• BA/BS, law or business degree and 5 years' experience in natural resource management, fire ecology, forestry conservation biology or related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience in the design and implementation of forest and watershed restoration projects.
• Familiarity with specific techniques to promote watershed health and resilience.
• Experience negotiating complex agreements and managing project budgets and timelines.
• Experience communicating with the public and/or media both in writing and verbally.
• Proficiency in applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and Web Browsers.

Nice-to-haves

• Multi-lingual skills and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
• Experience in capacity building, facilitation, and establishing collaboratives for shared conservation outcomes.
• Ability to explain conservation practices to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Knowledge of current trends and practices related to climate resilience and climate mitigation in forested ecosystems.
• Excellent communication skills via written, spoken, and graphical means in English and other relevant languages.