The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association seeks a conservation professional experienced in environmental interpretation/education as well as conservation management. The Conservation Programs Manager will oversee and support key conservation programs of The Watershed that bring together our land and water resources management work with community education and engagement. These include our Creek Watchers and Trail Stewards programs as well as constituency-building roles in the Wissahickon Clean Water Partnership and the Delaware River Watershed Initiative.
This is a full-time, exempt, salaried position reporting to the Director of Conservation Resources. Weekend and evening work will be required.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
• Hire, supervise and mentor staff; this position currently has 2 direct reports
• Manage responsibilities with two regional partnership initiatives, the Wissahickon Clean Water Partnership (WCWP) and the Delaware River Watershed Initiative (DRWI), ensuring that WVWA fulfills the scope of work, within budget. Collaborate with partnering organizations and serve as a key team member
• Oversee 2 conservation programs that have a public education and engagement component: Creek Watchers and Trail Stewards. Work with staff to ensure achieving both conservation and education/engagement goals
• Collaborate with staff to identify, plan and implement opportunities to further engage and connect our community with our conservation work within the watershed
• Full cycle management of on-going programs, tracking and measuring outcomes, ensure compliance with required reports for grants and/or contracts, development of new programs and initiatives, identification and reporting of lessons learned from past activities
• Develop and implement outcome evaluation & assessment metrics and methods to determine success of programs in achieving desired outcomes and impacts.
• Cultivate and sustain partnership relationships with local municipalities, businesses, funders, volunteers and members.
• Identification of potential funding sources, grant writing and reporting, provide technical review of grant submissions
• Provide relevant advisory and technical assistance for land and water projects; support implementation of projects as requested by the Director
• Support the Conservation Resource Director in organizing and executing the agenda for relevant board committee meetings
Expected Competencies
• Strong communication skills and the ability to translate goals and objectives to a variety of stakeholders
• Ability to communicate scientific information in meaningful and compelling ways to diverse audiences.
• Knowledge of education outcome evaluation methods and metrics. Understanding of how to apply them in informal education and outreach settings.
• Excellent customer service skills, with ability to build relationships with constituents, partners and stakeholders based on integrity and trust
• Ability to develop staff using strength-based assessment
• Adapt and be flexible with quickly changing environments
• Team-oriented with strong relationship-building and interpersonal skills
• Ability to make decisions wisely based upon available and sometimes limited data
• Practice personal reflection and self-correction to assure continual professional growth
Qualifications and Skills
• A degree in environmental science, conservation biology, or similar fields. Advanced degree preferred. Experience or expertise in water quality or related discipline highly desirable.
• Minimum of 3 years work experience in conservation, land management, water protection, environmental education, or related fields.
• At least 2 years of experience in environmental education/interpretation, demonstrated experience with full-cycle management of education programs including development, implementation and evaluation.
• Minimum of 1-2 years in a managerial role, with a desire to mentor staff and contribute to a larger team
• Strong communication/presentation skills, written and verbal communication skills
• Must have valid driver’s license and background clearances
Physical Demands/Work Environment
The physical demands and work environment characteristics described are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job, unless the requested accommodations would cause undue hardship.
In addition to working in an office environment, the employee must be able to stand or traverse 1-8 hours at a time outside at parks, trails and greenspaces across the watershed, to lead and/or participate in preserve tours, oversee inspections of the terrain which might involve climbing, descending steep grades or lifting natural objects and or lead/participate in conservation programs, constituency building programs, activities and events. These may involve hiking over rough, uneven terrain or engaging in activities that require physical exertion. S/he must be able to travel around the region regularly for program work and meetings.
Compensation
This is a full-time salaried position with a full range of benefits, including vacation, health, dental, vision and retirement. Competitive salary.
To Apply
Please submit your CV and cover letter and contact information for three professional references to John Ferro, Director of Conservation Resources, john@wvwa.org. Please submit materials by March 1, 2017. No phone calls please.
We value a racially, ethnically and culturally diverse work community and we strongly encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. E.O.E.
