The Innovative Restoration Project Manager (IRPM) uses matrix management to coordinate a complex, six-state restoration strategy addressing the invasive annual grass and wildfire cycle in western sagebrush ecosystems. Working both internally and externally, the IRPM uses strong communication, team building, and organizational skills to ensure the Innovative Restoration team meets timeline goals and achieves strategic outcomes. The IRPM builds strong partnerships with other agencies, organizations, and stakeholders to further development and demonstration of new restoration solutions that improve upon and leverage traditional models. On certain projects, the IRPM serves as a principal contact to government agencies, other conservation organizations, foundations and the academic community.
The Innovative Restoration Project Manager utilizes various tools to guide strategy and enable implementation of science, development, and restoration projects across six states in partnership with The Nature Conservancy colleagues, partner organizations including government agencies, and other stakeholders. The IRPM uses project management skills and the ability to navigate ambiguity to steer teams through challenging questions and develop clear paths for implementation. The IRPM provides leadership across various teams and understands how to capitalize on their resources and skills to develop innovative methods, tools, frameworks to address the programmatic needs, and manages budgets and capacity concerns to accomplish committed outcomes.
RESPONSIBILITIES & SCOPE
- Geographic scope includes six states across the intermountain west: Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming.
- Coordinate the work and strategic communications for cross-functional, multistate teams toward identified outcomes.
- Foster and manage interdisciplinary teams and projects, comprised of administrative and professional staff, towards successful accomplishment of high priority restoration strategies through harnessing the power of differences strategically, valuing and seeking out diverse perspectives and creating a psychologically safe and inclusive team environment.
- Implements the scientific and demonstration scope of restoration technologies and practices designed to address large scale land management restoration challenges in sagebrush ecosystems.
- Partner with conservation, science, communications, government relations, operations, and legal staff, elected officials, policy makers, and community leaders to build and support diverse perspectives and help leverage results for greater conservation gains.
- Guide teams through development of work plans and other project management tools to ensure coordinated and timely tactical implementation.
- Develops relationships with and connects key partners, agencies and academic institutions to build capacity and knowledge that creates additional restoration solutions
- Ensure defined project and program deliverables are produced within time and budget scope.
- Provide and build reporting and documentation for assigned projects
- Build staff and partner cooperation to accomplish program goals with a commitment to inclusivity and respecting team dynamics and strong ability to understand and value diverse perspectives and synthesize multiple perspectives to achieve the best outcomes.
- Make frequent independent decisions based on analysis, experience, and context with consideration to varied perspectives.
- Travels up to 30% domestically, evening and weekend hours occasionally
- May work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, on difficult and hazardous terrain and under physically demanding circumstances.
- Experience managing complex or multiple projects, including staffing, workloads and finances under deadlines.
- Team leadership experience, including motivating, leading, setting goals and managing performance.
- Experience in partnership development with non-profit partners, community groups and/or government agencies
- Experience negotiating.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Multi-lingual and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
- 5-7 years’ experience managing projects and/or teams or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Experience with tribal governments, rural communities and/or indigenous communities
- Demonstrated ability to be proactive and create workplans and project management tools based on high level outcomes and/or strategies.
- Fluency in scientific, research, and/or product development terminology and processes
- Demonstrated experience influencing without authority and navigating in ambiguous circumstances.
- Understanding of adaptive management and ability to create flexibility and responsiveness in project teams.
- Knowledge of current trends and practices in sagebrush ecosystem restoration and land management.
- Knowledge of methods and standards of biodiversity information systems and initiatives or related field.
- Communicating clearly via written, spoken, and graphical means in English and other relevant languages.
- Politically savvy.
Hiring range for this positon is $65,000-70,000 annually