The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts seeks an accomplished conservation leader and proven manager to serve as Assistant State Director and help the Chapter to meet its conservation goals and to help create a resilient and sustainable future for the Commonwealth. The Assistant State Director is responsible for working with colleagues to develop conservation strategy, ensuring results, tracking progress, and managing the Chapter’s internal conservation teams. S/He is a member of the Chapter’s senior management team and is supervised by the State Director.
The Assistant State Director is responsible for leading, directing, coordinating and overseeing all conservation programs for the chapter. S/he directly oversees the Conservation Leadership Team responsible for the Chapter’s conservation work, by facilitating development of high-level strategy, evaluating program effectiveness, empowering leadership and staff, trouble-shooting barriers, and communicating and coordinating to ensure results.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
The Assistant State Director supports the State Director by directing and managing a significant segment of the chapter’s program and assuring its capacity to advance conservation priorities. S/he has primary responsibility for establishing the overall conservation priorities of the chapter and will oversee the development and implementation of specific strategies and initiatives designed to achieve those priorities. S/He directly supervises conservation leadership and will have overall responsibility for developing and/or coordinating strategy, implementing work plans, evaluating outcomes and adjusting priorities to ensure successful short-range, intermediate and long-lasting results. Works with the State Director to coordinate on cross-cutting work priorities between the chapter’s employees and across multiple functions.
S/he is focused on the chapter’s conservation programs but has additional responsibility and authority to ensure the overall success of the chapter. As a result, the position works closely with the State Director and Chapter leadership team to provide broader leadership and management on chapter affairs and respond to opportunities and challenges.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND SCOPE
- Leads and coordinates the statewide Conservation Leadership Team, which includes programs for water, lands, climate, stewardship, science, and policy.
- Aligns resources, systems and skills; defines roles and responsibilities and fully integrates teams, strategies, plans, and results to keep pace with the increase in scope and scale of the Conservancy’s vision. Manages and coordinates cross-cutting work between the chapter’s employees and across multiple functions.
- Provides clear, concise, and timely communication, guidance and decision-making; building clarity and consensus around goals and measures, and promotes cross-functional collaboration to empower staff to implement projects with a high degree of understanding and accountability.
- Partners with the State Director to position the work of the Chapter’s Leadership Team to build a positive, collaborative, integrated, and disciplined approach to achieve conservation impact at a scale and pace that matter.
- Works with the State Director, Chapter leadership and Board of Trustees to design, implement, prioritize and evaluate annual and multi-year conservation strategies.
- Supports and communicates with the State Director on Chapter priorities, operational and strategic issues, opportunities and challenges
- Provides an internal operational presence to enable the State Director to focus on key external relationships. Acts as State Director when State Director on leave or unavailable.
- Assists with donor cultivation and raising capital and operating funds.
- Serves as a catalyst for adaptive, creative approaches and ideas; encouraging big-thinking and responsible risk-taking.
- Manages risk responsibly; assesses consequences of decisions prior to action
- Broad management and leadership responsibility. Recruit, retain, and manage high quality and effective staff.
- Significant responsibility for financial management of program, including setting financial goals, analyzing results, and taking corrective actions.
- Ensures that programmatic commitments, financial standards, and legal requirements are met.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree and at least 7 years relevant experience, including working at a senior level.
- Experience managing a multi-disciplinary team of professionals and senior level staff.
- Management experience including ability to motivate, lead, set objectives, and manage performance of a large multi-disciplinary team. Delegates responsibility and authority to staff and clearly defines expectations. Keeps staff informed and expresses appreciation.
- Experience negotiating complex, high-profile or sensitive agreements.
- Experience in developing program-wide strategies and policies.
- Experience working with diverse groups of staff and partners.
- Written and verbal fluency in English.
- Superb communication and presentation skills.
- Ability to travel frequently throughout the state and domestically.
- Must have valid driver license.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Ability to foster an environment of creativity and professional growth.
- Knowledge of current and evolving trends in conservation, government relations, fund raising and/or non-profit management.
- Cross cultural; multi-cultural; multi-lingual skills, background or experience a plus.
- Experience working at a senior level to help identify, evaluate and coordinate highly diverse, high profile, complex work, policies, large and long-term programs with broad organizational impact; capable and comfortable making timely and informed decisions.
- Demonstrated skills in implementing innovative and consequential results in nature conservation, business, financial and/or operational management.
- Ability and know-how to facilitate cross-functional efforts and empower teams of seasoned professionals to plan and implement multiple system-wide strategies, programs and policies of significant size and importance.
- Proven success as an inspiring leader with the ability to unite work around a vision, give clear direction, set stretch objectives and establish accountability; willingness to confront and resolve issues, and provide recognition and credit; ability to lead effectively and work strategically in a decentralized and geographically-dispersed organization.
- Desire to achieve results through the leadership and support of others; proven commitment to and enjoyment of people, teamwork, and the success of staff; ability to leverage talent and foster an environment of creativity and professional growth.
- Proven strategic and analytical abilities, with good judgment, and strong operational perspective; strength in implementation, process/program and systems management, and attention to detail.
- Superb communication and presentation skills, and ability to support and influence with consistent and clear messages and information; well-organized, self-directed and a relationship builder.
- People-oriented, intuitive, collaborative, creative, adaptable, exacting, comfortable with ambiguity and risk, and values that align with The Nature Conservancy.
- Excellent team player with experience working in multi-disciplinary groups, using influence and interpersonal skills, listening, diplomacy and tact to build strong relationships with governments, corporations, partners, diverse stakeholders, donors, volunteers, and all levels of staff.
- Experience building networks or organizational capacity, collaborating with diverse stakeholders, facilitating informational sessions, increasing internal knowledge and capacity, and identifying key stakeholders.
- Self-starting, independent worker who can thrive in a decentralized organization with minimal oversight.