United States onlyFounded in 1936, the National Wildlife Federation has grown into America's largest and most trusted grassroots conservation organization with 52 state/territorial affiliates and more than six million members and supporters, including hunters, anglers, gardeners, birders, hikers, campers, paddlers, and outdoor enthusiasts of all ages and stripes. The mission of the National Wildlife Federation is to unite all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in our rapidly changing world. We advance this mission through programming focused on conserving wildlife, restoring habitats and waterways, expanding outdoor opportunities, connecting children with nature, advancing environmental justice, and addressing the causes and consequences of climate change.
To support our mission, we are seeking a Director of Forest Conservation to join our Southeast Forestry team in Atlanta, Georgia. Our SE Forestry team fundraises and oversees forest restoration projects across the historic longleaf pine range, with a specific focus on equitable access to longleaf pine restoration on private lands, community-owned forests, and Historically-Black Colleges & Universities.
The Director of Forest Conservation will play a pivotal role in developing and implementing a climate-smart, wildlife-friendly pine straw program for the Southeast Forestry program at the National Wildlife Federation. This program will focus on sustainable pine straw production and harvesting methods that minimize environmental impact while promoting biodiversity and mitigating climate change. The Director will also play an instrumental role in exploring the expansion of the Southeast Forestry program into additional focal areas of work including White Oak restoration and projects involving climate-smart practices such as carbon sequestration.
Principle Duties (major areas of responsibility):
- Program Development:
- Work with partners to conduct thorough research on climate-smart forestry practices, wildlife habitat management, and sustainable pine straw production methods.
- Develop a comprehensive pine straw program that aligns with the SE Forestry Program's mission and conservation goals.
- Create detailed plans for wildlife-friendly pine straw harvesting, processing, and distribution.
- Lead development of a wildlife-friendly longleaf pine straw marketing program with diverse landowners, including minority and other historically-underserved landowners
- Form and coordinate a landowner-led steering group, with other stakeholders from the longleaf community
- Explore and develop landowner mentorship, leadership and ownership models, possibly leading to the creation of a landowner marketing cooperative
- Form and coordinate clusters of landowners across the longleaf range
- Coordinate partners' economic research into wildlife-friendly pine straw production and harvesting
- Identify and develop consumer demand for wildlife-friendly longleaf pine straw with member-based and cooperative organizations
- Lead the development of promotional and marketing materials for wildlife-friendly pine straw
- Develop marketing channels that deliver premiums for landowners for harvesting wildlife-friendly pine straw
- Ensure the integrity of the conservation benefits of wildlife-friendly longleaf pine management and pine-straw harvesting through third-party inspections, certification, validation etc; lead the period updating of NWF's Wildlife-Friendly Pine Straw Harvesting Guidelines based on feedback from longleaf experts and partner organizations; and develop a program assessment and review process with external stakeholders
- Explore additional climate-smart, non-timber forest markets for forest landowners, including fundraising efforts to grow and expand programs
- Supervisory Roles
- Forestry Specialist that coordinates the administrative and day-to-day responsibilities of the forestry program
- Outreach Specialist that handles all communications of the project and development of outreach materials
- Program Coordinators that work with Longleaf for All mentors and landowners.
- Oversee Sub-grants with conservation partners, alliances, and universities
- Climate Change Mitigation:
- Explore opportunities to incorporate carbon sequestration practices into the SE Forestry program.
- Promote the use of pine straw as a sustainable mulch to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Educate and advocate for the benefits of climate-smart forestry practices.
- Community Engagement:
- Collaborate with local communities, landowners, and stakeholders to promote the landowner mentorship and pine straw program.
- Educate the public about the importance of sustainable forestry and wildlife conservation.
- Build partnerships to support the program's goals and initiatives.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in forestry, environmental science, or a related field.
- Minimum of 10 years of experience in forestry management or a similar role.
- Strong knowledge of wildlife-friendly pine straw harvesting methods, sustainable forestry practices, wildlife habitat management, and climate-smart forestry practices.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- A passion for forest conservation and sustainability on private lands.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master's degree in forestry or a related field.
- Experience in developing and implementing conservation programs.
- Certification in sustainable forestry practices
- Marketing, business, and co-op experience
NWF Values:
Your actions are expected to reflect the staff values of the National Wildlife Federation: collaboration, mindfulness, empowerment, inclusivity, and mission focus. Your competencies should include:
- Being motivated by values of equity and responsibility to those most marginalized;
- Consistently bringing a high level of empathy and social skills to work and interpersonal interactions;
- Being committed to deepening an environmental justice approach in policy priorities, program development and partner engagement;
- Actively seeks feedback, direction, and guidance from all team members and keeps staff informed of decisions that impact them;
- Being dedicated to advancing NWF’s internal equity transformation and compelling partners and allies to incorporate equity into their work; and
- Passion for and commitment to NWF's mission
Location and Work Mode:
This position will be based in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina or Maryland. The National Wildlife Federation is committed to a flexible and empowered work environment with an authentic community of care for all staff. In this position, the employee may work in the office, in a hybrid manner, or fully remote, to be decided jointly with their supervisor in the final stages of the interview process. For more information on Work Modes, please review the benefits section of our careers page: https://www.nwf.org/About-Us/Careers.
Compensation and Benefits:
The salary range for this position is $85,000-$100,000, commensurate with experience.
We are proud of our designation by Mogul as a Top 100 Workplace with the Best Benefits, and by Forbes as one of America’s best small employers! We value work-life balance and a family-friendly atmosphere with flexible scheduling. We want you to be able to integrate work and personal life with attention to your self-care, so that your work schedule is not depleting. We offer benefits so you feel restored and fueled through the day and week.
We offer these supports to help manage your mental, emotional, and physical health:
- Paid time off: Vacation that starts off at three weeks accrual, unlimited wellbeing (this time can be used for physical, spiritual, emotional, cultural, religious or financial wellbeing for yourself, a partner, or family member – including pets), and 10 holidays.
- We close down for a paid winter break between December 25 to January 1 to recognize end of-year stress, and time for reflection, rejuvenation, and spending time with family.
- Up to 16 weeks of fully paid Family and Medical Leave
- Low-cost health, dental, and vision insurance options – all outpatient mental health is covered at in-network rates
- Therapist available at no cost
- Pet insurance and discount perk program
- Annual wellbeing allowance
In addition to your salary, we offer the following supports to your personal finances:
- Retirement plan with immediate match and vesting
- Annual year end retirement contribution
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Adoption and Surrogacy assistance
- Pet adoption stipend
- Student Loan management
Applicants are invited to learn more about National Wildlife Federation’s benefits package at https://www.nwf.org/About-Us/Careers.
Application:
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Candidates should submit a cover letter and resume.
We strive to increase diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) in all elements of our work and with our partners to support the interdependent needs of wildlife and people in a rapidly changing world. We recruit, employ, train compensate, and promote regardless of race, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender individual), age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, genetic information, past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Applicants are invited to learn more about National Wildlife Federation’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion at nwf.org/equity.
We recognize that people come with a wealth of knowledge and talent beyond just the technical requirements of a job. Your experience, which may include paid and unpaid work, including volunteer work, helps build the competencies and knowledge that translates to our openings. Whether you’re new to the field, returning to work after a gap in your employment, or are taking the next step in your career path, if you believe you could excel in this role we encourage you to apply! Diversity of experience and skills combined with passion is a key to innovation and a culture of excellence. To be eligible for this role you must be a U.S. citizen or have valid work authorization to work in the U.S
Please let us know if you require accommodations during the application or interview process by reaching us at [email protected] or 703-438-6244.
If selected for this position, a background check will be conducted.
