Southern Appalachian Forests Program Manager

Overview

Description

National Forest Foundation (NFF) is pleased to offer an exempt, full-time position that will provide programmatic leadership to successfully plan, develop, implement, and manage a portfolio of restoration and forest resilience projects. The Southern Appalachian Forests Program Manager will facilitate collaborative efforts, manage complex funding mechanisms, supervise program staff, and collaborate with NFF’s technical advisory teams and the U.S. Forest Service.

About the NFF: As the official national partner to the US Forest Service (USFS), the National Forest Foundation was chartered by Congress in 1993. NFF advances forest resiliency, healthy watersheds and wildlife habitat, and recreation for all by working with communities and organizations across the country. The Foundation has grown in programmatic impact, revenue, support, and organizational capacity. NFF leads with impact, deploying roughly 90% of its expenses towards projects and programs across the country’s 193-million-acre National Forest System.

NFF is forward-thinking and innovative, with ambitious strategies and goals to advance and prepare forests for a new economy.

Position Function: The Southern Appalachian Forests Program Manager reports directly to the Southern Region Director. This position provides facilitation, project management, and program development support for collaborative forest stewardship and conservation efforts in the southern Appalachians. The incumbent will provide leadership in convening and facilitating a collaborative process, while focusing on project management and implementation. The incumbent is responsible for hiring, supervising, and mentoring direct reports, planning for project implementation, and overseeing and supporting complex contracts.

The Manager will navigate complex partnership relationships and have demonstrated experience building programs consistent with strategic priorities, oftentimes working independently.

The Southern Appalachian Forests Program Manager is responsible for the following duties:

• Work with the U.S. Forest Service to manage and track large-scale funding agreements associated with forest restoration and recreation improvement projects.
• Support and supervise up to four staff by helping develop their scopes of work, provide networking and fundraising support, and professional development guidance.
• Lead collaborative development of field team strategies and work plans.
• Work directly with contractors, consultants, nonprofit organizations, agency partners, and/or private landowners to coordinate the on-the-ground implementation of stewardship projects.
• Oversee the advertising, negotiation, and awarding of contracts for services related to project implementation.
• Manage program and project budgets and reporting associated with agreements and contracts with federal, state, local governments, and contractor services.
• Provide collaborative conservation expertise and facilitation support for priority regional initiatives.
• Draft and revise meeting agendas and facilitation-related meeting materials.
• Expand existing partnerships with local National Forest Service partners.

NFF expects the Southern Appalachian Forests Program Manager to possess the following educational and experiential qualifications:

• Minimum of an undergraduate degree in conservation, forestry, planning, landscape design, environmental science or related field, or equivalent experience.
• At least 4 years of experience leading restoration or conservation programs, project planning, and/or coordinating project implementation, preferably on federal lands.
• Field forestry and/or reforestation experience, planning, and overseeing forest management actions on federal lands, preferred.
• Experience in planning and overseeing recreation infrastructure projects.
• Experience leading project planning, accomplishment, and budget tracking, and project operations management that involve multiple implementation partners, contractors, contracts for services, and funding sources.
• Experience supervising and managing project-level staff.
• Demonstr…