Senior Watershed Scientist

Job Description

America’s Watershed Initiative (AWI) works to advance collaborative solutions for water challenges across the Mississippi River Basin. Through strategic partnerships and science‑based approaches, AWI facilitates collective action to restore and protect watershed health.

The Senior Watershed Scientist will create and begin implementing a strategic roadmap for the Mississippi River Water Action Collaborative (MRWAC). MRWAC connects companies interested in funding water projects with the projects themselves, using the Water Action Hub platform to coordinate investments and track the basin‑wide impact of concentrated action. MRWAC measures progress in water quantity, water quality, water access, and acres of stewardship to ensure investments produce meaningful results.

All projects are aligned with the Mississippi River Watershed Partnership’s basin‑wide goals, ensuring every investment contributes to shared priorities.

This role requires a systems thinker who can synthesize complex data, facilitate multi‑stakeholder collaboration, and translate strategic priorities into actionable implementation pathways. The position reports to AWI’s Executive Director and works closely with Pacific Institute’s Project Management Officer (PMO), coordinating efforts across NGOs, government agencies, watershed organizations, and private sector partners.

This position offers 14 months of secured funding, with the possibility of extension or conversion to permanent status subject to continued funding.

Objectives:
Build the foundation for roadmaps through data integration and stakeholder coordination.

• Compare the goals of the Mississippi River Water Action Collaborative with the goals of the Mississippi River Watershed Partnership.
• Identify priority project areas across the Upper and Lower Mississippi River basins.
• Add to MRWAC’s existing catalog of project implementers across the Upper and Lower Mississippi River basins on the Water Action Hub.
• Prioritize target areas for action.

Objectives:
Move from planning to early implementation; strengthen coordination through existing basin organizations and partner networks at subbasin level. Develop actionable roadmaps at subbasin and basin levels.

• Create a list of projects aligned with the priority target areas for action.
• Facilitate a pipeline of collective action projects, begin coordination with “early action” project implementers.
• Develop customized subbasin roadmaps that reflect local priorities, contexts, and implementer representation.
• Draft a cumulative upper and lower Mississippi River Basin (MRB) Roadmap showing how subbasin pathways contribute to the overall basin goals.
• Meet with the relevant state and federal partners who have existing programs.

Objectives:
Consolidate early results, communicate progress, and prepare for expanded rollout.

• Develop regional communications and events to enhance project visibility and stakeholder engagement.
• Document lessons learned and progress to inform Year 2 roadmap refinement.
• Produce a summary report highlighting progress toward basin‑wide goals, investments leveraged, and next‑year priorities that will be part of the PI annual report.

• Regular coordination with the PMO, MRWAC collaborative members, and MRWP Partners to ensure roadmap alignment and gather input on priority projects and implementation barriers.
• Ongoing tracking and reporting of roadmap and project implementation progress.
• Continuous partner engagement and communication to ensure alignment and visibility.

• Master’s degree in environmental science, natural resource management, watershed management, ecology, or a related field.
• Minimum 5 years of professional work experience in watershed management, conservation planning, or environmental program management.
• Demonstrated experience with GIS and spatial data analysis, including integration of data from multiple sources.
• Proven…