Overview
Location: Work from home position located in San Bernadino County, CA.
Application Deadline: Please submit cover letter & resume by August 14th
General Description
The Wilderness Society is focused on making America’s system of public lands part of the solution to the most pressing conservation challenges of our day: climate change, unprecedented species extinction and inequitable access to nature’s benefits. We work with diverse partners to find common ground around enduring, science-based conservation solutions, combining long term investments in community-led conservation, deep public lands expertise, and commitment to advocacy efforts that share voice, power, and impact.
The Community Partnerships Manager is a core member of The Wilderness Society’s Southern California Mountains Landscape team focused on the transverse and peninsular mountain ranges of the region. Working under the Southern California Landscape Director, the Community Partnerships Manager plays a critical role in collaboratively developing and implementing conservation solutions that address the climate and biodiversity crises and help ensure diverse communities have equitable access to and receive equitable benefits from nature. To be effective, the Community Partnerships Manager must excel at cultivating and managing relationships with a diverse range of partners and stakeholders and, ideally, have experience in an advocacy and/or conservation setting.
This position plays an important role in supporting an inclusive organizational culture that is grounded in trust and accountability to shared goals and outcomes. TWS has made diversity, equity, and inclusion strategic priorities for the organization and the Community Partnerships Manager will integrate these priorities throughout our work. Across our team, we aspire to be campaign oriented, nimble, collaborative, innovative, transparent, and supportive of staff – our greatest asset.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
Focused on lands within southwestern San Bernardino, Western Riverside, and eastern San Diego Counties, this position will:
· With the support of a cross functional team and in close coordination with partners, apply knowledge of the landscape’s forest ecology and management, climate vulnerabilities, and human community dynamics to collaboratively identify, develop, advocate for, and advance solutions to the region’s conservation challenges.
· Contribute to the development and implementation of the Southern California Mountains Landscape Conservation Plan, consistent with TWS’s Strategic Framework.
· Effectively engage with government relations, research, policy, communications, and fundraising experts at TWS to ensure our work in the Southern California Mountains is well integrated with organizational priorities and fully utilizes TWS’s expertise and resources.
· Build and maintain strong working relationships with tribes, federal agencies, congressional staff, local government, businesses, the media, and diverse stakeholders, including rural communities and conservation and recreation groups.
· Coordinate all aspects of TWS’s advocacy on forest issues in this region, including providing strategic focus, building support internally and externally, and working with multiple departments and staff levels within TWS.
· Participate in and represent TWS in collaborative forest management efforts.
· Assist with grant proposal and report writing and other fundraising efforts as needed.
QUALIFICATIONS
Experience & Competencies
· Minimum five years of progressively complex professional experience working on issue/advocacy campaigns, natural resource management issues, or public policy.
· Proven track record of building and maintaining strong relationships and networks among diverse stakeholders.
· Ideally, a working knowledge of outdoor recreation and/or ecology and land management conservation practice.
· Demonstrated ability to think and act strategically to achieve campaign and landscape conservation goals in a dynamic environment with minimal supervision.
· Experience managing complex processes involving a wide range of interests, strategically balancing multiple assignments and priorities, and meeting deadlines with consistently high-quality work.
· Excellent communication skills, with an ability to write and speak concisely and persuasively to diverse audiences.
· Track record working successfully in teams representing a rich mix of talent, backgrounds, and perspectives—across race and gender.
· Experience facilitating collaborative decision making with a diverse group of stakeholders.
· Must be well organized and able to perform a variety of tasks with flexibility and creativity.
· Comfortable working independently in a remote work environment.
· Willingness to travel largely within the Southern California Mountains landscape but also to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and other locations as necessary. Travel requirements within the Southern California Mountains region are estimated to be 2 days/week and 2-3 nights/month. Travel requirements outside the landscape are estimated to be 1-3 trips/year of 2-3 nights/trip.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to [x] pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
Work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is not exposed to adverse weather conditions.
The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of this position and it is not intended to be an exhaustive list of experience, skills, efforts, duties, responsibilities or working conditions associated with the position.
The Wilderness Society offers a competitive salary and benefits package, including: health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance; sick and vacation leave; a sabbatical program; and a retirement plan. TWS is an equal opportunity employer and actively works to ensure fair treatment of our employees and constituents across culture, socioeconomic status, race, marital or family situation, gender, age, ethnicity, religious beliefs, physical ability, veteran status or sexual orientation.
TWS has instituted a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all staff reporting to a TWS office or engaging in in-person work meetings. There is an exception to the vaccine mandate for any staff who have an objection because of a medical or religious reason. We will do our best to devise reasonable accommodation that respects your objection while balancing the competing demands of your specific position.
As an organization, we aspire to being inclusive in the work that we do, and in the kind of organization we are. Internally this means working as a team that listens to different points of view, recognizes the contributions of every employee and empowers each employee to bring their whole selves to work every day. Externally this means ensuring that public lands are inclusive and welcoming, so that our shared wildlands can help people and nature to thrive. We are committed to equity throughout our work, which we define as our commitment to realizing the promise of our public lands and ensuring that all can share in their universal benefits.
To learn more about our commitment, please see http://wilderness.org/our-commitment-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-wilderness-society