Requisition ID : 1187

The Wilderness Society is a national non-profit organization with a mission to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. We believe public lands belong to and should benefit everyone and that our organization and its work must respect and embody the cultures and perspectives of people and communities across our nation.

We are now looking for a highly collaborative, motivated, and skilled individual to lead TWS’ work in Washington state. Washington is a remarkable place with a wide diversity of communities and expansive public lands that are important for natural values, recreation, public health, and cultural and historical reasons. Our work in Washington supports both aspects of TWS’ mission by aiming to protect important public lands and better connect people to the outdoors, particularly those in communities that have been unable to equitably share in the benefits from our nation’s public lands.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Washington State Director is a senior member of The Wilderness Society’s Conservation team. This individual will be responsible for developing our program strategy, managing staff and budgets, supporting cross-departmental teams, fundraising, acting as a spokesperson, forging partnerships, building political influence, and ensuring people from all backgrounds have opportunities to connect with nature.

The Director plays a critical role in cultivating and managing relationships with a wide range of partners, funders, and government officials to build and strengthen The Wilderness Society’s impact and presence in the region and nationally.

The ideal candidate for this position is an experienced leader and strong project manager who can engage staff at all levels to achieve The Wilderness Society’s organizational priorities, ensuring strategic focus and effective advocacy on the organization’s conservation and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.

The Washington State Director plays a critical role in establishing and reinforcing 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. This leader will integrate these priorities throughout our work, from expanding our partnerships to bringing an equity lens to all facets of the job. Across our team, we aspire to be campaign oriented, nimble, collaborative, innovative, transparent, and supportive of staff – our greatest asset.

Essential duties and responsibilities:

• Develop strategic program priorities for the state that further TWS’ overarching goals and vision.

• Lead and oversee implementation of campaigns in Washington and position TWS as a trusted collaborator with partners and decision makers.

• Lead the development and implementation of TWS’ diversity, equity and inclusion goals in the state embedding equity into all conservation program work.

• Build a network to educate and influence Washington decision makers on state and national conservation priorities.

• Support the cultivation and solicitation of major gifts from foundations and individual donors in close coordination with philanthropy staff.

• Manage staff in the state and provide leadership to the multi-disciplinary team of TWS staff working in Washington.

• Manage the Washington conservation budget.

• Build and maintain strong relationships with federal, state, tribal, and local government officials, key partner organizations, stakeholders, and the media.

• Act as a spokesperson for the organization with the media and other audiences.

• Ensure the Washington program’s perspectives and insights are incorporated into the organization’s national work.

• Perform other related duties as required.

QUALIFICATIONS

Experience, Competencies, and Education

• Experience leading issue advocacy or political campaigns and/or working to advance public policy changes at the local, state or federal level.

• Success in fundraising from individual donors or foundations.

• Solid communication and interpersonal skills that can be applied to complex conservation issues, partnerships and coalitions, donor engagement, staff management, and cross-organizational collaboration.

• Experience leading and managing teams representing a rich mix of talent, backgrounds, and perspectives. This includes a track record of successful recruitment, cultivation, and retention of highly skilled staff across race and gender.

• Ability to build and maintain strong relationships and networks among key stakeholders, government officials, donors, and partner organizations.

• Strategic thinking and ability to craft a compelling vision and set goals and priorities.

• Good time management skills, with the ability to appropriately balance short- and long-term demands.

• Strong writing skills and the ability to speak effectively in public, with donors, partners, elected officials, and the media.

Desired Characteristics

• Effective leadership skills and the capability to work with a wide range of audiences.

• A commitment to supporting others in accomplishing our goals in an equitable and inclusive manner.

• Excellent strategic thinking and long-term vision.

• Ability to manage a complex array of personnel, programmatic, and organizational demands.

• Trustworthy and dedicated.

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.

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.

For consideration, please submit your resume through our online application system. See the following link for the application: https://workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/default/mdf/recruitment/recruitment.html?cid=2a2cd446-3b6b-45ff-90d7-579775843522&jobId=256980&lang=en_US&source=CC2&ccId=19000101_000001