Senior Land Stewardship Crew Lead

About the Role

Reporting to Resilience Force’s Managing Director, the Senior Land Stewardship Crew Lead will support project development and procurement while overseeing field-based vegetation management crews. They will lead daily on-the-ground operations to ensure safe, efficient, and high-quality land stewardship practices. Responsibilities include supervising crews, facilitating bilingual communication, and coordinating projects focused on wildfire fuels reduction, habitat restoration, and invasive species management throughout Sonoma County. This position combines leadership, environmental management, and hands-on fieldwork to advance local conservation goals.

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in vegetation management practices, strong leadership abilities, and proficiency in both English and Spanish. This is a full-time, exempt position that works closely with farmworkers and organizers at our anchor partners, North Bay Jobs with Justice, who are developing and implementing a just transition by and for immigrant and Indigenous communities at the intersection of economic, racial, and climate justice.

The Senior Land Stewardship Crew Lead Can Expect to:

• Support project selection, development, and procurement
• Oversee and lead field-based vegetation management crews, ensuring safety, project efficiency, and high-quality land stewardship
• Conduct daily supervision and bilingual communication
• Coordinate projects like wildfire fuels reduction and invasive species management across Sonoma County.

Duties and Responsibilities

Team Supervision:

• Lead, supervise, and coordinate the activities of the vegetation management crew, ensuring that all safety procedures are followed
• Conduct daily briefings to communicate work plans, safety protocols, and project updates.
• Provide bilingual support and training to crew members to ensure understanding and compliance.
• Provide project-specific training, including tool use, teamwork, leadership skills, and workplace communication

Project Management and Execution:

• Develop, plan, safely execute, and oversee vegetation management projects to reduce and prevent fire
• Work with Resilience Works staff to confirm crew members for projects
• Utilize knowledge of fire fuel reduction, land stewardship, habitat restoration, creek maintenance, invasive species removal, and defensible space to guide project decisions and assign tasks to crew members once on the project site.
• Identify and manage safety or other issues that may arise on the project site, ensuring all crew members adhere to safety standards and regulations.
• Monitor project progress and make adjustments to ensure timely and within-budget completion in collaboration with Resilience Works staff.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for clients regarding project progress, changes, and issues to ensure prompt and satisfactory project outcomes
• Maintain compliance with local, state, and federal environmental and safety regulations

Administrative Duties and Resource Management:

• Oversee the use and maintenance of vegetation management equipment and tools.
• Ensure proper inventory and storage of materials and supplies
• Coordinate the repair and replacement of equipment as needed
• Prepare and maintain accurate records, including project documentation, employee records, and safety reports.
• Assist in the preparation of bids and proposals for new projects.

Commitment to Professional Development:

• If not already licensed, continued professional development and training toward the C27 contractors’ license, C49, and/or C61 licenses
• Commitment to deepening leadership and team management skills as well as increasing knowledge of local flora and fauna, land treatments, defensible space assessments and treatments, and prescribed Fire
• Organizational and project management skills.
• Proficient in the use and maintenance of forestry and vegetation management tools and equipment.
• Improving communication skills in Spanish, if necessary.

Key Competencies and requirements:

• Strong commitment to and understanding of worker justice and the labor movement, gender and racial justice, immigrant justice, climate justice, and an intersectional social justice movement
• Extensive experience working, or ideally managing crews, in one or more of the following fields: vegetation management, prescribed fire, wildland firefighting, forestry, or restoration
• Intermediate Faller - FAL2 certification
• Ability to work effectively & collaboratively within working-class, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ communities
• Strong oral communication skills, multilingual, including Spanish (Indigenous languages are ideal, but not required)
• Physical requirements: Ability to work outdoors in various weather conditions, capability to lift and carry heavy equipment and materials, and stamina to perform physical labor for extended periods.
• Effective time management skills
• Willingness and ability to travel throughout Sonoma, Marin, and Napa Counties, and occasional travel to San Francisco and Oakland. Must have a valid driver’s license and proof of car insurance by job start date

The ideal candidate has the following preferred skills and qualifications (preferred, not required):

• A degree in forestry, natural resource conservation (or similar)
• C-27 Landscaping Contractor License and/or a D-49 C-61 Limited Specialty Contractor License
• Faller 1, at least FAL-2, extensive experience operating chainsaws in a variety of contexts, including burn scars