New Mexico Senior Conservation Manager

About The Wilderness Society

The Wilderness Society is a national conservation organization dedicated to protecting America’s wild places since 1935. Our mission is to unite people to protect America’s wild places. Through science, advocacy and partnerships with communities and policymakers, we champion the protection of wilderness, national parks, forests, and other public lands that provide clean air and water, wildlife habitat and the freedom to connect with nature. For more information, visit www.wilderness.org.

POSITION OVERVIEW

New Mexico has a proud tradition of preserving and celebrating its rich cultural history and heritage. This history is woven into the landscape and is an essential part of The Wilderness Society’s (TWS) work to protect public lands and connect communities across the state to our wild places. We seek a highly innovative and skilled advocate and campaigner to achieve new public land protections, engage in land planning and stewardship activities, defend existing land protections and bedrock environmental laws and policies, and ensure that all New Mexicans equitably benefit from our public lands. This individual will also work to achieve energy program goals, including defending places that are too wild to drill, facilitating the country’s transition to clean energy, and ensuring public lands are managed as part of the solution to climate change.

Reporting to the New Mexico State Director and working with programs across the organization, the New Mexico Senior Conservation Manager will develop and execute organizational projects and initiatives throughout New Mexico. They will engage in a range of campaigns through partnerships, coalition building and coordination, campaign planning, outreach activities, communications, and other efforts. They will represent TWS in coalitions, in communications with elected officials, agency officials, and other decision makers and their staff, and in the media.

This position plays a critical role in fostering an organizational culture where people feel respected, included, and accountable to shared goals and outcomes. TWS has made it a priority to ensure that our public lands work reflects fairness, representation, and accessibility. This leader will carry those commitments into our New Mexico program—expanding partnerships, strengthening community connections, and ensuring our work is responsive to a broad range of perspectives and needs. Across our team, we aspire to be campaign-oriented, collaborative, innovative, transparent, and supportive of staff – our greatest asset.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support the development and execution of strategic program priorities to advance TWS’ overarching goals and vision in New Mexico, including engaging in conservation designation campaigns, land planning and stewardship activities, and conservation funding efforts, as well as participating in national policy efforts.
• Build new and lead existing coalitions where needed, provide strategic guidance to local partners to help deliver shared organizational goals, and position TWS as a trusted collaborator among partners and decision makers.
• Support TWS’ mission to unite people to protect America’s wild places and ensure that TWS’s public lands work is rooted in community and demonstrates fairness, representation, and accessibility for all in both our approach and its impact.
• Foster existing relationships and further build a network to educate and influence decision-makers, media outlets, and opinion leaders on TWS’ priorities in the state.
• Work effectively with Tribal Leaders and communities and a wide range of interests, includes, but not limited to, elected officials and their staff, non-profit partners, agency staff, lawyers, scientists, members of industry (e.g., timber, mining, etc.), public land user groups (e.g., recreationalists, ranchers etc.) and grassroots activists.
• Serve as a credible and trusted spokesperson for relevant media outlets, in coordination with the State Director and TWS External Affairs staff when appropriate.
• Plan and represent TWS at public and private gatherings and educational events, raising awareness of national and local organizational priorities and programs.
• May manage staff and contractors and, when appropriate, provide leadership to internal multi-disciplinary teams.
• In coordination with the New Mexico State Director, effectively engage with government relations, research, agency policy, legal, communications, and fundraising experts at TWS to ensure our work in New Mexico is well-integrated with organizational priorities and fully utilizes TWS’ expertise and resources.
• Prepare written and visual materials such as fact sheets, blogs, and action alerts that demonstrate the importance of community-based conservation to the health, economic vitality, and quality of life of the people living in New Mexico.
• Working in partnership with Giving & Impact staff, support efforts to raise funds and deepen donor engagement. This includes, but not limited to, contributing to written proposals and reports, developing key funder relationships, and representing TWS at donor events (virtual & in person).
• Adhere to all policies and procedures set forth by TWS (includes, but not limited to, finance, human resources and legal) to maintain a compliant and efficient work environment.
• Travel as needed in support of mission-critical activities (expected to be irregular, but up to 3-5 days per month on average, and may depend on location) to gain first-hand knowledge of public lands, plan and host events and site visits, and develop relationships with partners and key stakeholders throughout the region and occasionally in Washington, D.C., and other locations as necessary.
• Perform other tasks as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

The Wilderness Society’s New Mexico program has established clear goals for protecting public lands across the state, defending bedrock conservation laws from attack, and ensuring that all New Mexicans equitably benefit from our public lands. We value strong communicators, research skills, and interest in developing policies and programs that can achieve lasting protections for our public lands and positive change for our communities. We pride ourselves on having staff that know the communities in which they work and can organize and work with everyone across the region.

Experience & Competencies

• Minimum 7 years of progressively more complex professional experience working on issue/advocacy or political campaigns, natural resource management issues, or public policy.
• Proven track record of building and maintaining strong collaborations, relationships and networks among diverse stakeholders.
• Strong knowledge of public lands, environmental, and/or conservation issues in New Mexico.
• Ability to think and act strategically to achieve campaign and landscape conservation goals in a dynamic environment.
• 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.
• Ability to evaluate information on an ongoing basis and modify approach to the work to adapt to changing circumstances.
• Strong leadership qualities, rooted in inclusion, capable of operating effectively with diverse audiences and colleagues, and committed to working with others in accomplishing our goals in an inclusive manner.
• Motivated self-starter with the ability to take initiative, develop ideas, and see them through implementation, and who is comfortable working independently with minimal supervision.
• Willingness and ability to travel largely within the state, but also to Washington, D.C., and other locations as necessary.

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 ​preferred locations for this position are Albuquerque ​or Las Cruces. Other areas in New Mexico may be considered. The ​salary range for this position is $80,000-$90,000. ​To apply, please submit resume and ​cover ​letter by November ​30th.

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

Pursuant to applicable fair chance laws, TWS will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

TWS complies with federal and state disability laws and is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities. If you require accommodation to complete the application process or to perform the essential functions of the position, please contact careers@tws.org.TWS only accepts resumes submitted for positions that are currently open. Unsolicited resumes or resumes for posted positions that are not submitted via the online application process (where applicable), will not be reviewed or retained.

TWS offers a competitive salary and benefits package, including health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, and pet insurance; sick and vacation leave; a sabbatical program; and a retirement plan with employer contribution subject to certain limits and requirements. 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.