Senior Vice President of Conservation Programs

About The Wilderness Society

The Wilderness Society is a national conservation organization dedicated to uniting people to protect America’s wild places. We have been involved in virtually every major public lands or wilderness victory since our founding in 1935, helping to protect over 100 million acres of public lands. 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

The Senior Vice President of Conservation Programs is a strategic executive who leads the organization’s conservation, policy, legal, and communications work. As a key member of the Executive Team, the Senior Vice President is responsible for executing TWS’s mission, driving transformative impact, and serving as a trusted advisor and thought partner to TWS’s President. This role oversees all programmatic departments—including Conservation & Communities, External Affairs, Federal Policy, and the TWS Action Fund (TWSAF)—to ensure seamless integration of the organization’s programmatic work and values.

TWS’s disciplined approach requires place-based work, scientific understanding, and expertise in policy and law, as well as the ability to create the enabling conditions for administrative and congressional actions that protect public lands. The Senior Vice President will be charged with overseeing and integrating this approach to achieve our short and long-term programmatic goals.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Vision

• Develop TWS’s strategy to advance its mission through programmatic work that includes place-based collaboration, lobbying, administrative advocacy, science, litigation and communications. Work with TWS’s program VPs to create and execute TWS’s short and long-term programmatic goals.
• Collaborate with TWS’s President, Executive Team, and Board to set organizational priorities, drive equitable outcomes, and foster a culture of excellence, inclusion, and accountability.

Executive Management & Integration

• Manage and serve as thought partner to the Vice President, Federal Policy; Vice President, Conservation and Communities; Vice President, External Affairs; and the Executive Director of the Wilderness Society Action Fund.
• Champion cross-functional integration, ensuring TWS regional offices and national teams, and the TWS Action Fund work cohesively to deliver on their strategic goals and annual work plans.
• Represent TWS externally, filling in for TWS’s President at key meetings, events, and with major partners, donors, and policymakers when needed, ensuring organizational priorities are effectively represented.
• As a member of the executive team, collaboratively participate in decision-making that guides the entire organization. Actively participate in developing and executing organizational initiatives.
• Collaborate with TWS’s entire leadership team to build an organization and public lands movement as diverse as the landscapes we seek to protect.

Programmatic Excellence & Impact

• Oversee the design, implementation, and evaluation of innovative conservation campaigns, legislative and regulatory advocacy, litigation, and science initiatives.
• Ensure programmatic work is responsive to evolving needs environmental, political, and social landscapes.
• Drive continuous improvement, leveraging best practices and lessons learned to maximize organizational and community impact.

Organizational Culture & Compliance

• Model and promote TWS’s values both internally and externally.
• Adhere to and ensure compliance with all TWS policies and procedures (including finance, human resources, and legal), holding staff accountable for adhering to these standards to promote an ethical, compliant, and efficient workplace.
• Mentor and develop senior programmatic staff, building a leadership pipeline and empowering teams to achieve their full potential.

Thought Leadership & Innovation

• Serve as a trusted thought partner to the president and boards of The Wilderness Society and The Wilderness Society Action Fund. Champion innovation, encouraging creative approaches to conservation challenges and organizational growth.

Stakeholder Engagement & Financial Impact

• Collaborate closely with the Chief Operating Officer to ensure seamless integration of financial objectives and programmatic priorities. This includes jointly developing and implementing strategic plans that align resource allocation, budgeting, and forecasting with the organization’s mission-driven program goals.
• Cultivate and steward relationships with government agencies, partner organizations, community leaders and donors, serving as a visible ambassador and amplifying the organizations’ voice and influence.
• Support the Vice President of Giving and Impact in building trusted philanthropic partnerships with donors to help secure resources in support of TWS’s and TWSAF’s missions.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate will possess most or all of the following qualifications:

• Minimum 15 years of experience in conservation, with at least 8 years in leadership role.
• Proven track record of designing and executing successful conservation campaigns that achieve results.
• Exceptional management skills with experience building, leading and empowering high performing teams with a rich mix of talent, backgrounds and perspectives.
• Committed to mentoring and developing senior staff while fostering a culture of growth, accountability, and inclusion.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively in fast-paced, high-pressure environments while maintaining a constructive and professional approach.
• Deep commitment to the protection of wild places and public lands.
• Demonstrates emotional intelligence, self-awareness and the ability to bring levity.
• Exceptional political judgment, with the ability to assess risk, navigate complex dynamics, and make sound strategic decisions.
• Exceptional writing and communication skills with the ability to convey complex ideas clearly and persuasively.
• Experience with 501(c)(4)s preferred.
• Ability to travel to nationally to regional offices, partner sites, and key stakeholder meetings as needed to advance organizational priorities.

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.

This is a Washington, DC based position. The ​salary range for this position is $295,000-$325,000. ​To apply, please submit resume and ​cover ​letter by February 1st 2026.

The Wilderness Society 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.

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.