Program Director

POSITION SUMMARY:

Direct and oversees TERA’s education, training, and community engagement programs to build Tribal capacity for ecocultural stewardship.

ORGANIZATIONAL VISION

The Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance (TERA) is a community-based, intertribal nonprofit organization that works to revitalize ecology, economy, and culture through indigenous-led stewardship.

The mission of TERA, founded in 2019, is to cultivate land stewardship, livelihood, and leadership skills that weave collaborative relationships between Tribal members and the community at large for the benefit of all lands and beings. Our program goals are to:

• Strengthen ties to land and culture
• Connect tribal members with meaningful livelihoods and culturally relevant work in their ancestral territories
• Regenerate local ecology of the North Coast Ranges
• Build capacity for native voices to play a central role in land stewardship

TERA is a young organization in a dynamic growth phase, and building a team of professionals who are deeply committed to TERA’s vision.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

The Program Director is a community-oriented leader who helps build capacity for the Tribal community to steward their ancestral lands. The Director develops and oversees all of TERA’s training, outreach, and education programs. Specific responsibilities include:

• Leading the planning and hosting of educational and community events
• Developing program content and curriculum
• Recruiting participants through outreach and community engagement
• Making presentations and interfacing with the public (both Tribal and non-Tribal) regarding our education and training programs, strong partnerships and collaborations with Tribes and other organizations.

The Program Director will oversee the Native Stewards Fellowship, a 140-hour workforce development program that weaves traditional knowledge with wildfire resilience and vocational skills, preparing fellows for meaningful careers stewarding our ancestral lands. TERA has graduated 56 Native Steward Fellows and will train a third cohort in Spring of 2027. 80% of fellows have succeeded in securing employment opportunities in natural resource management careers.

In addition the Director will oversee the On-the-Job Training program which gives entry-level land managers the opportunity to learn from and work with TERA’s hand crew.

FUNDAMENTALS:

Reports to: Executive Director

Supervises: Program Coordinator

Location: TERA’s office is located in Upper Lake, CA. The working location for this position is flexible, and can be in person, hybrid, or primarily remote. If living out of the area, must be able to travel to work in Upper Lake at least one day per week or at least one week per month.

Time Commitment: 40 hours/week preferred, may be reduced to 32 hours/week if desired by the selected candidate.

Compensation and Benefits:

• Job Type: Hourly, non-exempt
• Pay is commensurate with experience: $39 - $43 / hour
• Benefits available after 90 day introductory period for regular, full-time (32+ hours/week) employees include:
  • IRA retirement plan
  • $600 monthly pre-tax health reimbursement, which can be used for insurance premiums, copays, or other qualified health expenses
• Up to 30 days of paid time off annually, including 14 holidays, 5 days sick leave, and 12 days vacation (accrued based on hours worked).
• On-the-job training, great working environment

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Program Direction and Development: 50%

• Work with Executive Director and TERA staff to develop and implement ecocultural educational programming that aligns with TERA’s mission and meets our required grant deliverables in a timely manner
• Manage and oversee the following current educational / training programs that build capacity for ecocultural stewardship in the Tribal community
  • Native Stewards Fellowship
  • On-the-job training program and professional development opportunities for TERA crew
  • Custom trainings / workshops for Tribal partners
• Manage and oversee trainings for TERA’s bridge-building ecocultural fire program that brings together the Tribal community, fire professionals, landowners, academics and agencies
• Lead strategic planning and continuous improvement of TERA’s programs by assessing overall goals, identifying gaps and opportunities, and designing new or expanded initiatives to create meaningful impact in the communities we serve
• Work collaboratively with TERA staff to lead development of curriculum and course agendas
• Develop systems that support Program Coordinator with smooth and efficient logistics management, including coordinating instructors and acquiring workshop materials
• Collaborate with Grant Managers to develop budgets and timelines for trainings and workshops funded by various grants
• Support Grant Managers to ensure grant compliance and complete grant reporting through collaborating on writing grant reports and tracking reporting deadlines.

1. Communications and Storytelling (10-20%)

• Collaborate with Communications team to develop digital outreach strategies for training events and workshops
• Work with the programs team to draft content for promotional materials, updating TERA’s website, generating student applications, updating social media, writing newsletters
• Work with the programs and communications team to spearhead multimedia storytelling efforts to share the success of our programs and offer our ecocultural perspective to the wider world

1. Outreach & Community Engagement (10-20%)

• Oversee schedule of outreach events and develop interactive, experiential ecocultural activities to engage the community in TERA’s work
• Build relationships with and maintain communication with partner Tribes by organizing presentations and other in-person communications tools

1. Supervision and Team Collaboration: (15%)

• Attend weekly staff meetings and other team meetings as needed
• Collaborate across departments (admin, stewardship and programs) to support effective flow of communication
• Supervise Program Coordinator

1. Other duties as needed: 5%

QUALITIES & QUALIFICATIONS:

All members of the TERA team are expected to embody the following qualities:

• Cultural competency, humility, self-awareness, and willingness to learn
• Commitment to working cross-culturally as a bridge builder
• Ability to listen well, and give and receive direct, honest, and constructive feedback
• Positive attitude, able to work independently and contribute to a high-functioning, collaborative team environment
• Strong work ethic, reliability, accountability, and commitment to excellence
• Flexibility, adaptability, and capacity to work in a fluid and often fast-paced work environment
• Commitment to follow and enforce all TERA policies, maintain professionalism, and represent the work of TERA and Tribal communities with dignity and integrity at all times

In addition, the following are required minimum qualifications for this position:

• Bachelor’s Degree in communications, education, ecology, or related field
• Minimum 3 years working with Tribal communities; willingness to learn about contemporary challenges, concerns, and interests of Lake County tribal community and ecology
• Minimum 3 years experience working cross-culturally and bridge-building between communities with a history of conflict
• Minimum 3 year experience directing/leading educational programming, teaching, and curriculum development
• Minimum 3 years experience as a practitioner of ecocultural stewardship, fire, and/or cultural education
• Minimum 2 years experience as supervisor of contractors and/or employees
• Expertise with office technology, including Google suite (Mail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Drive), MS Office suite (Word and Excel), Adobe Acrobat, videoconferencing (Zoom, Meet), and strong ability to learn new software and technology
• Superb communication skills, including writing and storytelling
• Strong public speaker and presenter
• Patient, personable and approachable attitude. Able to work with diverse people, build and maintain strong working relationships with both internal and external partners.
• Highly organized, and able to develop and follow a prioritized plan of work, set and keep deadlines and work on multiple projects concurrently, and manage competing demands.

Optional but desired qualifications for this position:

• 2+ years experience overseeing aspects of communications/storytelling (graphic design of promotional materials, developing film, etc.)
• Working knowledge of Pomo languages or Native language revitalization

HOW TO APPLY:

All applications must be submitted through BambooHR at https://tera.bamboohr.com/careers

This position is open until filled. Priority Application Due Date: May 15, 2026

Applications received after this due date will continue to be reviewed on a rolling basis

Benefits:

• Benefits available after 90 day introductory period for regular, full-time (32+ hours/week) employees include:
  • IRA retirement plan
  • $600 monthly pre-tax health reimbursement, which can be used for insurance premiums, copays, or other qualified health expenses
• Up to 30 days of paid time off annually, including 14 holidays, 5 days sick leave, and 12 days vacation (accrued based on hours worked).
• On-the-job training, great working environment

• English fluency