For more information, please follow this link: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/seattle/jobs/3558325/urban-forestry-policy-advisor

Salary– $110,664.00 – $119,016.00 Annually

The Job

The Urban Forestry Policy Advisor leads with racial equity to convene partners, plan action, and implement policies and programs that maintain, preserve, and enhance Seattle’s urban forest. Through the framework of the Urban Forest Management Plan (Download PDF reader) (UFMP), the policy advisor works across departments to influence policy, develop new partnerships, communicate to stakeholders, and track progress . In this role, you will develop new strategic approaches in alignment with the City’s environmental and climate justice priorities, lead and coordinate the City’s interdepartmental urban forestry teams to collective action, and serve as staff liaison to the Urban Forestry Commission.

What you will do:

  • Drive innovation from inside government to align and shift goals and investments, coordinating across multiple departments
  • Lift up needs, opportunities, and innovations to meet our urban forestry goals and identify and implement strategic actions to advance them. 
  • LIft up and build community leadership, working to find ways to address health, livability, and other community priorities through nature-based approaches
  • Deliver results in a political environment 
  • Lead with focus on environmental justice to grow and sustain urban trees and natural areas and reach Seattle’s canopy cover and forest health and resilience goals.
  • Gather and distill complex information from multiple sources into digestible formats, frame issues to facilitate decision-making, and identify strategic pathways forward
  • Collaborate with diverse stakeholders – Urban Forestry Commission, community-based organizations, nonprofits, foundations, academia, and other government agencies

 

Job Responsibilities

 

To be successful in this job, you are committed to:

  • Centering racial equity, environmental and climate justice in your interactions and work products
  • Increasing and building resilience of Seattle’s urban forest, especially for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities
  • Working collaboratively, aligning goals, creating strategies and plans with internal and external stakeholders
  • Staying current on innovations and best practices in urban forestry 

To be effective in this job, you have:

  • Successfully prepared for and facilitated small and large groups with competing agendas and priorities to identify common issues and create shared work plans to address them
  • Strong organizational and project management skills
  • An understanding of the complexities of managing the urban forest and the multiple roles of government in doing so, including regulation, managing trees in an urban environment, community engagement, and program development and delivery
  • Experience navigating politically nuanced situations and quickly assessing both large overarching issues and subtleties before determining how to proceed
  • Drawn on research, analysis, and collaboration to define problems, options, and solutions 
  • Created and shared strategic communications and dialogue that reinforce the important connection between trees/nature and community, health, equity, and resilience
  • Sought grants and partnerships to continually expand scope and capabilities
  • Developed a variety of modes of communication to engage and inform diverse audiences 
  • Served as a key advisor and liaison to leadership on urban forestry issues

 

Qualifications

 

A successful applicant will have a professional career that reflects a commitment to building collaborative, productive, and respectful relationships among Internal and external stakeholders.  This career orientation should be complemented by demonstrated technical knowledge and expertise in the following areas:

 

  • Advancing innovation and change
  • Racial equity, environmental and climate justice
  • Urban forestry 
  • Collaboration and relationship building
  • Facilitating shared goals and priorities and collective action
  • Delivering outcomes in a political and fast-paced environment
  • Communication, listening, writing, and presentation skills