For more information, please follow this link: https://environment.uw.edu/career-opportunities/forestry-program-lead/

Salary– The position of Forestry Program Lead is a non-exempt full time position. The salary range for this position is $68,640 – $83,200 commensurate with experience

ABOUT THE IERCD:

The Inland Empire Resource Conservation District (IERCD) is a local public agency, headquartered in the City of Redlands and providing conservation, wildland restoration, forestry and fire prevention, and education programming to residents in southwestern San Bernardino and northwestern Riverside counties. Governed by a seven-member board of directors appointed by the County of San Bernardino Board of Supervisors, the IERCD covers nearly 1,300 square miles of service area within which a range of biological features and cultural landmarks exist. Thirty-four biological, educational, project management, and administrative staff work to carry out the District’s vision, both through IERCD-focused projects and in collaborating with a variety of federal, state, and local partners and individuals.

POSITION DESCRIPTION:

The IERCD is seeking an experienced Forestry Program Lead to help grow our forest health, fire prevention, and reforestation programs. This position will play a key role in the implementation of the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program (RFFC) in the San Bernardino Mountains and adjacent high fire risk communities. The RFFC program aims to increase regional capacity, collaboration, and planning with the goal of reducing the frequency and severity of wildfire. The Forestry Program Lead will also support other IERCD forestry programs, including the NRCS Disaster Recovery program, and invasive forest pest projects. This position will work closely with local, regional, state, and federal partners to build collaboration and move forward program goals, including participation in the developing San Bernardino Mountains Headwaters Resiliency Partnership. Typical activities include, attending meetings with partners and collaborators, developing Scopes of Work and project details, managing subgrantee and consultant projects, developing new partnerships, writing grant applications, presenting on project successes, and administrative tasks associated with grant management.

The ideal candidate for this position is someone who is enthusiastic about building collaborative efforts and engaging partners and community members in our forestry work, has exceptional partnership development and communication skills, and has experience writing grants, developing projects and workplans, and creating and tracking budgets. The Forestry Program Lead will play an important role in the success of projects related to capacity building, forest health, and fire resilience. The Forestry Program Lead will focus approximately 80% of time on office-based work and 20% of time on field-based projects in the San Bernardino Mountains. This position reports to and serves under the supervision of the IERCD Conservation Programs Manager within the Community Conservation Department.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program Support

  • Support project planning and implementation including developing Request for Proposals for RFFC projects, managing the contractor selection process, and contracting.
  • Coordinate individual project details, including project scopes of work, budgets, and timelines
  • Engage partners and collaborators in the Regional Priority Planning process and support project staff in developing the RPP
  • Keep appraised of regional initiatives and programs and maintain frequent contact with partners and subgrantees to move forward the RFFC program goals
  • Represent IERCD at RFFC related meetings including grant reporting to the Department of Conservation, Monthly RFFC Grantee Meetings, and Quarterly SoCal Regional Convenings
  • Stay well-informed of emerging conservation and fire/forest health efforts and ways the IERCD can engage and build capacity.

IERCD Forestry Program Development

  • Manage the NRCS Disaster Recovery grant program including tracking deliverables and managing the budget.
  • Identify and apply for additional forestry grants to support the development of IERCD’s forestry program in coordination with the Conservation Programs Manager
  • Work closely with the Forester II position and Conservation Programs Manager to ensure program goals and project needs are being met by field activities.
  • Contribute to outreach materials including press releases, social media, and website updates

Program Administration

  • Collect and manage data and documentation required for quarterly reporting for RFFC and NRCS Grants
  • Manage RFFC project budgets and project tracking and reporting

Headwaters Resiliency Partnership Role

  • Develop strong relationships with federal, state, local, and regional entities participating in the Partnership and serve as a representative for IERCD in the partnership
  • Work closely with HRP members to coordinate project planning and implementation including supporting development of Request for Proposals, contracting, and tracking projects.
  • Engage HRP partners in the San Bernardino Regional Priority Plan
  • Maintain active and productive participation and help ensure HRP goals are moving forward

KEY CAPACITIES:

  • Highly motivated, organized, and self-directing with the ability to prioritize workload
  • Must be effective at anticipating needs and taking independent action
  • Ability to collaborate on the planning and approach to a complex project, then execute tasks independently with minimal direction.
  • Good listener and clear communicator with ability to maintain positive relationships with supervisors, peers, and partners
  • Must maintain a professional approach to project work characterized by flexibility, positivity, and openness to feedback.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

  • Ability to work effectively in collaborative efforts with individuals or groups that may have conflicting views of resource management.
  • Ability to collaborate and communicate about programs with community members and partners
  • Experience developing partnerships to expand and strengthen programs
  • Effective grant writing, managing, and reporting skills
  • Possession of excellent writing and communication skills.
  • Exceptional public speaking skills, presentations and collaboration with partners will be a requirement of this role
  • Effective budget management skills
  • Ability to attend occasional evening meetings and planned weekend work.
  • Must possess a valid CA Driver’s License and auto insurance, as well as reliable transportation

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:

  • Bachelor’s degree in forestry, environmental science, natural resources management, or a related field
  • 3+ years of related experience in forest health or natural resource project management or 3+ years of experience working with partnership and collaborative development in a different field.
  • Experience working effectively in collaborative efforts