Title: Seed Coordinator Reports to: Director of Partnerships
Location: Olympia, Washington
Type: Project Manager, Full-time Exempt (Salaried) with benefits
Salary: Salary range starts at $57,024/year
Period: Permanent (2-years funding secured)

About Ecostudies

Ecostudies Institute is a 501(c)(3) scientific non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of native species and their ecosystems. We achieve our mission through effective partnerships, sound scientific research, strategic land management and ecological restoration. At the core of our mission is a cooperative conservation model that strives to realize improved conservation outcomes by developing shared goals and vision through partnerships. These partnerships, in turn, encourage information transfer, advances in cutting edge restoration techniques, and the development of integrated range- wide conservation approaches. The organization has offices based in Olympia, Washington and Eugene, Oregon, and currently employs over 45 permanent and seasonal staff.

Overview

With increasing restoration and other habitat enhancement opportunities (including on agricultural and tribal lands) occurring across ecosystems in Washington State, an adequate and equitable supply of plant materials is essential. Numerous conservation partners, including federal, state and local agencies, tribes, non-profits, and private entities have identified the need for state-wide seed coordination to identify, build, support, and coordinate regional priorities and partnerships to optimize seed production and purchasing and manage sourcing issues. Coordination is an essential step to incorporate the best available science to integrate climate resilience concepts and adaptive management principles to assist land managers in selecting and producing genetically appropriate plant materials.

This full-time position is supported from dual grant sources, a 0.5 FTE from the Department of Defense (DoD) Readiness Environmental Protection Initiative (REPI) to support the Joint Base Lewis-McChord Sentinel Landscape Partnership (SLP) and the other 0.5 FTE from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support state-wide needs. The SLP is a long-standing ecoregional partnership in South Puget Sound focused on conserving prairie and oak ecosystems. This position will serve as a key nexus for optimizing seed coordination in an established partnership. The other half of the position will be focused on assessing needs, coordinating regional priorities, and building state-wide and regional native seed partnerships composed of state and federal agencies, Tribes, non-profits, growers, and private landowners. A key objective is to document and collect essential information for the creation of a state- wide Washington Native Seed Strategy that will tier off of the National Seed Strategy.

This position requires a high-level of responsibility, interpersonal skills, sound work ethic, and positive attitude. This is a complex, cooperative project, requiring significant coordination with other commercial and non-profit growers, Tribal governments, and multiple federal, state, local and private partners including WA Dept of Natural Resources, WA Dept of Fish and Wildlife, Center for Natural Lands Management and Dept. of Defense. Development and maintenance of positive and effective relationships with partners and contractors is critical. The position will be based in Olympia, WA.

Key activities include industry research and documentation, development of formal regional partnerships, relationship building with partners, including private industry, complex financial management to establish multi-year seed development contracts, consensus-building among agency scientists, facilitation and coordination of long-range planning and processes, documentation and information sharing, policy and plan creation, grant writing, and business and logistics management.

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES:
● Advance short- and long-term, cross-agency projects through goal setting, consensus building, and timely communications.
● Maintain respectful, reciprocal relationships with Tribal Nations, Indigenous partners, staff and land managers; enhance and maintain broad engagement in collaborative efforts.
● Develop, maintain, and provide access to data systems to support coordination of seed production.
● Utilize diverse and unsynchronized funding streams to provide multi-year financial assurances for private seed producers and seed materials for restoration practitioners.
● Build and facilitate regional partnerships to coordinate priorities and assess needs.
● Document and collect information to inform a statewide Native Seed Strategy.
● Identify critical knowledge gaps in local seed science and industry and propose broadly acceptable bridges or solutions.
● Initiate and administer service contracts, ensuring contract compliance and fulfillment of deliverables.
● Meet monthly with a technical advisory group.
● Develop and manage project operation budgets.
● Seek funding and contribute to collaborative grant proposals to support seed coordination activities.
● Communicate successes and lessons learned to partners, staff and the public through written reports, presentations and other methods as appropriate including performance and grant reporting. Suitable results should also be communicated to the scientific community through published reports or other appropriate means.
● Support and maintain an atmosphere that supports direct communication and conflict transformation grounded in Ecostudies’ JEDI values (Justice, Equity, Decolonization and Intersectionality).
● Other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:
● Three years related experience in horticulture, agriculture, and/or ecological restoration as well as a BA/BS/AS/Technical or vocational degree in science-related field or an equivalent combination of experience and education.
● Demonstrated ability to facilitate and lead complex discussions with partners from various backgrounds and with various priorities.
● Willingness to learn and apply principles of Justice, Equity, Decolonization and Intersectionality.
● Manages time and diverse activities under deadlines while delivering quality results.
● Working knowledge of common software applications (e.g.; Word, Excel, Access, Web browsers).
● Communicates clearly via written, spoken and graphical means.
● Effectively works independent of direct supervision.

DESIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND EXPERIENCE:
● Knowledge of ecological land management principles and agricultural production systems.
● Experience with commercial seed production, native species cultivation.
● Experience working with or knowledge of natural systems, ideally Washington State ecosystems.
● Knowledge of current trends in conservation, land management and natural resource preservation.
● Ability to recognize plant species.
● Experience building and facilitating lasting partnerships across a diverse set of stakeholders.
● Experience with business management, government purchasing and contracting, and grants and government funding requirements.
● Experience with conflict resolution.
● Familiarity with ArcMap GIS and other data systems.

WORKING CONDITIONS:
● Regularly works indoors in an office setting, as well as outdoors in natural and agricultural areas.
● Frequently visits natural lands and other agricultural production areas – hikes across uneven ground.
● Occasionally lifts, positions, or otherwise moves objects weighing up to 50 pounds.
● Responsible for some evenings and weekends including travel.

HOW TO APPLY:

Qualified applicants should provide a detailed letter of interest, current résumé or curriculum vitae, and three professional references (names, affiliations, and contact information only). Application package should be combined into one file. All applications will be acknowledged.

Email these materials to: ekim@ecoinst.org with Seed Coordinator Application in the subject line.