The Santa Lucia Conservancy (Conservancy) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit land trust incorporated in 1995 to conserve the ecological integrity of the Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel Valley, CA.  Located in the biologically diverse Santa Lucia Mountains, we are dedicated to advancing the art and science of conservation-compatible development through adaptive land management, conservation easement stewardship, ecological research, and environmental education programs.

The Conservancy owns and actively manages 18,000 acres of lands within the 20,000-acre Santa Lucia Preserve to protect and enhance their extraordinary ecological values. Approximately 8,000 acres, 40% of The Preserve, are owned by individual landowners and managed as “Openlands” through conservation easements held by the Conservancy. The Conservancy also works with a variety of academic and environmental partners to conduct and promote land management and ecological research to increase our understanding of the interactions between human communities and the natural environment.

Position Summary:

The Stewardship Manager is a full-time exempt position responsible for managing all aspects of the Conservancy’s conservation easement stewardship program and contributing to its strategic planning and initiatives. The Stewardship Manager reports to the Executive Director and supervises one full-time stewardship staff. S/he is actively engaged in the team’s strategic and cross departmental initiatives and represents the Conservancy at the local and regional level through speaking engagements, presentations, and participation in local stakeholder groups. Occasional evening/weekend work may be required.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Easement Stewardship, Monitoring and Compliance (65%)

• Establishes and maintains positive partnerships with landowners, consultants, contractors, and other vendors pertaining to construction and land management.
• Creates work plan, budget and timeline to implement annual conservation easement monitoring activities.
• Leads efforts to bring the Conservancy’s monitoring activities, policies and procedures into compliance with LTA standards and practices.
• Conducts easement monitoring visits according to the Conservancy’s monitoring policy and trains fellow staff to conduct monitoring visits.
• Documents easement compliance matters and issues of concern identified in the field in Conservation Track; follows the Conservancy’s compliance policy in collaboratively resolving enforcement matters.
• Ensures that all easement monitoring visits are documented and follow-up reporting is complete, including but not limited to: mapping, photo documentation, funding agency reporting, letters to landowners, and online database document retention.
• Identify and implement strategies for collecting and analyzing monitoring data to inform current and future programs.
• Track annual expense of Conservancy’s easement monitoring and compliance activities
• Review projects undergoing Design Review and submit comments or notes to the Design Review Board for consideration.
• Prepare reports and presentations.

Management and Administration (20%)

• Serve as direct supervisor to Stewardship Associate with easement monitoring and community engagement activities.
• Ensure adequate retention and safety of all files.
• Attend weekly staff meetings.
• Occasionally participate in team building activities or other activities to engage in all program areas.
• Other administrative duties as needed.

Cartography and Geographic Information Systems (15%)

• Develops maps for presentations, record keeping, communication, and resource protection.
• Regularly uses Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and emerging technologies.

Qualifications and Requirements:

Education

• Bachelor of Science degree in natural resources management, range management, ecology, land use planning or related field.

Experience

• Minimum 4 years of land stewardship experience (i) developing and maintaining positive relations with landowners, vendors, contractors, consultants and other parties with potentially differing views; (ii) monitoring conservation easements, (iii) processing permitted use and reserved rights requests, (iv) writing baseline condition reports, baseline documentation reports, or current conditions reports, and/or (v) participating in strategic planning initiatives.

or

• An equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the job.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Diplomacy and tact with the ability to work collaboratively to build the Conservancy’s relationships with The Preserve community.
• Familiarity with land conservation, conservation easements, and LTA Standards and Practices.
• Ability to relate to people of diverse backgrounds, training, and experience.
• Personal qualities of integrity, credibility and a commitment to land conservation.
• Outstanding project management and analytical skills with the ability to work independently on multiple complex projects.
• Experience creating maps and managing data with the current generation of ArcGIS software products.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Familiarity with California flora and fauna, grassland ecosystems, and watershed management.
• Organized, efficient, reliable and detail-oriented with strong interpersonal skills and a commitment to collaborative teamwork.
• A commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
• General understanding of local construction requirements and standards

TERMS:

This is a full-time, exempt position at the Conservancy’s office in Carmel Valley, CA, with remote work during SIP and possibly after. Must be comfortable driving and hiking in rural/natural areas on uneven terrain and construction sites and working in a professional office, sitting and/or standing at a workstation for extended periods. Competitive salary and excellent benefits