Job Listing: Director, Center for Woodland Owner Impact, American Forest Foundation

American Forest Foundation
Director, Center for Woodland Owner Impact
Washington, DC

Organization Overview
The American Forest Foundation (AFF) is a $12mm national organization with an endowment of more $120mm, and 31 staff members. The organization was chartered in 1981 with the purpose of encouraging the long-term sustainability of Americas forests. AFF works on the-ground with woodland owners, forest conservation partners and educators to promote stewardship and protect our nations forest heritage.

AFF has three principal objectives:
1. Stem the loss of Americas family-owned woodlands.
2. Enhance the quality of Americas woodlands by increasing the involvement of woodland owners in conservation.
3. Prepare the next generation for the task of maintaining healthy and productive forests.

AFFs Woodland Program focuses on ecological and economics challenges that can only be met when family forest owners are part of the solution. It includes the American Tree Farm System®, a network of 82,000 certified Tree Farmers in 44 states sustainably managing more than 24 million acres of forest land, place-based forest conservation work in priority landscapes such as the Driftless area of Wisconsin, and the Piney Woods of Mississippi, and policy campaigns that improve federal programs for forest conservation. Project Learning Tree is an award winning environmental education program in all 50 states that helps students acquire the skills they need to make sound choices about the environment. PLTs professional development network trains educators to use PLTs curriculum to get students outdoors, learning about forests and other natural resources.

Center for Woodland Owner Impact
AFF has developed and ground-tested innovative marketing and communication strategies and tools to reach and engage millions of small woodland owners across America. This work is vital to the nations well being: most of Americas forests (251 million acres) are owned in small parcels by 10 million individuals and families. As a result, their strong stewardship is essential to protecting clean drinking water, wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities, and the sustainably produced wood products America relies on. Our vision is to make these breakthrough services and tools available to the public land-management agencies, conservation organizations, forestry associations, forest product companies, and other important partners to help in their efforts to reach small woodland owners across America.

To accomplish this vision, AFF is launching a new initiative known as the Center for Woodland Owner Impact (the Center). The Director, Center for Woodland Owner Impact is a new position for AFF and will be pivotal in the success of the Center. At its heart, this is an entrepreneurial and leadership position to help establish and prove the business model upon which the Center will succeed. To do that, the Director will focus largely on three core areas of work: 1) service the already existing demand for AFFs new tools and strategies; 2) help grow new demand for the Centers services; and 3) develop and refine the turnkey systems essential to the Centers ability to deliver its services affordably and effectively.

This is a rare opportunity for an entrepreneurial, innovative, strategic and business-minded professional to help create a sustainable, replicable business model that helps deliver real and lasting conservation impact to Americas forests.

Position
Reporting to the Senior Vice President of Conservation, managing one staff member- the Coordinator for the Impact Center -- collaborating internally with staff, and externally with key partners, volunteers, and vendors, the Director will:
Work closely with the Senior Vice President of Conservation to develop the strategic plan for partners seeking the Centers assistance in reaching and engaging small woodland owners.

Take the lead to develop strong working relationships with staff and volunteers from partner organizations and from AFFs social marketing and micro-targeting consultants to tailor and implement the suite of strategies, tactics, tools, and materials identified in the strategic plan.

Develop and implement an operations plan for each project that clearly identifies the responsibilities of the Center and partners laid out over a specified timeframe with clear benchmarks to achieve specific goals and objectives. Work closely with social marketing and micro-targeting consultants to develop the marketing, audience segmentation, and analysis of each operations plan.

Develop a detailed budget for each project displaying the cost of AFF staff and discretionary expenses based on the specifics of the goals and outcomes desired by a partner in a particular place.

Develop a financial template that allows the Center to provide reliable estimates and quotes for work the Center would provide to any given partner.

Work closely with AFFs Woodlands Team, made up of staff from all programmatic departments, to ensure integration of the work of the Center with all aspects of AFFs woodlands work.

Work closely with the Development Department to develop proposals to fund the work of the center and/or assist partners in developing proposals to seek funding for their efforts.

Work closely with the Communications Department staff to develop marketing and message materials and templates

Assist in the development and administration of budgets and grants.

Other duties as assigned.

After two years, a successful Director will have accomplished the following:
Established strong relationships with key partners in at least seven place based campaigns;
Developed the operational plans for each of the campaigns that clearly articulate the responsibilities of the Center relative to the partners responsibilities, with implementation fully underway;
Instituted promotional materials for the Centers tools and services tied to specific audiences;
Developed the templates and models for those tools and services that are more standardized, as well as the price points for all tools and services offered by the Center;
Integrated the Centers expertise across all of AFFs woodlands work.

Desired Qualifications and Personal Characteristics
Bachelors degree from college or university and more than seven years of business, client management, and/or marketing experience required.
Business experience dealing with managing and servicing clients and accounts.
Strong interpersonal skills. Must enjoy working closely with a diversity of audiences and clients in a wide variety of settings.
Strong marketing experience, social marketing and microtargeting experience highly desired.
Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Experience and comfort working with technology including relational databases and various web based software platforms.
Ability to use independent judgment and to manage and impart information to a range of constituencies.
Ability to foster a cooperative, team-oriented work environment.
Ability to communicate effectively, especially when working with volunteers, partners, and staff.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; ability to develop and deliver effective presentations.
Strategic thinker who can implement positive change.
Flexible, with the ability to work in unproven areas and adapt based on what is learned in each successive project.
Works well under pressure.
Excellent organizational skills with attention to detail and the ability to effectively plan and problem solve.
Results-oriented with a keen understanding of the steps necessary to achieve goals on deadline and within budget.
Strong initiative, a self-starter with tenacity, resilience and high energy.
A sound work ethic with the ability to act both independently and as part of a team.
A firm commitment to working in a collaborative environment.
Time management skills, with the ability to prioritize, coordinate and manage multiple priorities.
Ability to interact with a wide variety of constituencies, including senior level business leaders, volunteers, conservation partners, and community leaders.
Maintains strict confidentiality, and displays discretion and the ability to deal with sensitive issues in a professional manner.
Excellent judgment, tact, and integrity, especially when dealing with donors, board members, volunteers, and the public at large.
Commitment to the mission of AFF.
Ability and willingness to travel up to 50%.

Location
Washington, DC

Compensation and Benefits
Compensation for the Director, Center of Woodland Owner Impact includes a competitive base salary commensurate with experience and an excellent package of employee and health benefits.

AFF has retained the services of ThinkingAhead Executive Search. Please send your resume, expression of interest, and salary history in Word format to Kara Teising, Partner: [email protected]


AFF is an EOE actively recruiting a diverse workforce.


Chris Spagnola
Nonprofit Executive Search Consultant
ThinkingAhead Executive Search
United States
www.thinkingahead.com