The Forest Stewards Guild, a national organization of foresters and allied natural resource professionals, is dedicated to practicing and promoting responsible forestry as a means of sustaining the integrity of forest ecosystems and the human communities dependent upon them. The Guild has over 700 members, over half of whom are professionals who manage over 42 million acres of forestland in the United States and Canada. The Guild maintains regional offices in New Mexico, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Colorado, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Job title: Fire Adapted Communities Manager 

Location: Santa Fe, NM

Status: Regular, full-time 

Compensation: $29.33/hour plus benefits 

Application deadline: Sunday, April 30, 2023 at midnight. Please read the “how to apply” section below before applying. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

NOTE: After clicking “Next” on the initial application page, you will have an opportunity to upload a cover letter, resume, writing sample and reference documents.

The Forest Stewards Guild is hiring a full-time Project Manager position in Santa Fe, New Mexico to support building fire adapted communities in the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed (Fireshed) and other parts of New Mexico through coordination of the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition and the Fireshed’s neighborhood Ambassador program, as well as by conducting home hazard assessments, high priority fuel mitigation treatments, and public outreach. As a key member of the staff implementing our Community Wildfire Defense program, your position will ensure that the projects meet objectives to restore and maintain watersheds by expanding wildfire mitigation work in the priority landscape around Santa Fe. This position will support projects described in the 2020 Santa Fe County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

Candidates should have strong project management skills, including experience coordinating collaborative partnerships, budget and match tracking, strong organizational and facilitated leadership skills, a demonstrated ability to communicate effectively, knowledge and experience in forestry or wildfire mitigation, and the ability to think strategically. As project needs are identified, the Project Manager will collaboratively develop solutions to move project outcomes forward.

The Fire Adapted Communities Manager will work in the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed landscape to address the goals of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy, through 1) restoring and maintaining landscapes by expanding mitigation work in the priority landscape, the Greater Santa Fe

Fireshed; and 2) creating fire adapted communities by coordinating the Fireshed Coalition and expanding the Fireshed Ambassador program to accelerate mitigation and increase community fire adaptation through education and outreach. Working closely with other Southwest staff the Project Manager will facilitate the Fireshed Coalition collaborative group by providing administrative leadership, convening Coalition partners, conducting public outreach, assisting in implementation of the Fireshed’s Ambassador program, working with other staff to oversee mitigation treatments and hire implementation contractors, and manage budgets and associated project tracking for the Guild’s Community Wildfire Defense Project. The Project Manager will also assist the Program Manager in implementing other Fire Adapted Communities projects in the region as they arise. The Fire Adapted Communities Manager will be based out of the Santa Fe, NM office. 

Among other duties as assigned, the successful individual will: 

Lead collaboration for the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition 

• Work to build and sustain the strength of the Coalition.
• Work with the Coalition’s Chair to convene and facilitate quarterly collaborative meetings. 
• Maintain relationships with a diversity of project partners and funders in the region.
• Lead and facilitate education and outreach activities for private landowners, natural resource professionals and the public.
• Interface with and provide support to Committee Chairs to ensure that ongoing goals and objectives are moving forward and regular meetings are being held.
• Be an active member of the Coalition’s Communications and Monitoring Committees.
• Lead creation of the annual Coalition Collaborative Outcomes report.
• Be the face and voice of the Fireshed Coalition for news outlets and interface with the media.

Support the Fireshed’s neighborhood Ambassador program

• Recruit and support Neighborhood Ambassadors in their work to move their communities towards fire adaptation.
• Work with the Ambassador liaison to interface with the Coalition.
• Work with other Guild staff to support a network of practice and convene recurring Ambassador meetings and trainings.

Expand wildfire mitigation

• Work with landowners and contractors to complete on the ground wildfire mitigation treatments.
• Outreach to landowners in the Fireshed about the mitigation opportunities available.
• Implement a sliding scale program to incentivize participation across all communities.

Support Forest Stewards Guild work 

• Maintain and grow partnerships for Southwest programs. 
• Support FAC Program planning operations including developing Community Wildfire Protection Plans.
• As needed and desired, may support Guild prescribed fire operations. 
• Represent the Guild at professional conferences or events and perform public speaking, such as PowerPoint presentations or panel discussions to share on project deliverables or monitoring metrics. 
• Collaborate as a team using software such as Asana, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. 
• Track budgets, match, metrics, and deliverables for projects. 
• Perform grant writing, administration, and reporting to a variety of different funders, including private foundations and government grants.  
• Other duties as assigned to support the Forest Steward’s Guild mission in the Southwest.

Minimum Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in science communication, forestry, environmental science, or other applicable field, or five years equivalent experience of professional work 
• Strong experience in partnership building and collaborating with multiple, diverse partners, stakeholders and funders 
• Project management experience with multi-year collaborative projects 
• Proficiency in project budget tracking  
• Clear verbal and written communication skills 
• Ability to work both independently and with a team 
• Leadership skills and self-direction 
• Strong organizational skills  
• Effective knowledge of common software applications 
• Experience related to wildfire preparedness or mitigation
• Valid driver’s license 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Experience in staff supervision or managing a team of people 
• Experience writing grant proposals 
• Experience with disseminating scientific and complex project information to the public 
• Master’s degree in science communication, forestry, environmental science, or other applicable field, or seven years equivalent experience of professional work 
• Forestry knowledge or experience in southwest forest ecosystems 
• Experience with implementing or contracting forestry or wildfire mitigation treatments. 
• Experience with developing Fire Adapted Communities, and conducting home hazard assessments

Compensation and Benefits Package 

• $29.33 per hour.  
• Paid leave is accrued monthly from the first day of employment  
• 12 paid holidays per year  
• Employer-sponsored comprehensive health and dental care coverage is available after 30 days of continuous employment with the employee contribution at 20%   
• Short and long-term disability policies paid by The Guild after 60 days of employment  
• Accidental death/dismemberment and life insurance policies paid by The Guild after 60 days   
• Flexible compensation plan available after 60 days   
• Participation in a retirement plan with an employer match is available after 90 days
• Family Leave after 12 months, including six weeks paid leave and six weeks unpaid leave
• Paid sick leave  

Location 

This position is located at the Forest Stewards Guild’s office in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hybrid work in combination with at least two days a week in the Santa Fe office will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

How to apply 

Interested applicants should visit the Smart Recruiters posting here: https://smrtr.io/dtZ4T and click “I’m Interested” to submit a one-page cover letter, resume, one-page writing sample, three professional references, and earliest available start date.

NOTE: After clicking “Next” on the initial application page, you will have an opportunity to upload a cover letter, resume, writing sample and reference documents.

The one-page writing sample format is flexible. It can be on a natural resource subject of your choice; it can be a press release, newsletter article, research brief, or other sample of your writing capabilities. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

DEADLINE: Friday, April 30th at midnight. 

Contact us 

Questions about this position can be directed to Sam Berry at sam(at)forestguild.org. 

The Guild is dedicated to providing an open, transparent, and just organization and workplace. We strive for clear, open, and kind communication and are committed to recruiting, hiring, mentoring, and supporting staff from underrepresented communities. We are dedicated to building a work culture that recognizes the inherent value of our employees, supports a healthy work-life balance, and provides an environment that supports personal and job growth. 

We believe that a diverse workforce reflects the strengths of all members of our community. The Forest Stewards Guild strives to create a collaborative, supportive, and respectful setting for all employees and partners. To meet this goal, we recognize and celebrate the wide range of differences that characterize our members, employees, partners, and collaborators. Indeed, it is those differences that enhance our organization and help us to meet our mission and vision. The Guild values diverse forests because they are more productive, more resilient, more adaptable, and better able to recover from disturbances. Similarly, our community is healthier when we are inclusive of a diversity of people and perspectives.