California

Position Title: Farmland Wildways Program Director

Organization:Wild Farm Alliance

Location: California

Organization Overview: Wild Farm Alliance (WFA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting healthy, viable agriculture that protects and restores wild nature. They have a bold 2050 vision to bring nature back to our farms and to catalyze a stewardship ethic among current and new generations of farmers, land stewards, agencies, nonprofits, policy makers, scientists and educational institutions. The Farmland Wildways program goal is to inspire farmers across the country to install 500,000 miles of farm habitat – hedgerows to the moon and back. 

Position Overview: The Farmland Wildways Program Director will deliver program objectives and outreach in order to help get closer to the goal and to meet the grant funded deliverables. The 2-year focus of this position will be centered on educating and inspiring California farmers to install native habitat in order to attract and support natural enemies (mostly arthropods) for pest control. Specifically, the Program Director is responsible for leading program implementation, organizing outreach events (farm field days), writing and publishing programmatic resources, working with contractors and others to produce videos, conducting literature research, networking to build alliances and providing general communications (print, email, social media).

Duties: 

• Participate in program planning and implementation, including working with project
  team made up of WFA staff, contractors, farmers and others.
• Conduct general grant administration and deliverables, attend required meetings (and
  lead as needed), assist with quarterly and annual progress reports.
• Work with WFA staff, videographer, researchers and California growers to produce
  videos and farmer profiles.
• Organize and host field days with multiple speaker presentations, and demonstrations of
  beneficial habitat plantings on farms throughout California.
• Create and publish a Guide about the benefits of natural enemy insects and their habitat
  for pest management for California farmers.
• Plan and coordinate a live webinar with several speakers’ presentations, including ones
  that cover topics in the Guide and other technical and online resources.
• Conduct outreach to a wide and diverse audience promoting WFA videos, narratives and
  resources.
• Assist with grant writing for other projects.
• Respond to information requests and routine correspondence.
• Participate in coalitions as necessary.
• Deliver public presentations about WFA programs and work.
• Represent WFA at meetings and outreach events, building the base of WFA supporters
  and our alliance of project partners.
• Provide support to develop communication pieces, both online and offline to
  communicate WFA program accomplishments to the public, including action alerts,
  newsletters, printed handouts, annual reports and social media.
• Update program pages on website and StoryMap platforms.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

Our ideal candidate will have direct experience in working in the conservation-based agriculture field with a focus on beneficial insects and native habitat; directing program implementation; technical knowledge of conservation plantings and best practices; and translating science for a farmer audience. Our ideal candidate works well in a highly collaborative and multi-disciplinary environment; ability to think strategically and creatively; have clear and effective communications skills for both verbal and written communication; and a passion for achieving success. The specific requirements and preferred skills and experience we are looking for are listed below:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in entomology, natural resource management or similar.
• Strong knowledge of and experience with natural enemy arthropods.
• Considerable knowledge of California’s native plants and ecosystems.
• Collaboratively work with Wild Farm Alliance and a wide variety of farm and conservation partners and stakeholders to further Farmland Wildways’ goals.
• An understanding of California sustainable and conventional agriculture.
• Demonstrated ability to work with growers from all backgrounds.
• Ability to travel to farms throughout California for field days and other events.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, prioritizing and managing multiple, complex projects, and consistently delivering high quality work projects on schedule.
• At least 5 years’ experience in directing program implementation in the nonprofit sector, or related experience in a similar field/sector.
• Project or program management experience, including budget management responsibility.
• Excellent written communication skills, including the ability to write clear emails, and technical documents for diverse audiences.
• Exceptional verbal communication, presentation and public speaking skills for farmers, conservationists, scientists and other audiences.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel etc.)
• A sense of humor and strong team player.
• Valid driver’s license in the United States and a motor vehicle records check allowing employee to be insured under WFA corporate liability insurance.
• All employees required to be fully vaccinated unless a reasonable accommodation is provided based on disability or sincerely held religious belief. Candidates will be required to provide proof of vaccination upon hire.

Preferred:

• Graduate degree in entomology, natural resource management or similar.
• Experience in grant writing and reporting.
• Bilingual (English and Spanish) or multilingual (English and Spanish).

Physical Requirements:

• Be able to perform the following with reasonable breaks and/or accommodations:
  • Move and transport supplies, materials, and equipment weighing up to 30 pounds.
  • Work outdoors in the field for 8-10 hours per day, often in sparsely populated, remote locations and under potentially adverse or difficult conditions such as high heat, rain, darkness, biting and stinging insects and other dangerous wildlife (snakes, large mammals, etc.), or abrasive or poisonous vegetation, among others.
  • Frequently traverse across unpaved roads and walkways, and rugged terrain such as steep slopes, high weeds and unimproved muddy trails, for periods of 8 hours or more.
  • Drive vehicle for periods of time of up to 8 hours.
  • Operate a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a telephone or computer printer for periods of time up to 8 hours.

Salary/Pay: $50,000-$58,000, depending on experience

How to Apply: Please use the online application to view the full job description as well as how to apply.