Chestertown, MD

Position Title: Deputy Director

Organization: Center for Environment and Society at Washington College

Location: Chestertown, MD

Organization Overview: The Center for Environment & Society (CES) serves as a bridge between Washington College and the rich natural and human resources of the region. Lecture series, workshops, films and seminars provide new perspectives and professional development opportunities for the campus and the larger community. Competitively awarded student fellowships put students to work on real-world problems, allowing them to build a resume and establish connections in the professional world. In the innovative Chesapeake Semester, students range throughout the watershed, exploring the people, places and issues of the Chesapeake Bay in all of their complexity. The Center supports faculty teaching and research through collaboration and by providing access to a variety of resources. It also has led the College in meeting its obligations under the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, while acting as a catalyst in campus recycling, energy savings and the search for alternative energy. The knowledge gained in this effort has been transferred into surrounding municipalities and counties, allowing them to achieve significant cost-savings, while lowering their carbon footprints.

Position Overview: Reporting directly to the CES Director, the Deputy Director is a key member of the CES’s leadership team who will be working to enhance the Center’s research mission and move into new areas such as regenerative agriculture and environmental justice through additional hires and the development of a fellowship program. The Deputy Director plays an important role in planning and administering the Center’s programs. CES sponsors student fellowships, manages a variety of internal and external internships, recruitment and environmental education programs during the academic year and summer, and maintains partnerships with many regional and international organizations. CES staff manage a wide portfolio of research grants and contracts, philanthropic donations and endowments.

Duties:

• Collaborate closely with Washington College faculty, academic programs and departments, ensuring CES enjoys strong relationships across the institution and the greater community.
• Foster a team-oriented, transdisciplinary, and collaborative culture at CES through intentional, equitable, and transparent processes based in an evidentiary body of practice (i.e., team science, transdisciplinary or interdisciplinary collaboration, management, institutional psychology or other appropriate area).
• Develop leadership, professional capacities and advancement opportunities of CES staff, fellows and student interns.
• Compare programs nationally and internationally in peer and innovative institutions in higher education, as a benchmark for CES program development.
• Develop and implement strategic plans, with CES Director and staff, to grow student and faculty engagement in CES in line with recruitment and retention goals of the College.
• Design and implement a merit-based and transparent competitive review process for selection of student and faculty fellowships and awards.
• Design and implement internal program assessments for continual improvement of CES activities.
• Partner with CES staff and Marketing and Communications to maintain clear communication channels and promote opportunities and outcomes at CES within Washington College and with our external partners.
• Raise the public profile of CES regionally and nationally to include new audiences through civic engagement, high-profile public events, academic conferences and presentations, and print and digital media.
• Manage internal and external funds for CES, with CES Director and College finance officers.
• Chair CES staff meetings and contribute to organization of CES advisory board meetings.
• Oversee and directly contribute to data-gathering, written reports, presentations, and other means of disseminating CES outcomes.

Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree that includes environmental science or studies, from any natural science, social science or humanities field is required.
• At least five years of professional experience in education, research development, transdisciplinary research or team science management, and/or nonprofit management.
• An advanced degree in a field relevant to the job functions is preferred.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Extensive and proven experience working with programs and services that help people, particularly students, succeed in an academic and professional settings.
• Awareness of current trends and best practices in team building, experiential learning, skill building, civic engagement, interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary inquiry, and/or communication around diversity and difference.
• Experience facilitating educational training and workshops, chairing committees, running staff meetings and guiding people towards shared understandings and collective decisions.
• Track record of earning extramural funding through grant writing.
• Proven experience building interdisciplinary, national or international partnerships across private and public sector stakeholders.
• Demonstrative supervisory skills and the ability to motivate and engage others.
• Experience with philanthropic donations is preferred, but not required.
• Development of environmental education, research or applied projects that fall within the Deputy Director’s interests or expertise would be supported.

Application Deadline: Open until filled

How to Apply: Please submit a cover letter, resume, and contact information of three professional references through CES’s online portal. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.