Position Announcement

Executive Director of the Conservation without Conflict Coalition

About the Conservation without Conflict Coalition

The Wildlife Management Institute (WMI) is searching for an Executive Director to lead the “Conservation without Conflict” coalition.

Conservation without Conflict (C w/o C) is a coalition of federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, industry, private landowners, conservation organizations, academia, and private consultants. C w/o C provides a collaborative approach to fish and wildlife conservation challenges where government agencies, landowners, and stakeholders work cooperatively to achieve shared goals and objectives.

Across the country, there are numerous successful examples of the C w/o C approach benefitting both species in need of conservation and landowners. The C w/o C coalition identifies, develops, and builds upon collaborative partnerships that yield conservation benefits while providing certainty and incentives to landowners that keep working lands working.

Job Description

The Executive Director will lead coalition efforts to advance collaborative approaches to conservation that unite diverse federal and non-federal stakeholders in keeping working lands working. In this role, the Executive Director will work with coalition members to define the direction and priorities of the coalition; foster partnerships between government agencies, landowners and stakeholders; track accomplishments; and communicate success to members of the coalition and key audiences. The successful candidate must have proven ability to work successfully with varied interest groups, private landowners, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service at a regional or national scale. In addition, the candidate must have a network of contacts within the landowner, natural resource management and conservation communities. The successful candidate must also understand how to work with communications experts to build and maintain a strong communications competency.

Specific Duties of Executive Director of the Conservation without Conflict Coalition

Leadership

• Engage the C w/o C Executive Committee
• Establish coalition direction, strategy, and priorities
• Foster partnership development between landowners, stakeholders, and government agencies
• Engage government agency leadership to advance the coalition
• Communicate success to coalition members, agency leadership, and Congress

Learning and Problem Solving

• Identify and share successes and barriers to implementing the C w/o C approach to advance best practices and foster problem solving
• Establish metrics to track coalition progress
• Align partnership approaches among coalition members to build coalition identity and culture
• Identify opportunities to obtain science and information to support partnerships
• Identify ways to improve existing or develop new tools to advance coalition objectives and partnership success

Administration

• Manage Executive Committee and coalition member roles and responsibilities
• Maintain effective membership criteria and governance principles for the coalition
• Define a critical path for coalition efforts
• Establish work groups as necessary
• Identify, support, and catalogue successful partnerships
• Plan and execute coalition meetings to build and maintain coalition engagement, alignment, coordination, learning, and momentum
• Budget management and accounting
• Oversee administrative or other support personnel and function

Minimum Qualifications and Experience

• Demonstrated leadership skills including proficiency in partnering, change management, communication, and collaboration
• 10-15 years of experience employed by a federal or state natural resource agency, a national conservation organization, and/or a resource-affiliated business or industry
• Knowledge and experience in applying fish and wildlife conservation laws, regulations, and programs
• Effective writing and communication skills
• Excellent organizational and time management skills
• Ability to manage multiple projects and tasks, establish priorities, and meet deadlines
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment

Supervision

The Executive Director will work at the pleasure of and at the direction of the C w/o C Executive Committee and as a contractor with the Wildlife Management Institute.

Application Process

• Please send your resume to Steve Williams, President, Wildlife Management Institute (swilliams@wildlifemgt.org) on or before November 30, 2022.
• Applications will be screened and then provided to the C w/o C Executive Committee for final selection