Nature & Purpose of the Position
Pierce Conservation District is seeking a full-time Habitat Improvement Projects Manager to lead the Floodplains for the Future adaptive management team, provide technical assistance to landowners within priority basins, and develop and manage a pipeline of habitat improvement restoration projects. The focus of this position will be to protect and restore functioning ecosystems and to improve conditions for healthy salmon. Pierce County, along with the rest of Puget Sound, is changing rapidly. We’ve doubled in population in the last 40 years and are likely to double again in the next 40. As our region has grown, many of the things we love most about this area – the rivers, forests, salmon, and orca – have been degraded or even destroyed. If the place we call home is going to remain a healthy, vibrant place that we all love, we must take it upon ourselves to protect the best of what we have left and restore the areas that desperately need our stewardship.
Floodplains for the Future (FFTF) is a partnership of over 20-stakeholders working to recover floodplains and protect the health and safety of communities around them. Along with our partners, we are implementing a long-term vision that seeks to improve salmon habitat, protect communities and infrastructure from flooding, and preserve agricultural lands in the Puyallup Watershed. This team member will lead monitoring efforts, through data collection and analysis, to inform adaptive management of FFTF projects and partnerships. In addition to leading the FFTF adaptive management team, the primary duties of this new team member will be to engage landowners in priority basins through outreach and education, conduct and coordinate technical assistance, and oversee development and installation of restoration practices.
About Pierce Conservation District
Pierce Conservation District is government that works. Our mission is to equitably support community-driven solutions to our most pressing local environmental challenges. We work strategically and passionately to conserve and restore the natural resources of Pierce County. Our work improves both rural and urban communities to benefit the health and well-being of our citizens. We work in six core program areas: Water Quality Improvement, Farm Assistance, Habitat Restoration, Urban Agriculture, Environmental Education, and Climate Resiliency. When you join the Pierce Conservation District staff, you join a team of talented and committed people who are mission-driven and care deeply about improving our environment and our community. The Pierce Conservation District practices equity and inclusion by listening and learning from our valued and diverse communities and being ready to adapt and design more intentional or additional support so that we are equitable in the delivery of our programs and services.
Pierce County includes 1,806 square miles of ceded lands of four Federally recognized Tribes: the Puyallup Tribe, the Nisqually Tribe, the Muckleshoot Tribe, and the Squaxin Island Tribe. We recognize that the traditional and current homelands of these Tribes and their territorial lands, waters, and air are contiguous and transcend U.S. government-established boundaries. This means the quality and abundance of the County’s natural resources directly affects the quality and abundance of natural resources of Tribal Nations. While Pierce Conservation District does not hold federal trust responsibilities, we work to conserve natural resources that are the foundation of a Tribes’ rights to their ceded land. We practice equity by understanding the historical and cultural context of the land we steward, and the people, cultures, and communities the health of the land impacts. By working to restore habitat that is vital to traditional food gathering and cultural practices, this position will help lead the way in our efforts to honor Tribal Treaty Rights. To read our full Equity and Tribal Treaty Statements and learn more about these initiatives, please review our 2021 – 2025 Strategic Plan.
Primary Job Responsibilities
The Habitat Improvement Projects Manager reports to the Habitat Program Director, and is responsible for the following:
- Floodplains for the Future Adaptive Management Team Lead (40% of workplan):
- Implementation of shared monitoring plan through data collection and analysis to provide valuable information for stakeholder groups as they work towards advancing integrated floodplain management solutions for the Puyallup, White and Carbon Rivers.
- Lead attends all meetings to track discussions, data needs, and data sources. Metric data is tracked using Smartsheet, and GIS.
- Data collection, review, compilation and presented to farm, fish, and flood interest groups for refinement.
- Lead the annual two-day Result Summit with all partners and produce the summary and Annual Report.
- Contract Management ($475,000): monthly billing, quarterly reporting, sub-contracts with consultant, and expenditure review with Finance/Admin team.
- Manage Consultant team assisting with implementation of plan
- Landowner Technical Assistance (60% of workplan):
- Develop and manage a habitat improvement technical assistance program, with an emphasis on salmon habitat, that aligns with our strategic plan and the priority basins of the Habitat Improvement Program.
- Respond to public inquiries related to habitat restoration; conduct site visits and provide recommendations on best management practices.
- Create and implement targeted outreach and education opportunities for landowners and other relevant audiences (may include workshops, tours, etc.).
- Develop list of willing landowners and effective projects to improve functioning habitat.
- Manage restoration projects through the initial assessment, funding, project design, permitting, and construction phases.
- Represent and advocate for the Pierce Conservation District at groups such as the WRIA 10/12 Salmon Recovery Lead Entity and other regional partnerships to advance the work of habitat restoration and salmon recovery efforts.
- Lead or assist with grant writing and other funding opportunities.
- Accurately track project budget(s) and restoration metrics.
To Apply:
Visit www.piercecd.org/Jobs.aspx and within the Habitat Improvement Projects Manager job description follow the “Apply Now” link and fill out the form, attaching both a cover letter and resume complete with three (3) professional references.
Application Process: Applications will be reviewed by a diverse hiring panel of District staff and key partners to the Habitat Program. The panel will conduct and initial review of applicants starting September 22nd, with initial interviews to be scheduled the week of September 27th.
Interviews will be 30 – 60 minutes, and will consist of questions from each of the panelists to inform the panel of experience and knowledge in habitat restoration, commitment and contribution to our equity goals, and other topics. The interview is also the candidate’s opportunity to ask the panel probing questions to gauge if the District and the position is a good fit for them.
Position open until filled. First review of applicants is: September 22, 2021
First round of interviews: to be scheduled week of September 27, 2021
Projected Start Date: October 18, 2021