Midwest Sentinel Landscape Resilience Specialist
The role of the Midwest Resilience Specialist is to collaborate closely with partners and supporters to identify, implement and accelerate collaborative projects to enhance climate resilience to protect military missions, community infrastructure, and ecosystems. Climate resilience projects are ones that mitigate risks and increase resilience of military installations and the landscapes that overlap mission footprints. The Resilience Specialist will work in close coordination with the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape (SISL) and Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape (CRSL) Coordinators, the Sentinel Landscape Committees, the Sentinel Landscape partners, and military installations to develop collaborative, near-and long-term, climate resilience and adaptation project proposals.
The Midwest Resilience Specialist will report to LegacyWorks Group (LWG or LegacyWorks) and the SISL and CRSL Coordinators to identify climate adaptation and resilience needs. The specialist will work with SISL and CRSL Coordinators to develop projects and pursue complimentary funding streams. At the discretion of the SISL and CRSL Coordinators, the Resilience Specialist may work directly with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) staff on how to utilize NRCS technical and financial assistance programs. In addition to USDA-NRCS, the USFS, USFWS, Tribes, state and local governments would also be sources of TA/FA on ongoing programmatic leverage. The Resilience Specialist will assist the SISL and CRSL Coordinators in updating relevant planning and implementation documents for resilience issues. This position will be based in central or south-central Indiana (Indianapolis, Bloomington, or Columbus areas and require travel throughout both SISL and CRSL with additional regional and national travel. The position will be housed at the Conservation Law Center office at 116 South Indiana Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47408. Conservation Law Center is the host and lead organization of SISL. Remote work is available; however, the Resilience Specialist is expected to be in office at CLC an average of 2 days per week, and attend in person meetings and events within the CRSL 2-3 times per year.
Summary of Responsibilities:
● Support the SISL and CRSL Coordinators and LWG to advance resilience planning and actions.
●Assess and record the state of resilience and climate adaptation planning, projects and priorities of federal, state, and local government agencies, military installations, NGOs, and communities within the SISL and CRSL boundaries.
● Identify, recommend, and pursue funding for individual partner actions that support implementation plans, including administration of grants and contracts. Solicit project ideas and develop proposals for near-term resilience and climate adaptation projects and potential landscape resilience-related scientific research needs that could be implemented in the first 6-12 months to take advantage of newly available funding.
●Coordinate with and support the SISL and CRSL Coordinators in facilitating various partners and any relevant work groups and/or military installations to advance and synchronize resilience coordination, planning, and actions for the Landscape.
● Coordinate with installation environmental staff and USFWS staff to develop resilience strategies that intersect with installation Conservation Benefit Agreements or development thereof.
● At the discretion of the SISL and CRSL coordinators, participate in relevant events, conferences, and meetings.
● Identify climate resilience issues affecting historically underserved stakeholders within SISL and CRSL; recommend actions to mitigate impacts.
● Assist the SISL and CRSL Coordinators in developing reporting metrics and standards for landscapes including climate resilience.
● Prepare quarterly and annual reports as required to report progress on resilience and climate adaptation projects activities.
● Serve as the chair for the SISL Landscape Resiliency Subcommittee
● Serve on the MIRR committee for SISL and work with partners to follow through with recommended implementation opportunities.
Desired Qualifications:
● Strong interpersonal skills
● Strong verbal and written communication skills, to include presentation development
● Strong organization and time management skills
● Experience in working with historically underserved communities
● Advanced degrees or equivalent experiences in natural resource conservation, climate resilience and adaptation, or comparable field
and adaptation, or comparable field
● Experience in coordinating and facilitating diverse interests to achieve large-scale goals.
● Experience in building and managing partnerships
● Experience with the development and administration of federal and/or state grants, agreements, and contracts
● Working knowledge of the military services, and/or Department of Defense
● Familiarity with the local ecology of the landscapes
Hours & Pay
This position is full-time exempt of 40 hours per week. Annual salary range is $60,000 to $70,000 based on relevant qualifications and experience.
Benefits
As a full-time salaried employee you are eligible to participate in the organization’s group medical and dental insurance plans if you elect (at this time, employer contribution is 50% of the cost for the employee only); and eligible for an $80/month home office equipment allocation from LegacyWorks to contribute to the costs of remote work. LegacyWorks also has a 401k plan which you will be eligible to participate in; we do not offer any match contribution at this time.
LegacyWorks has an unlimited paid time off policy that encompasses both holidays and vacation days. This is a trust-based pact between employer and employee and amongst team members, and it is up to each of us to communicate effectively about planning time off and manage this policy responsibly.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Workplace
LegacyWorks is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to cultivating a diverse and inclusive work culture. LegacyWorks Group is committed to increasing the diversity of the team, including board and staff, and continuing to improve compensation and benefits. We welcome candidates of all backgrounds and value life experience and achievements. All employees and applicants for employment are not to be discriminated based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), political affiliation, military service, or other non-merit-based factors.
To Apply
Email a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references to Angela Manavella, angela@legacyworksgroup.com, with Midwest Resilience Specialist in the subject line. Applications are only accepted electronically. Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of the activities, duties, or responsibilities required. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time, with or without notice. This position is funded for a three-year period, with the possibility of extension based on available funding. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled (interviews anticipated for mid-July). The position will ideally have a start date in early September 2024.
About LegacyWorks Group
LegacyWorks Group is proud to serve as the Support Organization for the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership, and in this role manage funding from federal agency partners and serve as the place of employment for Sentinel Landscape employees including Resilience Specialists.
Our team is open-hearted, entrepreneurial, and highly collaborative. Team members have a variety of leadership, facilitation, and project management experience as well as a diversity of cultural and educational backgrounds. We seek curious candidates with big hearts and sharp minds who learn fast. Our team members are comfortable with complex challenges that require collaboration, innovation, diplomacy, relationship building, leadership and high levels of partner and community engagement. We approach new ideas and challenges with optimism and show up open, curious, and committed to learning. Our work requires a commitment to exploring the edges of what is possible and thus requires continuous personal and professional growth.
We seek out high impact opportunities that often will not move forward unless we can play one or more catalytic roles including facilitation, project management, process design, strategy development, planning, leadership development, community engagement, securing and structuring funding or financing, designing, and launching funds, data dashboard development and more.
About the Conservation Law Center
Conservation Law Center (CLC) is a nonprofit public interest law firm. We are lawyers, advocates, and educators who care deeply about the natural world and people’s relationship to it. We work to protect and improve the health, diversity, beauty, and resilience of the planet and defend our shared natural heritage. CLC provides legal support to conservation nonprofits and agencies and works with clients on a wide range of transactional, policy, and litigation matters pertaining to regional, national, and international conservation issues. CLC has particular interest and expertise in several topics including land protection, conservation easements, the Public Trust doctrine, species preservation, and the protection of freshwater ecosystems especially in the Great Lakes region. Climate change challenges are a factor in nearly all the issues we address. CLC also operates the Conservation Law Clinic in partnership with the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University. In that capacity, CLC works with second and third-year law students on its active projects, advising clients and researching legal and policy solutions on conservation issues.
About The Nature Conservancy
Todd Holman is a 20-year program director for The Nature Conservancy, coordinating and convening partners in the development and management of the Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape since 2004. The CRSL and larger Sentinel Landscape program align with and help implement The Nature Conservancy’s mission to “conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends”.