Land Protection Lead

The Land Protection Lead will deploy land protection and associated tactics to help The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire materially contribute toward our organization’s conservation goals (https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/). They will work closely with the Director of Conservation and other team members to identify, develop, and complete a suite of high-impact land protection and associated land conservation projects, including tasks such as landowner outreach, negotiation and project management, grant writing, securing community support, due diligence, and project completion. An increasing amount of our land protection work focuses on supporting entities like land trusts and local conservation partnerships toward achieving shared goals. The Land Protection Lead will lead these efforts, including serving as TNC’s representative in collaborations and networks, sharing TNC’s regional science, identifying and leading strategic opportunities for building partner capacity, and tracking impacts. They will also serve as a strategist and thought leader in our Business Unit to help increase the pace and scale with which we are protecting priority lands identified through TNC’s regional science, and to identify opportunities for using land protection as a tactic for advancing other strategic priorities such as carbon sequestration, freshwater conservation, and reducing the risk of flooding. A large focus of the Land Protection Lead’s time will be directed toward conservation goals in New Hampshire’s portion of the Appalachians, a global priority landscape for The Nature Conservancy. See: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/priority-landscapes/appalachians/

RESPONSIBILITIES & SCOPE

•    Conduct landowner outreach, identify land protection opportunities, and develop the information needed to screen opportunities based on our strategic priorities.
•    In collaboration with relevant TNC staff, identify and evaluate the merits of a range of potential vehicles for long-term protection including fee simple, conservation easement, and other less-than-fee options.
•    Negotiate land protection project terms, contracts and, where appropriate, develop conservation easement terms with landowners and partners.
•    Develop project budgets, identify public funding opportunities, develop, and submit grant applications, and work with TNC philanthropy staff to identify private fundraising needs.
•    Follow TNC protocols to solicit, negotiate and contract with vendors for appraisals, surveys, environmental hazard assessments, and other due diligence associated with land protection projects.
•    Manage land protection projects to completion including TNC’s internal project review and database entry procedures. 
•    Maintain and strengthen our land conservation partnerships to increase the pace and scale with which we are helping others protect priority landscapes.
•    Work with our Conservation Coordinator and Spatial Scientist to track the impacts of our partnership efforts.
•    Through participation in working groups, both within the NH Business Unit and across regional TNC entities, serve as a subject-matter expert in helping to identify the role of land protection as a tactic in meeting our target conservation outcomes, including our commitment to equitable conservation.
•    Identify and help lead opportunities to pilot innovative land conservation strategies and finance mechanisms such as utilizing carbon markets and other ecosystem service payments.
•    Support the Director of Conservation in deploying our available resources to have maximum conservation impact including tracking our portfolio of land protection opportunities, identifying key deliverables/milestones, developing timelines to allow management of multiple projects simultaneously, and effectively communicating with NH Business Unit staff.
•    May supervise TNC staff, contractors, seasonal employees, volunteers, and interns.
•    Serve on external TNC working groups and committees consistent with expertise.
•    Independently communicate our work with internal and external audiences, including staff, Trustees, donors, members, partners, and public officials. 
•    Travel throughout NH, sometimes evening and weekend hours.
 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

•    Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in natural resources management, conservation, business, law or another related field of study and 3-5 years of experience in conservation, real estate, or other related field.
•    Experience negotiating real estate agreements and demonstrated ability to bring negotiations and projects to closure.  
•    Experience managing multiple projects and timelines.
•    Experience communicating with the public including landowners and community groups both in writing and verbally.
•    Experience working with computers using applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and Web Browsers.
•    Valid driver’s license.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

•    Experiencing managing 1 or more direct reports
•    Multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
•    Experience drafting and interpreting conservation easement language.
•    Ability to use ESRI GIS software to visualize spatial data.
•    Ability to explain conservation practices to technical and non-technical audiences.
•    Knowledge of current trends and practices in conservation, land protection, and natural resource preservation. 
•    Politically savvy and experienced in partnership development (partners, community, government).