Job Description

DO YOU HAVE A PASSION FOR PROTECTING OPEN SPACES, HABITATS, AND WILDLIFE; DEVELOPING AND EXECUTING STRATEGIC POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS; AND WORKING WITH A VARIETY OF PARTNERS, FROM GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND OFFICIALS TO COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVISTS? DO YOU SHARE OUR VISION FOR EVERY PERSON FROM EVERY ONE OF OUR REGION’S DIVERSE COMMUNITIES DESERVES ACCESS TO RESTORATIVE NATURE, CLEAN WATER AND HEALTHY AIR? Save the Sound is seeking a Land Campaigns Manager to join our dynamic team, working collaboratively to protect and restore Long Island Sound and the watershed lands that sustain it for all people and our wildlife neighbors

WHO WE ARE:

 Save the Sound leads environmental action in your region. We protect the Sound, restore its rivers, fight climate change while building resilient communities, and save endangered lands. We do this in many ways, from legislative advocacy and legal action to engineering, environmental monitoring, and hands-on volunteer efforts. For more than 40 years we’ve been ensuring people can enjoy the healthy, clean, and thriving environment they deserve—today and for generations to come.

Over the same timeframe, the Endangered Lands team has been winning battles to preserve our region’s threatened forests, islands, and riverfronts. We’re tough, tenacious legal experts and effective collaborators, known for our ability to organize and lead coalitions of those who are passionate about protecting ecologically rich forests, marshes, and green spaces endangered by development—the lands that give us quiet places to enjoy, filter our drinking water and protect us from flooding, and sustain wildlife. We’ve conserved 18,500 acres of water company land in the largest single land conservation purchase in the history of Connecticut. Along the way, we secured legal protection for another 40,000 acres and helped develop an incentive system that rewards water companies for conserving land. And, we permanently protected 1,000 acres of coastal forest, known as The Preserve, in Old Saybrook, Essex, and Westbrook. It’s now home to an expanding network of trails that provide hiking and bird-watching for visitors from around the region.

Our goal is to expand our Endangered Lands projects in Connecticut and on Long Island. During the past five years we have led our historic level of land campaigns in leading two land campaigns: Saving Plum Island and Oswegatchie Hills. In addition, we have the opportunity to bring a campaign to protect 10,000 acres of threatened water company land in north-west Connecticut, and to protect and create an urban nature park in Hamden, CT adjacent to an underserved, historically African American and West Indian community. A key focus of our strategic plan is to assure we are protecting lands that are near and accessible to environmental justice communities.

Our organizational leadership and staff are working to deepen Save the Sound’s diversity, equity, and inclusion. We seek to attract a more diverse applicant pool. We seek to add and retain more outstanding people of color to all levels of our team. We work in diverse communities and landscapes, and are actively working to increase our focus on driving environmental justice action for equitable outcomes within diverse communities through our work.

THE POSITION:

The Land Campaigns Manager is the program lead of our Endangered Lands Team. The position is a full- time, exempt position based out of our Connecticut office and reports to the Chief Program Officer. The Land Campaigns Manager focuses on generating and implementing advocacy campaigns and the strategies that make them successful. He/she creates and manages the outreach, education, and advocacy aspects of our land protection efforts—building public, grassroots and grasstops support, fostering collective engagement and action, and forging partnerships among land conservation organizations, academic institutions, businesses, and other organizations that are often necessary for successful land conservation. Lastly, they strengthen political-will to make long-term preservation of open space, habitats and drinking-water, watershed lands a reality.

In addition to developing and managing the pieces of our land campaigns, the Manager directly advocates for our conservation projects at local, county, state and federal levels of government, seeking varieties of legislative, regulatory, financial, technical, and management support.

The Manager works closely with our legal and communications teams to develop and implement integrated strategies and work plans for each of our land projects. Depending on the complexity and scope of a particular land project, the Manager may supervise other land coordinators assigned to the project.

Save the Sound will provide a laptop computer, access to our company server, and remote IT support as needed. All company meetings are taking place on Zoom or via conference call at this time and into the foreseeable future.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

·       Develop advocacy campaign work plans.

·       Build and organize coalitions, and engage their members, to support our land conservation projects.

·       Coordinate steering committees of coalitions, including leading meetings and producing meeting agendas.

·       Communicate with commissions, agencies, and local, county, state and federal officials, legislators and staff.

·       Understand and utilize various outreach methods in our land campaigns: door-to-door canvassing, community presentations and charrettes, surveys, mailers, tours of sites, phone banking, and other stakeholder engagement activities.

·       Understand and utilize various advocacy and communications methods, such as: factsheets, e- newsletters, e-action alerts, e-petitions, various social media, video, blog articles, press releases & press conferences, and website development.

·       Understand the basics of land transactions, and participate in negotiations with landowners, municipalities, decision-makers, and other entities, involved in particular land conservation transactions.

·       Identify new and feasible land conservation projects for the future, especially those that may benefit a nearby environmental justice community.

·       Serve as an organizational spokesperson on land issues, including but not limited to Save the Sound’s land projects, federal and state legislation, and press and media inquiries.

·       Write, develop, and edit white papers, sign-on letters, various reports, and MOU’s.

·       Manage contractors, consultants, and pro bono vendors who may be utilized on a land campaign, and assist in the creation of contracts with these entities.

·       Develop and give presentations (in-person and virtual) for many different audiences, including: stakeholder groups, coalitions, legislators & agencies, boards of trustees, foundations and donors, etc.

·       Work closely with the development team to identify potential new donors and foundations.

·       Assist in the writing and editing of grant applications, donor letters and newsletters, and meet with prospective and existing donors.

·       Supervise and manage other Endangered Lands coordinators, setting goals and objectives, and monitoring progress. Participate in the performance evaluation process of these employees.

Review employee’s timesheets, lobbying hours, and leave requests. Participate in the hiring and orientation of new employees.

·       Identify, supervise, and manage interns working on our land projects.

·       Assist in developing and monitoring the program’s annual budget, tracking and analyzing financial results, and producing variance analyses as requested.

·       Track state and federal lobbying hours, and stay abreast of lobbying and registering requirements in states where we work. Lobby in support of legislation and policy that supports our lands work.

·       Participate in various internal Save the Sound meetings and committees, and strategic planning processes.

·       Represent Save the Sound in coalitions, work groups, and committees in the broader community that relate to your work.

·       Create and maintain various lists of coalition members, stakeholders, legislators and staff, and event attendees, and work with the development staff to assure these contacts are entered into our online systems.

DESIRED CHARACTERISTICS AND QUALIFICATIONS:

·       Strategic and creative thinker.

·       Demonstrated interest, knowledge, and experience in managing political, outreach, and/or advocacy campaigns, and understands the basic principles and mechanics of land conservation.

·       Self-motivated and ability to work in a team atmosphere.

·       Works independently and is comfortable working in a fast-paced environment on multiple land projects simultaneously.

·       Excellent written, verbal communication, and presentation skills, including the ability to communicate clearly about complex issues in a way that is engaging to multiple audiences.

·       Possesses many core management skills, such as planning, organizing, strategic thinking, decision-making, problem-solving, relationship-building, self-awareness, and resilience.

·       Possesses many people management skills, such as patience, ability to relate, good communication, flexibility, positivity, interest in others, ability to listen, approachability, honesty and trust, accountability and constructive criticism.

·       Demonstrated knowledge of, and experience working with, public agencies, non-profit organizations, municipalities, and elected officials.

·       Possesses negotiation skills which are beneficial at multiple levels in land conservation transactions and dealings.

·       Proficient at using Word, Adobe, Excel, Every Action, and social media channels.

·       Ability to travel in Connecticut and New York, to participate in evening meetings and presentations, and to work on occasional weekend days.

COMMON ORGANIZATION JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

·       Maintaining positive and productive working relationships with all Save the Sound staff members, including providing and receiving constructive feedback.

·       Participating in building productive relationships with CFE/Save the Sound's members, external partners, policy makers, and the general public.

·       Completing all administrative work on time, such as time sheets, purchase orders, project reports and planning documents.

COVID‐19 CONSIDERATIONS: Due to the COVID‐19 pandemic, only Save the Sound team members who need access to the office are currently coming into the New Haven and New York offices, with the remainder of the organization working remotely.

COMPENSATION: Salary is commensurate with experience. Comprehensive benefits package includes health insurance, 403b, life and long term disability insurance, paid holidays, vacations, and opportunities for professional development.

TO APPLY:

INTERESTED CANDIDATES SHOULD E‐MAIL A RESUME, COVER LETTER, AND THE NAMES OF THREE REFERENCES TO LAND@SAVETHESOUND.ORG WITH THE WORDS “LAND CAMPAIGNS MANAGER” IN THE SUBJECT LINE. APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED UNTIL POSITION IS FILLED STARTING MARCH 15, 2021. WE ARE A THOUGHTFUL AND THOROUGH ORGANIZATION. WE WILL BE IN TOUCH TO ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF YOUR APPLICATION AND TO SCHEDULE SELECTED APPLICANTS FOR AN INTERVIEW. OUR HIRING PROCESS CAN TAKE FROM 7 TO 10 WEEKS. YOU WILL BE INFORMED WHEN THE HIRING PROCESS IS COMPLETE. PLEASE BE PATIENT.

Save the Sound is an equal opportunity employer. We prohibit discrimination based on age, color, disability, marital or parental status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status or any other legally protected status in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. 

Company Description

Save the Sound was founded in 1972 as the Long Island Sound Taskforce to preserve and protect the Sound. In 2004, CFE and Save the Sound merged, with Save the Sound incorporated as a program within CFE. Since the merger, CFE and Save the Sound have successfully fought threats to Connecticut's environment and Long Island Sound and worked to improve our land, air, and water.