SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR, AGRICULTURE--The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy
JOB DESCRIPTION
(Job ID # 13390)


POSITION TITLE: SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR, AGRICULTURE
JOB TITLE: Senior Policy Advisor
JOB FAMILY: External Affairs/Government Relations
JOB NUMBER: 750002
SALARY GRADE: 9
FLSA STATUS: Exempt
LOCATION: Arlington, VA
SUPERVISOR: Director, U.S. Government Relations
DATE: August 22, 2011


BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
• Bachelor’s degree in political science, environmental policy, or related field and 4 years of senior government relations/external affairs experience
• Federal agency or congressional staff experience.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
The Senior Policy Advisor, Agriculture develops, coordinates and implements a strategy to further the work of the Conservancy and its conservation partners through direct interaction with U.S. government, national, and multi- and bi-lateral agencies focusing on policy and funding initiatives that provide conservation opportunities and/or impact our conservation programs. S/he will lead the Conservancy’s Advocacy efforts on the 2012 Farm Bill, working directly with U.S. House and Senate Agriculture Committees, other Members of Congress and their staffs, and senior USDA officials. S/he will play a lead role in implementing the Conservancy’s strategies for engaging in the Farm Bill, including regulations and appropriations. S/he identifies conservation policy and funding opportunities, evaluates the potential for TNC and NGO partner involvement, and develops and implements strategies to influence policy and public funding for conservation at the national and/or global level.

The Senior Policy Advisor, Agriculture liaisons with counterparts in the Conservancy’s U.S. Government Relations or International Government Relations departments and with Operating Units to provide and extract useful lessons and experience and to coordinate on joint policy approaches and strategies. S/he also serves as contact with the external professional community in the policy arena to keep abreast of new developments and opportunities that may be useful to the Conservancy and to report on and share the Conservancy’s experiences with others. The Senior Policy Advisor, Agriculture provides expert policy analysis and contributes directly to the Conservancy’s public funding strategies by providing input for proposal writing, negotiating with bilateral and multilateral agencies, influencing federal appropriations, and donor cultivation as needed.

KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS:
• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field and 6-8 years of senior relevant experience.
• Federal agency or congressional staff experience.
• Expert knowledge of current trends in relevant policy discipline.
• Familiarity and experience with the programs and practices of the U.S. Farm Bill and related programs to support and encourage land and water conservation by farmers, ranchers and forest land owners.
• Demonstrated experience conceiving and implementing strategic initiatives.
• Demonstrated excellent project management skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
• Ability to work with partners/government agencies without violating any restrictions related to conflicts of interest, lobbying former employers, or influencing decision makers.



COMPLEXITY/PROBLEM SOLVING:
• Diagnoses complex problems and identifies creative solutions.
• Cultivates the creative ideas of others to identify potential solutions. Experiments to find creative solutions – thinks outside the box.
• Designs, implements, and directs complex and diverse projects, encompassing multiple programs and coordinating the work of other professionals inside and outside the organization. Incorporates cross-disciplinary knowledge to support program objectives.
• Negotiates complex high profile or sensitive agreements.

DISCRETION/LATITUDE/DECISION-MAKING:
• Significant opportunity to act independently within broad program goals.
• Makes strategic decisions based on analysis, experience and judgment.
• Decisions may have program-wide impact.

RESPONSIBILITY/OVERSIGHT – FINANCIAL AND SUPERVISORY:
• May supervises administrative and professional staff with responsibility for performance management, training and development.
• Responsibility and accountability for meeting departmental strategic goals and objectives.

COMMUNICATIONS/INTERPERSONAL CONTACTS:
• Ability to communicate professionally with a wide variety of people from different cultures.
• Strong communications and presentation skills. Ability to prepare and present project proposals and negotiate with federal, bilateral and multilateral agencies to achieve program goals. Ability to persuasively convey the mission of TNC to diverse groups including key legislators, government officials and others who are critical to the Conservancy’s overall public funding strategies.
• Work in partnership with other organizations in a collaborative and advisory capacity.
• Effectively directs and or participates in complex negotiations.
• Develops constructive and effective working relationships inside and outside the Conservancy.

WORKING CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL EFFORT:
• Willingness to travel 25-40% of time.
• Work requires only minor physical exertion and/or physical strain. Work environment involves only infrequent exposure to disagreeable elements.

The Nature Conservancy
4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203

The Nature Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer

To apply go to http://www.nature.org/careers, click on “How to Apply” and then on “View Positions”. Search for position number 13390, Senior Policy Advisor, Agriculture. Complete on-line application and then submit resume and cover letter as one document. Please clarify salary required. All applications must be submitted in the system prior to 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on July 29, 2011.

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