SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR, FISH AND WILDLIFE--The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy
JOB DESCRIPTION


POSITION TITLE: SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR, FISH AND WILDLIFE
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, Federal Land Programs
DATE: October 1, 2011


BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
• Bachelor’s degree in political science, environmental policy, or related field and 5 years of senior government relations/external affairs experience.
• Federal agency or congressional staff experience.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
The Senior Policy Advisor 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 state agencies focusing on policy and funding initiatives that provide conservation opportunities and/or impact our conservation programs. 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 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. S/he also serves as a contact with the external professional community in the policy arena with a focus on fish and wildlife 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 provides expert policy analysis and contributes directly to the Conservancy’s public funding strategies by providing input for proposal writing, negotiating with federal agencies, influencing federal appropriations, and donor cultivation as needed.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS SPECIFIC TO THE POSITION:
• Develop and advance a policy and project funding agenda for the Conservancy with respect to the authorities, programs and land management decisions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
• Support engagement of the Conservancy’s field offices and work in coordination with the U.S. Government Relations Interior Team in landscape level planning efforts at broad scale and across multiple jurisdictions.
• Work with related staff to develop a policy and advocacy strategy to revitalize federal land acquisition programs and federal partnership grant programs.
• Generate a stream of public dollars to fund the protection of conservation areas identified through ecoregional planning and efforts such as the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative by influencing agency budget requests and congressional appropriations, including such programs as the Cooperative Endangered Species Fund and State and Tribal Wildlife Grants.
• Track legislative and rulemaking activities that may impact FWS lands, policies or programs and coordinate the Conservancy’s response across interested field offices and operating units.
• Maintain strong partnerships with state fish and wildlife agencies.
• Work with other organizations in the private sector including hunting and fishing groups to create partnerships and resolve conflicts that are adversely affecting wildlife and wild lands.

KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS:
• Bachelor’s degree in political science, environmental policy, or relevant field and 5-6 years of senior government relations/external affairs or relevant experience, or a combination of education and experience.
• Federal agency or congressional staff experience.
• Expert knowledge of current trends in relevant policy discipline.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
• Experience conceiving and implementing strategic initiatives.
• Project management experience including coordinating the work of other professionals inside and outside an organization.
• Experience preparing and presenting project proposals.
• 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.
• Ability to work with partners/government agencies without violating any restrictions related to conflicts of interest, lobbying former employers, or influencing decision makers.

RESPONSIBILITY/OVERSIGHT – FINANCIAL AND SUPERVISORY:
• May supervise 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

TO APPLY:
Go to http://www.nature.org/careers/ click on “How to Apply: and then on “View Positions”, and search for
Position # 39429, Senior Policy Advisor, Fish and Wildlife. Applicants must complete the on-line application, submit a resume and cover letter as one document, and provide salary requirements. Applications accepted through 11:59 PM on October 28, 2011.

The Nature Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer