Senior Representative for Youth Programs

Founded in 1935, The Wilderness Society (TWS) is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for wild places. We believe America's public lands belong to and should benefit all of us. We strive to ensure our organization and work embodies the culture and perspectives of different people and communities across our nation, and connects and inspires people to care about the outdoors.

TWS works to connect people to public lands through its People Outdoors Program. One focus area of this program is connecting young people to the outdoors. We want young people to have transformative experiences on America's public lands that instill a love for the outdoors that continues throughout their lives. Toward that end, TWS is launching a new Youth in Wilderness program in 2018. TWS seeks an individual to develop, lead and grow our Youth in Wilderness program.

As the Senior Representative for Youth Programs, you will work with TWS' partner organizations across the country to design and/or help implement outdoor programs for youth ages 13-18. These programs will combine immersive multiday outdoor experiences with education about the history and value of public lands and how to advocate for them. Through these programs, you will provide young people with wilderness experiences and engage them with public lands issues, helping to build the next generation of public lands advocates. Each of the programs engages a diverse group of youth from different socioeconomic and racial backgrounds, helping advance TWS' goal of making the outdoors more inclusive and fostering a more diverse community of conservation champions.

The Senior Representative position will play an important role in supporting an inclusive organizational culture that is grounded in trust and accountability to shared goals and outcomes.  TWS has made diversity, equity, and inclusion strategic priorities for the organization and the Senior Representative will integrate these priorities throughout our Youth in Wilderness work.  Across our team, we aspire to be campaign oriented, nimble, collaborative, innovative, transparent, and supportive of staff – our greatest asset. 

**This position is located in Washington, DC.  However, Colorado, New Mexico, Seattle, and New England areas may be considered.  Please indicate your location preference in the application**

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

•    Work collaboratively with three partner organizations to jointly develop immersive, multiday outdoor experiences for youth ages 13-18. Participate in the development of program descriptions, plans, itineraries, and educational content.

•    Develop an understanding of our partners' organizational missions and the unique qualities that define the region in which they operate, including the cultural landscape, the regional relationship to land, and the socioeconomic realities of the populations served.

•    Assist partner organizations with program delivery. Participate in the field portion of programs on a limited basis when desirable and practical.

•    Monitor implementation of these programs, and develop methods for evaluating program effectiveness and success.

•    Manage the TWS Youth in Wilderness program budget with the support of the TWS Finance Team.

•    Work collaboratively with partner organizations to jointly develop and implement a plan for collecting stories from program participants and sharing them through TWS and partner social media channels.

•    Act as an ambassador for TWS and develop relationships with key stakeholders in the targeted program locations with an eye towards increasing the impact and effectiveness of these programs.

•    Support TWS’ policy and advocacy work directed at getting more youth outdoors. Develop strategies for using the Youth in Wilderness program to illustrate the value of expanding outdoor recreation and education opportunities for young people.

QUALIFICATIONS

You believe strongly in the value of immersive outdoor recreation and education on America's public lands, and you love to provide these experiences to young people. You understand the connection between passion for the outdoors and a willingness to engage in conservation advocacy. You welcome the challenge of developing new programs and also enjoy working with existing programs to take them to a higher level. You have extensive experience leading programs in the field and are ready for more of a management role. You are highly collaborative, well-organized, focused, and professional. You are also flexible and adaptable and able to recognize different ways of achieving the same goal. You have a sense of humor and a passion for adventure. If this sounds like you, we want to hear from you.

Experience, Competencies, and Education

•    Four to eight years of experience developing and leading field-based outdoor education programs for young people. Experience should include curriculum development for a variety of program types. Experience with youth age 13-18 preferred but not required.

•    A track record of working successfully with partner organizations on joint programs in pursuit of shared goals. Experience working with the federal land and water management agencies preferred but not required.

•    Substantial experience and a passion for evaluating the effectiveness of outdoor programs, and an ability to adapt programs to make them more impactful.

•    Budget management experience that has prepared you to track program expenses and manage program budgets to ensure fiscal accountability.

•    Strong writing and communications skills that will enable you to collaborate effectively and prepare program reports, website and social media content and other correspondence with minimal supervision or review.

•    Networking skills that will enable you to be an effective ambassador for TWS.

•    An interest in supporting advocacy campaigns directed at getting more youth outdoors.

•    A track record of working successfully in teams representing a rich mix of talent, backgrounds, and perspectives—across race and gender, and an ability to lead with humility when entering communities or working within other cultures. 

•    A willingness and ability to travel within the U.S. Travel will be required 10-25% of the time.

The Wilderness Society offers a competitive salary and benefits package, including: health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance; sick and vacation leave; a sabbatical program; and a retirement plan. The salary range for this position is $63,000 to $72,000 per year. TWS is an equal opportunity employer and actively works to ensure fair treatment of our employees and constituents across culture, socioeconomic status, race, marital or family situation, gender, age, ethnicity, religious beliefs, physical ability, veteran status or sexual orientation.

As an organization, we aspire to being inclusive in the work that we do, and in the kind of organization we are.  Internally this means working as a team that listens to different points of view, recognizes the contributions of every employee and empowers each employee to bring their whole selves to work every day.  Externally this means ensuring that public lands are inclusive and welcoming, so that our shared wildlands can help people and nature to thrive.  We are committed to equity throughout our work, which we define as our commitment to realizing the promise of our public lands and ensuring that all can share in their universal benefits.

To learn more about our commitment, please see http://wilderness.org/our-commitment-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-wilderness-society

For consideration, please submit your resume through our online application system by clicking on the "apply" link on the top of the page.