Watauga River Gorge
The Western North Carolina Alliance (WNCA) is seeking an individual to serve as both Regional Director and Watauga Riverkeeper in its high country regional office based in Boone.
For more than 30 years, WNCA has been a trusted community partner, marshaling grassroots support to keep our forests healthy, our air and water clean, and our communities vibrant. With a combination of policy advocacy, scientific research, and community collaboration, the Alliance unleashes the power of citizens’ voices to protect the natural heritage of our region, so that people and the environment can thrive.
Regional offices serve the following functions in their respective regions:
- To be a resource for the public on environmental issues
- To engage, organize, and lead citizens in work/advocacy on local environmental issues and on state and federal issues that are priorities for the organization
- To organize membership outreach events
- To build and maintain relationships with major donors
The Watauga Riverkeeper serves the following functions in its watershed:
- To be a public advocate for the watershed with government agencies, partner groups, the community, and the media, including taking these stakeholders on the river as needed and monitoring, investigating, documenting, and reporting harmful activity
- To create programs and initiatives to improve the watershed and to recruit and manage volunteers to support those programs
- To work in partnership with other NC Riverkeepers on statewide initiatives and the Waterkeeper Alliance on national campaigns that relate to the Watauga River watershed
- To actively seek funding to support Riverkeeper programs and initiatives
To fulfill their duties, the Regional Director/Riverkeeper should be:
- Passionate and committed to preserving the environment, fluent on environmental issues (particularly water), and able to teach and engage people on these issues
- Able to organize, coordinate, and lead people toward a common goal
- Comfortable engaging and leading citizens in policy advocacy at all levels of government
- Comfortable working with a range of people and interests
- Able to build relationships with major donors and other funders
- Able to coordinate with staff working in other locations
- Able to formulate for the region yearly goals, benchmarks, and operating budget.
Therefore, the following are requirements for the Regional Director/Riverkeeper:
- Significant experience with watershed science, stream ecology, Clean Water Act enforcement, environmental policy, or other relevant areas such as conservation, water access and recreation, or environmental advocacy
- Experience in community organizing, membership development, campaigns, or other position requiring coordination of people
- Experience paddling and ability to safely take others on the river
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Good decision-making, problem-solving and interpersonal skills
- Teaching skills
- Ability to work as part of a team as well as independently
- Ability to work on many projects at once and maintain attention to details
- Ability to work across political, social, and economic lines
- A bachelor’s degree
The following are preferred:
- Master’s degree or other advanced degree in a field related to the environment
- Advocacy experience
- Fundraising or membership outreach experience
- Familiarity with Waterkeeper grassroots model and movement
- Experience with online communications tools and video technology
Competitive salary commensurate with experience and excellent benefits package.
How to apply:
Send cover letter, resume and three references to Julie Mayfield, Co-Director, Julie@WNCA.org.
Subject line should read: “Regional Director/Watauga Riverkeeper.”
Application deadline: Aug. 31, 2014
EEO