Senior Director, Urban Forestry Strategy

Since 2018, American Forests (AF) has been supporting communities by using the power of trees to address environmental injustices faced by the country’s most disadvantaged communities. With this, American Forests created a bold goal of delivering the needed technical expertise, workforce and funding opportunities, and policy guidance to help U.S. cities commit to and make progress towards Tree Equity across the country, with over 150 and counting.    

Our new Senior Director of Urban Forestry Strategy will serve as a trusted advisor and “deputy” to the Chief Program Officer of Tree Equity to ensure internal integration and refine and advance a cross-cutting strategy to deliver Tree Equity to the field. That is, the Senior Director will:  

• Develop and lead our “ground game” to help cities and states achieve Tree Equity, while adopting AF’s and our partners’ tools and resources;
• Have established relationships with key urban and community forestry sector partners, including the US Forest Service other relevant state and national forestry networks, and have comfort expanding relationships with community partners, city and state leaders and urban-focused networks; and 
• Manage AF’s urban forestry national (two Directors) and place-based experts (“Regional Directors”) in the Pacific Northwest, Southwest and East Coast regions to start, with a “business development” mindset to grow our technical assistance activities.

The Senior Director and their own “deputy” (Director of Field Operations and Planting) will additionally ensure seamless internal coordination and accountability among AF’s Tree Equity youth and workforce development, community engagement, research, GIS, and Federal Policy teams as they support our larger program goals.  Finally, the Senior Director will serve as a vital partner to the Director of Program Operations and Administration, particularly around budgets and process implementation.   

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES 

Responsibilities will include but are not limited to: 

Urban Forestry Leadership And Field Delivery (50%)  

• Provide strategic leadership and guidance to a growing team of 3-6 “field delivery” professionals responsible for interfacing with state and city leaders, state forestry agencies, and urban forestry practitioners to advance local Tree Equity plans and programs. 
• Refine AF’s urban forestry activities, from offering best practices in local planning, tree care and planting efforts, to growing peer-to-peer networks, to establishing and growing place-based partnerships in Washington State/Pacific Northwest region, Arizona/Southwest region, the Midwest and East Coast, to start. 
• Ensure best practices in urban forestry and field delivery are integrated across Tree Equity program areas, including those dedicated to youth and workforce development, data science and research, frontline and environmental justice organization engagement, community grantmaking, federal funding opportunities, and the coalitions and networks in which AF leads and participates (Tree Equity Alliance, Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition, the Urban & Community Forestry Society, Society of American Foresters and the like.). 
• Oversee a system of prospecting, managing, tracking cities, states and relevant partners and networks to ensure quality relationship management, to build awareness of Tree Equity and garner local Tree Equity commitments. Deliver cohesive resources to those city, state and regional leaders to help them make progress, especially in alignment with forestry, climate resilience, mobility, health, and economic priorities of those communities.  

Systems Thinking, Thought Leadership and External Relations (25%) 

• Cultivate and manage relationships with key leaders, organizations, and initiatives that deliver urban forestry, climate, and city planning practices, policies and funding to communities. Key stakeholders include federal and state U.S. Forest Service and EPA staff and researchers, the National Association of State Foresters, Tree City USA members, Urban and Community Forestry Society, Environmental Council of the States, US Conference of Mayors, Urban Sustainability Directors Network, and the like.
• Stay abreast of the urban and community forestry sector and related fields (e.g., urban policy and planning, environmental justice, climate resilience, land use) and use a systems thinking approach to continuously improve team strategy, including service delivery, new partnerships, and innovative opportunities to advance our goals
• Alongside Chief Program Officer, represent American Forests’ Tree Equity initiative in both internal and external settings, events, meetings, and appearances; analyze and synthesize crucial information and content from the program team for grant, Board and other forms of reporting, briefings and presentations. 

Internal Coordination and Management; Fundraising and Grants Administration (25%) 

• Alongside the Chief Program Officer, Director of Program Operations and Administration, and the Philanthropy teams, serve as a point person to partner with key private and public funders to develop six- to eight-figure opportunities for American Forests and its partners.
• Inform and stay abreast of AF’s Tree Equity strategic vision and the status of discrete workplans and deliverables required to achieve them, as well as how these track against team budgets; ensure team compliance of deliverables and KPIs with related funding sources. 
• Advise, make recommendations, and follow through on decisions around the larger implementation of the Tree Equity program, alongside the Chief Program Officer, to ensure smooth operations and impacts.

QUALIFICATIONS 

While we do not expect any one candidate to possess all of these qualifications, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal skills and qualities: 

• 10+ years of work experience in urban forestry, sustainability and/or urban planning, with established knowledge and relationships with regional and national leaders and funders in the urban forestry field.
• Experience working directly with or in the U.S. Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry office and/or related programs, public agencies or positions a plus. 
• Bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture, urban planning, forestry, ecology, or a related field required; arboriculture certification desired.
• Experience growing and managing a high-performing team in a remote environment, including developing and driving forward KPIs. 
• Commitment to proactively pursue technical assistance and revenue generation opportunities, high visibility partnerships with political and national leaders, and results around Tree Equity at multiple scales. 
• Experience either directly managing or being accountable for diverse and complex budgets and grants, including both private and public funding; strong acumen in persuasive writing, policy research or grant writing; ease of working with Marketing and Communications and Philanthropy teams.
• Comfort with public speaking and managing change in a dynamic, fast-moving organization.

AMERICAN FORESTS’ CORE COMPETENCIES: 

• Attitude: Brings a positive outlook to the work and helps inspire others to achieve excellence. 
• Communication: Produces strong written documents, edits documents effectively, engages in effective verbal communication—1-on-1 and small group—and conducts effective large group presentations. 
• Organization: Prioritizes tasks effectively, accomplishes tasks efficiently, follows through on all commitments, breaks down large projects to make them manageable, and effectively manages complex projects involving multiple actors. 
• Problem-Solving & Creativity: Identifies issues, effectively structures problems, analyzes data to produce insights, and generates wise, actionable recommendations. Understands the limited resources available and produces creative solutions. 
• Representing the Organization: Serves as an effective ambassador, builds connections, and maintains relationships with outside partners, vendors and donors. Brings credibility to the organization in how they present themselves.