Senior Manager, Tree Equity Alliance

This role offers a remarkable opportunity to shape and contribute to the Tree Equity movement across America.  

How You’ll Make an Impact: 
Success in your first 1-2 years will be demonstrated by: 

• Successful onboarding and engagement of 5-10 new members of the Alliance 
• Excellence in execution of the identified strategic initiatives of the Alliance, including launch of cohesive, high visibility communications and advocacy plans.
• Developed and maintained efficient internal systems for managing TEA operations, including productive meetings, tracking deliverables, and implementing a structured work plan with measurable outcomes across partners.
• Led development of 3-5 products that advance Tree Equity best practice delivery to the field and/or advocacy partners 
• Built deep, trusted relationships with core partners, AF staff, and external stakeholders, and established the Tree Equity Alliance as a credible and influential coalition in the national urban forestry and equity space.

Responsibilities: 

Responsibilities will include but are not limited to: 

Partnership Coordination and Support (40%)  

• Identify and connect AF’s and Tree Equity Alliance partners’ expertise – e.g., workforce development, community power-building, grantmaking and other technical assistance – and develop strategies to deliver such expertise to the field as a way of reducing redundancies and maximizing impact of each other’s Tree Equity efforts.
• Create productive and impactful ways to convene partners, facilitate discussions and implement shared goals and deliverables around above outcomes, including structured work-planning and assigning roles and responsibilities.
• Remain accountable for driving forward efforts with respective partners’ policy, programs and communications teams to advance the above activities, owning and leading each step of the process.
• Lead at least annual review of TEA budget and budgeting activity with core partners for upcoming collective initiatives to project expenses and inform fundraising goals. 
• With a goal of facilitating short-term successes around the above areas of work, collaborate with Senior Director, Strategy and Partnerships on partnership outreach and implementation of expansion model that ensures alignment with the values and goals of the Alliance partners and workplan.

Communications and Advocacy Initiatives (40%) 

• Conceptualize, build out and coordinate a long-term communication and outreach plan for the Tree Equity Alliance, to establish the leadership of the Alliance and key communications partners, and to build awareness of the need for and impactful nature of Tree Equity.
• Lead the partners’ Communications teams and/or any dedicated communications consultants towards implementation of these products and strategies.
• Collaborate on the production of foundational collateral for communicating about the Tree Equity Alliance, its vision, initiatives, and updates through a variety of media, including web, newsletters, social media, presentations, and print
• Lead implementation of policy agenda and advocacy opportunities that arise out of Tree Equity Alliance collaboration and ongoing IRA coordination.

Administration and Operations (20%)  

• Create and manage an ongoing cadence of Tree Equity Alliance meetings, including scheduling, inviting, and developing agendas for member organizations, as well as creating additional calls or subgroups as the Alliance scales and takes on new areas of work.
• Handle day-to-day Alliance administration on behalf of American Forests, including developing budgets for ongoing TEA needs, making administrative and operational decisions in partnership with the Senior Director, Strategy and Partnerships and member organizations to see through those decisions.
• Oversee and manage TEA deliverables of consultants, internal AF staff, and TEA member teams as necessary.

Qualifications: 

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

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field is required. Additional experience accepted in lieu of. 
• At least 5 years of experience in forestry, urban planning, community development and/or community organizing.
• Demonstrated history of working collaboratively to achieve shared outcomes in national and regional coalitions and partnerships.
• Experience in leading or facilitating high-level meetings with nonprofit leaders.
• Experience in or familiarity with the non-profit conservation community is preferred.

American Forests’ Core Competencies: 

• Attitude: Brings a positive outlook to 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. 

Working Conditions, Salary, and Benefits: 

• This is a fully remote position. Up to 15% of travel throughout the U.S. and/or to American Forests’ headquarters in Washington D.C. may be required. 
• The individual must be comfortable with prolonged periods of sitting and/or standing at a desk and working on a computer. Reasonable accommodation may be made to provide access to all individuals along the continuum of human ability and experience.

American Forests is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law. 

Reasonable accommodations may be made to provide access to all individuals along the continuum of human ability and experience.  

Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran/LGBTQ+ 

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In accordance with federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, and reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible State or local Agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information is also available in languages other than English.