Southern Rockies Stewardship Director Job Opening

American Whitewater is hiring a new Southern Rockies Stewardship Director, following the announcement of the previous Director moving on to a new role with the State of Colorado. The Southern Rockies Stewardship Director role is a full-time position. The location of the position may vary within the state of Colorado, and the Director works from a home office. The Director reports to American Whitewater’s National Stewardship Director, and benefits from significant support and collaboration with AW staff, board members, and active regional volunteers.

Position Description: The Director represents American Whitewater in strategically selected regional river conservation and access issues. These issues include water supply and demand management, public land and river management, community planning / river access, and policy issues that affect the region. This highly diverse workload requires review and comment on technical and legal documents, participation in multi-party negotiations, and significant collaboration with volunteers and partner organizations. At times, based on expertise and capacity, the Director will engage on national policy initiatives and cross-region collaboration with other staff and partners. The Director may be expected to fulfill leadership roles in coalitions, campaigns, and other multi-organizational efforts.

In addition to the direct program work, the Director communicates their work to AW members via the AW website, social media, AW journal, in-person presentations, and reports. The Director, with support from other AW staff and board members, is responsible for ensuring the sustainable funding of the regional program through grant writing, major donor relations, event planning, and other membership outreach. 

Responsibilities

• - Work to accomplish the objectives of American Whitewater’s mission;
• - Identify and achieve outputs and outcomes of key funding agreements;
• - Represent American Whitewater in high level water allocation negotiations, access issues, and on policy matters at the state level in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona.
• - Represent American Whitewater in regional and national forums (conferences, journals, media);
• - Represent American Whitewater in national and regional coalitions; in general, coalition work will continue to be divided by areas of expertise among policy staff;
• - Help shape state and federal agency policy to ensure that whitewater recreation is on the table in all relevant conservation debates;
• - Develop, maintain, and work with an effective volunteer work force;
• - Collaborate with other staff on membership, fundraising, and housekeeping activities essential to the long-term viability of American Whitewater;
• - Conduct site visits to key projects;
• - Identify, solicit, and track funding opportunities to support regional work; write grant proposals, presentations and reports.

Travel

• - Regional and national travel expected, at times up to 50% of work days, including some weekend and overnight travel, mostly within Colorado.

Qualifications

• - Proven background with local, regional and National river conservation and access work.  Special consideration given for expertise in water allocation, western water law, access law, river protection laws and policies, fisheries, river ecology, hydrology, hydropower, and similar fields;
• - Graduate degree in natural resource management, law, policy, environmental science, or other relevant field;
• - Experience working with non-profit river groups, agencies, local landowners, and recreational groups. Knowledge of local rivers, issues, and key constituencies including paddlers and paddling clubs;
• - Self-starter, able to independently manage a regional field office and work independently on day to day issues;
• - Excellent organizational and management skills including communications, teamwork and small office management and support;
• - Proven ability to interact successfully with a broad range of people;
• - Ability to travel for work and represent American Whitewater on some evenings and weekends;
• - Excellent written and oral communications skills;
• - Strong computer and internet skills; and
• - Knowledge of regional watersheds and familiarity with regional whitewater recreation opportunities.

Compensation and Benefits

• - Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.
• - Benefits include significant employer 403(b) contributions
• - Paid vacation and sick leave provided
• - Some home office and all travel expenses covered

To apply send a resume and cover letter to kevin@americanwhitewater.org with the subject heading "Southern Rockies Director" by March 1, 2019. This position will remain open until filled.