Land Protection Manager

The Land Protection Manager will work with a multidisciplinary team of environmental, communications, and development professionals to conserve land critical to habitat protection, fostering climate resilience and mitigation, safeguarding drinking water supplies, and preserving farmland. This is an exciting time for Westchester Land Trust, with a greater emphasis on strategic proactive land protection utilizing innovative tools for land protection and funding. The ideal candidate will be an enthusiastic ambassador for Westchester Land Trust that will leverage GIS and other resources to help develop a compelling call to action for land protection and work directly with landowners to protect their land.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
LAND PROTECTION PROJECTS (75%)

• Participate in the update and implementation of the organization’s strategic conservation plan, including GIS cooccurrence modeling and mapping, data collection and analysis, and reporting.
• Implement a new proactive land protection program, based on GIS analysis, conservation partnerships, and funding opportunities. This includes strategic outreach and education to individual, organizational/institutional, and commercial landowners.
• Respond to and assess inbound inquiries regarding land protection opportunities.
• Coordinate and conduct prospective land protection project site visits, evaluate and document conservation values, and determine alignment with WLT’s land protection strategy, strategic plan, and capacity.
• Perform/secure required due diligence (i.e., land surveys, appraisals, title review, Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, etc.).
• Develop detailed land protection project profiles and deal sheets including estimated acquisition, legal, stewardship endowment, and opening costs.
• Develop comprehensive conservation opportunity project profiles for proactive acquisitions and conservation easements.
• Work with Westchester Land Trust’s attorneys to develop tailored conservation easement terms that meet IRS requirements and industry best practices.
• Coordinate real estate closings; maintain highly accurate recordkeeping for all land transactions.
• Integrate with stewardship staff for seamless transitions from land protection projects to nature preserve or conservation easement.
• Serve as the organization’s GIS asset manager. Prepare GIS maps for land protection project presentations and documentation. Provide GIS support to stewardship, communications, and development.
• Work alongside the development and grants teams to prospect funding sources and support foundation relations with grant proposals, budgeting, reporting, and program implementation.
• Attend all meetings of the Land Preservation Committee of the Board of Directors; work with the Vice President of Conservation to present land protection projects for approval of the Board.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT and RELATIONSHIP BUILDING (10%)

• Build and nurture relationships with community partners through educational programming, meetings and public presentations including state and municipal governments, real estate offices, attorneys, and conservation partnerships.

LAND PROTECTION REPORTING and STORYTELLING (10%)

• Monitor and evaluate the impact of land protection projects and partnerships, using data to refine strategies and approaches.
• Report regularly to leadership and funders on land protection metrics.
• Generate story narratives and testimonials, photos, videos, and data points to collaborate with communications staff to support land protection collateral and messaging.

ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY (5%)

• Meaningfully contribute to Westchester Land Trust’s culture of care.
• Participate in developing annual work plans, budgets, and reports.
• Assist WLT staff with outreach, education, and fundraising events as needed.
• Assist WLT staff with other projects as needed.

SKILLS and QUALIFICATIONS:

• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills, especially writing and fostering meaningful relationships with landowners and conservation partners.
• Experience in land protection, conservation, or a related field, with a strong emphasis on conservation science, natural resources, real estate law, or land use law.
• Strong GIS skills, from developing and manipulating cooccurrence models to cartography.
• Proven aptitude for producing and interpreting accurate, highly detailed, and technical legal documents.
• Ability to identify natural resources and assess conservation values in the field.
• Deadline oriented with strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple projects.
• Knowledge of nonprofit management, budgeting, and grants management.
• Experience working in urban, suburban, and exurban communities, particularly in Westchester and Putnam counties.
• Proven leadership and collaborative skills, with the ability to inspire and drive change within an organization and bring together stakeholders around shared land protection goals.
• Mastery of ArcGIS. Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Adobe.
• Ability to walk several miles over uneven, wooded, and wet terrain.
• Frequent travel within WLT’s mission area; valid driver’s license.
• Ability to work evenings and weekends.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in GIS, environmental science, conservation, public administration, law, or a related field. Relevant experience or nontraditional training may be accepted in place of academic degrees.
• Knowledge of current tax and conservation regulations related to land protection, or the facility to quickly master.
• Experience working with land trusts or similar conservation-focused organizations.
• Experience using Landscape conservation software, or the facility to quickly learn.