Director, Soil Health

Overview

NRDC is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization. We use law, science, and the support of 3.1 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities. NRDC was founded in 1970 and our people helped write some of America's bedrock environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and many of the implementing regulations. Today, our team of more than 700 lawyers, scientists, economists, policy advocates, communications experts, and others work across the United States and the globe from our offices in Beijing; Chicago; New Delhi; New York; San Francisco; Santa Monica; and Washington, D.C. 

POSITION SUMMARYThe Director of Healthy Soils serves as the manager and a thought leader for NRDC’s Healthy Soils team. The Healthy Soils team also works in partnership with government affairs, communications, litigation, and other departments to advocate for healthier soils in our agricultural system. The Healthy Soils team is a part of the Food & Agriculture Sector of the Nature Program. In addition to healthy soils, the NRDC’s Food & Agriculture sector works on food waste and on protecting pollinators from systemic pesticides. Recently, the Healthy Soils team took on a new strategic focus on nitrogen overuse. Nitrogen overuse is a significant driver of nitrous oxide emissions, a greenhouse gas approximately 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. It also drives biodiversity loss and water pollution, contributing to significant human health threats. The team’s campaign is in early development and is likely to include both a significant federal legislative and administrative advocacy campaign as well as specific state legislative and administrative tactics. The campaign may also contain a legal component. This is an exciting opportunity, as the Director will play a critical role in shaping and executing NRDC’s strategy as it is finalized and launched. In addition, the Director will oversee the team’s day-to-day work, help with fundraising, guides communications efforts, and manage all team staff. The Director of Healthy Soils reports to the Managing Director of Food & Agriculture.

Responsibilities

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the following essential functions:

• Develop, lead, and implement the Healthy Soils team strategy in collaboration with other team members, including policy positions regarding the control of nitrogen pollution and related soils issues;
• Develop and execute multifaceted legislative, administrative, legal, and communications campaigns at the state and federal level to achieve sector and team goals;
• Work to build and maintain relationships with partners, coalitions, and other stakeholders, and meet regularly with decisionmakers to influence policy outcomes;
• Represent NRDC in public forums, including administrative proceedings, legislative committee hearings, and media outlets;
• Author letters, blogs, reports, briefs, comments, and/or other public facing communications materials to support the Team’s advocacy;
• Manage direct reports to develop performance goals including those related to supporting sector priorities, institutional DEI goals, professional development goals, and management (if appropriate); meet on a regular basis to ensure direct reports have clear and executable annual workplans and help manage their workflows to support both the achievement of those goals and a healthy work-life balance;
• Oversee staff’s performance, provide guidance and on-going feedback; help resolve issues and provide course-correction when needed to enable each member to be fully successful; provide training as needed to staff while also working to continually improve and develop as a manager and mentor junior staff;
• Serve on the Food and Agriculture Sector’s Leadership Team, guiding the sector’s strategy and engagement;
• Collaborate with other NRDC departments (e.g., Government Affairs, Communications, and others) to implement the Health Soils team strategy; and
• Provide input in the development of annual plans and budgeting processes to support the Healthy Soils team and the Food and Agriculture Sector; identify staffing, consultant, and other resource needs for major initiatives); and provide input for funding proposals and for reports to major donors and foundations.

The above list of duties is not comprehensive but generally demonstrates the types of matters under this position’s responsibility. Other duties may be assigned.

Qualifications

Minimum Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in a r