Conservation Impacts & Partnerships Senior Director

TITLE: Conservation Impacts & Partnerships Senior Director

SALARY & FLSA: $122,574.40 - 183,851.20 per year; FLSA exempt

The $122,574.40 annual starting pay is structured to be competitive and may extend up to the $153,212.80 midpoint of the annual range, reflecting our commitment to offering competitive compensation to qualified candidates.

OPENING DATE: 9/15/2025

CLOSING DATE: 10/13/2025 This position may close early if a sufficient number of qualified applications are received.

JOB TYPE: Regular, Full-Time

UNION: Non-Represented

OPENINGS: 1

LOCATION: Hybrid (on grounds 2-3 days/week and remainder work remotely)

DEPARTMENT: Conservation

 

 

HOW DO YOU ZOO?

More than 1.3 million people visit Woodland Park Zoo each year. We connect people with wildlife and remind them of what’s at stake in our changing world. Our job is to motivate people to take action and provide them with the tools needed to join us in saving endangered species. Working for the zoo means upholding our mission, “To save wildlife and inspire everyone to make conservation a priority in their lives.” Apply today and show us how you zoo.

WHO YOU ARE
As our new Senior Director of Conservation Impacts and Partnerships, we know you will be successful in this role because you are:

• You’re a strategic conservation leader with a global mindset: You ensure all conservation initiatives are strategically aligned to reduce threats and improve trends for priority species and landscapes. You provide strategic leadership to develop and execute implementation plans to align conservation efforts with institutional priorities outlined in the Woodland Park Zoo’s Strategic Plan and Conservation Strategy. You are excited to strengthen and grow place-based conservation programs, including regional efforts in the Pacific Northwest and partnerships with NGOs around the world, while remaining responsive to emerging conservation opportunities globally.
• You’re a relationship builder and partnership cultivator: You are eager to engage in professional societies or networks to foster strong relationships with key partner organizations, individuals, and stakeholders to harness support and enhance the zoo's organizational impact on wildlife conservation and climate change mitigation. This may include (but is not limited to) IUCN, Species Survival Commission (SSC), CITES, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), GEF, bilateral and multilateral agencies, US Government, and Washington State agencies. You are ready to work across all zoo departments to identify short and long-term priorities and to help develop program branding strategies, messages, calls to action, and storytelling narratives that increase our conservation impact.
• You’re a thoughtful, inclusive, and equity-driven practitioner: Championing inclusive and equitable conservation practices by actively decolonizing narratives, centering leadership from tropical, southern, Indigenous, and historically excluded communities, and ensuring equitable access to resources and recognition is something that you’re ready to do.
• You’re a skilled communicator and inspiring advocate: As our new Senior Director of Conservation Impacts and Partnerships you are ready to lead cross-team coordination across the zoo, working with teams such as Animal Care, Learning, Engagement, Communications, Guest and Volunteer Engagement to ensure that conservation goals, messages, and efforts are woven throughout the zoo’s operations and public-facing programs. You are also ready to collaborate with the Evaluation & Impact team to define, monitor, and communicate conservation metrics and outcomes that demonstrate tangible progress toward reducing threats and improving trends for priority species and landscapes.

 

YOUR PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Ensure all conservation initiatives are strategically aligned to reduce threats and improve trends for priority species and landscapes. Provide strategic leadership to develop and execute implementation plans to align conservation efforts with institutional priorities outlined in the Woodland Park Zoo’s Strategic Plan and Conservation Strategy.
• Strengthen and grow place-based conservation programs, including regional efforts in the Pacific Northwest and partnerships with NGOs around the world, while remaining responsive to emerging conservation opportunities globally.
• Advance the zoo’s leadership in catalyzing a social movement for conservation through public engagement, policy influence, field programs, and partner