Regional Director, Southwest Region

Location: Southwest Region,None,None

National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), the nation’s oldest and largest national parks nonprofit advocate, has an exciting opportunity open to join our Southwest team as the Regional Director, Southwest Region. This position will report to the Deputy VP of Regional Programs.

The Southwest Regional Director (RD) oversees programs and activities to protect and enhance natural and cultural resources within and connected to the 64 National Park Service (NPS) units in NPCA’s Southwest Region (SWRO), including Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. The RD manages a highly professional staff in the region, providing oversight and coordination for a coherent regional vision and approach to implement advocacy campaigns and organizational priorities. The RD facilitates the design, execution, and evaluation of place-based campaigns and works with staff to brand NPCA in local communities and media as a trusted conservation and preservation leader and reliable ally. They mentor, empower, and enable staff to carry out park protection campaigns in coordination with other NPCA departments, ensuring that the region contributes substantively to the development and implementation of NPCA’s national programs and priorities as defined in current strategic plans and in coordination with other RDs. The RD works with NPCA’s development department to plan and execute cultivation activities in the region to sustain current donors and engage new ones, and to draft grant proposals and reports. They prepare and manage the regional program budget to ensure it stays on track, meets administrative and procedural requirements, and effectively report on programmatic impact to donors, members, supporters, and NPCA leadership.

This advocacy requires building a powerful, diverse, and representative network of local advocates to influence policies that strengthen the NPS and safeguard national parks and adjacent public lands. NPCA strives always for integrity throughout our work and relationships, with a commitment to our mission, core values, and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Statement of Intentions, reflected both internally and externally. The RD leads SWRO staff in cultivating relationships with park personnel, federal, state, and municipal officials, conservation groups, Indigenous/traditional communities, youth, veterans, grasstops community leaders, and the media to achieve programmatic goals. Implementing park protection programs in a large and complex region, the RD should have a proven ability for outstanding leadership in the conservation community, which entails exceptional judgment, experience, focus, creativity, wisdom, strategic skills, willingness to take calculated risks, and an established network of contacts.

Location: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, or Utah

Grade: O

Salary: $100,000- $125,000, commensurate with skills, experience, and location.

Work Status: Full-time (32 hours per week); Exempt

Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package for this role including a four-day, 32-hour work week, paid vacation leave, paid sick leave, paid holidays, health insurance, flexible spending account, dental insurance, life insurance, vision insurance, retirement benefits, short- and long-term disability, and paid sabbaticals for staff after seven years of service. Learn more about our benefits at npca.org/jobs.  

Essential Functions:                         % of Time

Lead Regional Park Protection Program Vision and Implementation      35%

Lead in the design and implementation of NPCA’s park protection program in the Southwest. Lead and support the SWRO Team to monitor and influence NPS management activities at individual parks, design strategies to address park threats, strengthen resource protection, and improve the visitor experience. Build support for the Southwest and NPCA programs among NPCA members and supporters, other local organizations, park allies, and community interests. To strengthen the reach of our work and constituency, build authentic and collaborative relationships with Tribal Nations, gateway communities, and other partners. Generate media coverage on park issues in the region in coordination with the NPCA’s Communications Department. With our Government Affairs Department, work to educate regional members of congress, administration officials, and state and local elected officials on national park issues and the social, cultural, and economic value of protecting the region’s national park units as a critical pub