Conservation Program Director, HECHO

Founded in 1936, the National Wildlife Federation has grown into America's largest and most trusted grassroots conservation organization with 52 state/territorial affiliates and more than six million members and supporters, including hunters, anglers, gardeners, birders, hikers, campers, paddlers, and outdoor enthusiasts of all ages and stripes. The mission of the National Wildlife Federation is to unite all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in our rapidly changing world. We advance this mission through programming focused on conserving wildlife, restoring habitats and waterways, expanding outdoor opportunities, connecting children with nature, advancing environmental justice, and addressing the causes and consequences of climate change.

Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO) was founded in 2013 to ensure Hispanic leaders are engaged in decision making to conserve and protect public lands for future generations. In 2017, HECHO became a program of NWF to build a conservation movement that engages all communities in protecting the natural world for future generations.

HECHO’s priorities are advocating for federal policies that protect and conserve public lands and waters and equipping and inspiring Hispanic leaders to take action on behalf of public lands and water conservation.  While our focus is on the protection of public lands in the American Southwest, our work has a national scope and impact.  To support our mission to unite and mobilize Hispanic leaders to engage their communities in the conservation of our public lands and waters we are seeking HECHO’s first Conservation Program Director.

Reporting to the HECHO Executive Director, the HECHO Conservation Program Director is responsible for developing and leading HECHO’s place-based conservation advocacy campaigns. This is a key leadership role for HECHO and the person in this role will work as a close partner to the Executive Director and as a part of HECHO’s leadership team. They will play an essential role in advancing HECHO’s strategic roadmap, aligning advocacy campaigns with national policy initiatives, and effectively engaging HECHO’s Hispanic Conservation Leadership Council members to help advance campaign priorities. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the development and implementation of strategic federal public land advocacy campaigns in HECHO’s priority states that incorporate community interests and provide meaningful opportunities to engage Hispanic leaders.
• Develop campaign strategies and provide leadership within campaign coalitions.
• Cultivate and manage key partnerships with local, state and national organizations and internal partnerships at NWF.
• Promote and advance priority public land advocacy campaigns with HECHO’s Hispanic Conservation Leadership Council (HCLC) members (in close coordination with HCLC Director) and with other decision makers and government officials as appropriate.
• Support development of communications strategies and advise on messaging for public land advocacy campaigns including where they intersect with national policy initiatives.
• Represent HECHO with partners, coalitions, decision makers, and the media.
• Contribute to HECHO’s fundraising efforts, building relationships with donors and foundations, as appropriate.
• Track public land conservation opportunities and trends and align place-based campaign priorities with HECHO’s federal policy agenda.
• Manage staff and/or contractors as needed.
• Provide guidance and support HECHO staff on effective campaign strategies and tactics.

Qualifications:

• At least 10 years of advocacy, policy, corporate, or political campaign experience.
• Track record of success in developing effective campaign plans and implementing campaign strategies and tactics.
• Ability to forge meaningful and long-lasting partnerships and effectively engage in coalition settings, bringing people together to achieve results.
•  Proven success in cultivating and deepening relationships with local, state, or federal decision makers and other leaders.
• Conversational Spanish language skills and familiarity with Hispanic cultural heritage are preferred. 
• Familiarity with public land conservation issues, public land management agencies, and/or legislative and administrative processes is a plus.
• Demonstrated management skills and ability to work efficiently and effectively with colleagues across geographies and time zones. 

NWF Values:

Your actions are expected to reflect the staff values of the National Wildlife Federation: collaboration, mindfulness, empowerment, inclusivity, and mission focus.  Your competencies should include:

• Being motivated by values of equity and responsibility to those mo