Executive Director

~ The Tillamook Estuaries Partnership (TEP), a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation dedicated to the conservation and restoration of Tillamook County's (Oregon) estuaries and watersheds. ~

TEP is a part of the National Estuary Program and one of only 28 National Estuary Projects in the United States. TEP realizes its mission through the collaborative relationships with individuals, academic institutions, businesses, watershed councils, non-profit organizations, local municipalities and public/governmental agencies.

For more information on the organization, please visit the TEP website.

Position Overview

The Tillamook Estuaries Partnership (TEP) is seeking qualified applicants for the Executive Director position. The successful applicant will have demonstrated experience in effectively managing multi-entity environmental, scientific and/or engineering programs; fostering and maintaining collaborative approaches to complex environmental issues; the ability to facilitate consensus among diverse and sometimes conflicting stakeholders; success in raising funds from public and private sectors, including federal, state and local grants; and the ability to manage an effective and talented staff.

Responsibilities

• The Executive Director is a full-time position responsible for ensuring the efficient and fiscally responsible operation of the TEP.
• This includes providing the supervision and oversight of technical projects developed and implemented by TEP staff, public education and outreach initiatives, and program administrative functions.
• The Executive Director is responsible for directing and overseeing the implementation of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), TEP's roadmap towards healthy functioning ecosystems and the communities that depend upon them.
• The Executive Director is also responsible for maintaining existing funding and developing new sustainable funding sources from public and private sectors, and meeting requirements stated in the various grants (including EPA Cooperative Agreements) awarded to the TEP.
• Primary among the Executive Director's responsibilities is to maintain and strengthen TEP's local, state and national reputation as a science-based ‘honest broker', encouraging all stakeholders to work together to form effective solutions to meet agreed-upon goals for the restoration and protection of all of Tillamook County's estuaries and watersheds.

Qualifications

The successful applicant will possess most or all of the following qualifications:

• Knowledge of the principles of estuarine and freshwater ecology and the factors affecting water quality.
• The ability to readily grasp the technical basis for the program's goals and actions and to communicate those concepts to policy-makers, the public, and the media in easily understood terms.
• The ability to facilitate consensus among diverse and sometimes competing stakeholders on complex environmental issues.
• The ability to build partnerships among the program's local government, agency and private-sector partners on projects that support implementation of the CCMP.
• Success in marketing environmental or natural resource management programs and in raising funds from private and public sources.
• Experience in program management including project management, finance, budgeting, and personnel management.
• Demonstrated leadership in her/his professional life and personal accomplishments.
• Demonstrated experience successfully managing staff, budgets, and achieving goals.
• Demonstrated success as an effective fundraiser identifying, cultivating and soliciting individual donors, major and planned gifts, and relationships with foundations, corporations, individuals and community organizations.
• The ability to identify issues needing study and/or technical or policy review, and to develop effective strategies for resolution.
• Thorough knowledge of administrative practices and principles of a 501(c3) nonprofit corporation
• Demonstrated ability to lead a diverse group of local, state, federal and private agencies, organizations, and individuals through the implementation of a complex and comprehensive estuarine environmental program
• Extensive experience managing and motivating staff.
• Outstanding skills in both written and verbal communication.

TEP has identified the following qualities as desirable:

• Ethics and values - adheres to an effective set of core values, whether working within the TEP organization, with partners, or with members of the community at large.
• Integrity and Trust - is widely trusted by the scientific community, government agencies and the public at large.
• Communications - is able to speak and write clearly and succinctly regarding TEP's mission and projects to a variety of audiences including public officials, the technical and scientific community, and the public.
• Building and maintaining successful teams - creates strong morale and spirit within the TEP staff and with all partners; provides leadership through vision and strategic planning.
• Working toward common goals with multiple and diverse partners - is adept at identifying common goals and solutions for complex and long-term issues affecting Tillamook County's estuarine and freshwater resources.

Education/Experience:

• The position requires a minimum of a bachelor's degree from an accredited university or college in one of the natural sciences, engineering, public administration, business administration, urban and regional planning, policy analysis, or a related field.
• This position requires at least three years of work-related experience, with a required minimum of 2 years in a supervisory capacity and a preference for at least 1 year with project management experience.
• Preference will be given to candidates who have successfully directed environmental and natural resource management programs and who have successfully developed diverse and stable funding sources for those programs.
• Experience managing not-for-profit organizations and/or familiarity with the National Estuary Program is highly desirable.
• The Executive Director position oversees staff involved in the day-to-day implementation of the CCMP.
• The Director serves at the pleasure of the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership Board of Directors, which provides direct supervision and performance evaluation.
• Organizational policy, strategic planning, and implementation of the CCMP are undertaken in consultation with the TEP Board of Directors.

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

• Work is performed in office and field environments that involve everyday risks and discomforts and, sometimes, adverse weather conditions requiring safety precautions.
• Field assignments may require physical demands of bending, climbing, crawling, gripping with hands and fingers, hearing voice conversations, kneeling, lifting up to 20 pounds, pulling, reaching, sitting, standing, stooping and walking rough terrain.
• A considerable amount of travel and driving is required.

Compensation

• $60,000 - $80,000 plus benefits (DOE).
• This is a Full Time Permanent Position.
• TEP provides a competitive leave and benefits package including retirement and health insurance.

To Apply

Please click "Apply" below to upload your cover letter, résumé, and three professional references (name, title, and contact information only) to Lisa Phipps in Microsoft Word or PDF format. The cover letter should not exceed 4-pages in length (2 double-sided pages), explain how the applicant meets the qualifications, education, and experience requirements listed above, and provide responses to the four (4) questions listed below.

To ensure all applicants have the opportunity to address a common set of questions, applications should include written responses to the following as part of the cover letter:

1. Please describe why you would like to be the Executive Director of the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership. What do you consider to be your primary strengths for this position?
2. Please describe a situation that best demonstrates your ability to lead an organization, program, or project.
3. Please describe a large complex issue that required you to communicate effectively with a variety of stakeholders in order to address the issue and bring about consensus.
4. Please describe some of your most recent successes fundraising for a group or organization to which you belong or are affiliated.

Applications will be reviewed by the TEP Hiring Committee. Finalists will likely be interviewed on Monday and Tuesday, February 26 and 27.

Please direct all questions about the application process to Lisa Phipps at 503-322-2222.

Applications must be received via email no later than 5:00 P.M. PDT on Tuesday, February 13, 2018.