Conservation Land Protection & Acquisition Manager

~ At the Trust for Public Land, we don't just save land—we save land for people to enjoy, from neighborhood parks to national parks. ~

Our mission is to create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. Every park, playground, and public space we create is an open invitation to explore, wonder, discover, and play. We're proud to say that we've been connecting communities to the outdoors—and to each other—since 1972. Today, millions of Americans live within a 10-minute walk of a park or natural area we helped create, and countless more visit every year.

Join a diverse team of dedicated and passionate people working toward a mission you can believe in—creating parks and protecting land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. Get to know more about us.

Position Overview

The Conservation Land Protection & Acquisition Manager is a key member of The Trust for Public Land’s close-knit Colorado & Southwest team. S/he works to acquire and conserve priority lands that enhance and expand access to our public lands, ensure local residents have close-to-home parks, trails and open space and help rural communities fulfill their visions for the landscapes that surround them. S/he uses a broad spectrum of nonprofit land acquisition and conservation strategies to produce tangible, lasting on-the-ground results. This position generates support for The Trust for Public Land through donations and the successful completion of real estate transactions.

Colorado and the Southwest (Utah, Arizona and New Mexico) feature some of the nation’s fastest growing metropolitan areas and contain some of the country’s most iconic and ecologically-important lands and waters. The Trust for Public Land has been successful over the past 35 years in conserving about 700,000 acres across the region. Our land and water protection work ranges from neighborhood parks to national parks. By employing a can-do spirit and a creative, collaborative and entrepreneurial approach, we have developed a reputation as an organization that gets things done, and does so in partnership with local communities, neighborhoods and non-profit organizations. The person in this position will have a passion for conservation, a great sense of humor and a true zeal for real estate deals. With a primary focus in Colorado, but with the opportunity to work across the region, s/he will play a lead role in advancing and accelerating projects that advance The Trust for Public Land’s “land for people” mission.

Responsibilities 

• Identifies areas in which TPL's land and water protection expertise is needed for the conservation of open space lands of critical local, regional, or national importance; develops and maintains portfolio of potential projects; responds to inquiries by individuals, groups, agencies, etc…
• Explores potential projects by contacting landowners, nonprofit organizations, elected officials, community leaders and public agency partners.
• Assumes primary responsibility for negotiating, documenting and closing real estate transactions – both land acquisitions and conservation easements - with the assistance of Legal, Philanthropy and Finance staff by:
  • Researching and carrying out all phases of land protection projects from initial outreach and landowner negotiation through supervision of appraisers, surveyors, and other consultants.
  • Identifying public and private funding opportunities for acquisition and conveyance of projects to a public agency or non-profit partner, including engaging with local, county, state and federal agency staff and elected officials.
  • Identifying and negotiating with public agencies or other permanent stewards for final project disposition.
• Assumes primary responsibility for securing interim financing and permanent public funding for land protection projects through existing or new public and private funding sources.
• Generates revenues for TPL through transactions and/or fundraising. Experience with identifying, cultivating, soliciting and stewarding private donors is a plus.
• Identifies and secures project funding from multiple sources including through successful grant writing. Current working knowledge of processes for obtaining public, private, foundation, and corporate funding.
• Builds public awareness and understanding of TPL through outreach events, leading meetings, public speaking engagements, fundraising efforts and creating a public presence for TPL.
• Collaborates with national-level Federal Affairs and Conservation Finance teams and local staff and partners to advance policy, funding and other legislative priorities.
• Articulates fundraising needs, makes presentations to donors and foundations.  Maintains set of personal development contacts. Collaborates with Philanthropy staff on capital campaigns.

Other Responsibilities 

• May be involved in programmatic work, such as the coordination of a land acquisition program covering multi-parcel deals.
• Partner with Philanthropy staff on fundraising for the organization
• Other relevant duties as necessary.

Interactions With Others:

• Interacts at a senior level with external professionals whom are involved with the purchase and sale of land, including public agency staff, non-profit partners, surveyors, lawyers, planners, appraisers, landowners and elected officials.
• Must be comfortable with public speaking and with representing TPL to the public at outreach events.
• Must be able to train and mentor other project staff and local land trusts, agency and foundation partners.
• Creates and manages other land protection staff when needed.
• Works independently with occasional guidance from supervisor.
• Works with Federal Affairs, Conservation Finance, Marketing, Philanthropy, Legal, Finance and Field Support teams.

Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree required. Advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum of 5-8 years of land protection project-related or equivalent private sector, government, land trust or non-profit experience. Experience with land acquisition or other conservation real estate projects required.
• This position requires moderate to heavy travel.  Evening and weekend work should be expected.

Special Knowledge and Skills:

• Superior written and oral communication skills.
• Proficient in computer applications.  MSOffice Basics, Internet.
• Demonstrated understanding of real property and tax law, land use planning techniques, real estate due diligence, environmental assessments, titles and government land acquisition policies/procedures.
• Politically astute and sensitive.
• Strong, entrepreneurial negotiator, able to secure complicated real estate deals. 
• Able to analyze and explain potential tax benefits and financial forecasting.  Management of contracts.
• Able to work on complex projects with a moderate level of supervision.
• Able to initiate and participate in fundraising efforts.

To Apply

• Please email your cover letter and resume with "Conservation Land Protection & Acquisition Manager" indicated in the subject line.