Vice President, Public Affairs

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Inc. (SFI) is a fully independent, charitable organization dedicated to promoting sustainable forest management in North America.

Position Overview:

Join a dynamic, dedicated team and put your communications and issues management talents to good use as we work with conservation groups, local communities, resource professionals, landowners and other organizations and individuals who share our passion for responsible forest management. The Vice President Public Affairs will initiate strategic positioning of the SFI program in key market segments using earned media, social media and branding strategies. You possess the ability to harness key influencers to achieve market and public affairs objectives with your high level of awareness and strong interpersonal and relationship building skills.

Responsibilities:

• Senior Management: Manage and oversee staff and consultants in areas including marketing and conservation partnerships. Provide leadership role in the oversight of the DC office when the CEO or COO are not present.
• Strategic Positioning: Support the critical business functions of SFI to enhance the brand identity, image and reputation in sustainable forest management practices on a global basis. Provide leadership in developing effective strategies to address current and potential issues, pushing forward our key objectives, building relationships with key stakeholder groups and finding strategies to minimize impact of activist campaigns.
• Market Affairs and Communications: Oversee the direction and implementation of our public education campaign. Oversee the content, tone and development of all external facing products including website(s) design, online marketing, print resources, annual progress press releases, and social media.
• Media Relations: Develop and implement proactive media outreach plans while maintaining strong relationships with press to increase positive awareness of the SFI program. Manage all media inquiries, occasionally acting as the spokesperson for SFI.
• Customer and Key Influencer Relations: Support the President & CEO by representing SFI at key meetings, presenting both high level and in-depth presentations to a wide variety of audiences.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: Establishes evaluation criteria, monitoring trends and progress towards established goals and objectives for this position as well as those that report to this position. Ensures systems are in place to provide appropriate information for statistical analysis, planning and implementation as it relates to SFI's mandate.

Qualifications:

Desired Skills and Experience:

• Forestry expertise is not required but experience communicating about sustainability and corporate social responsibility is a plus.
• Demonstrated knowledge of principles of effective marketing, communications and mass media, publicity, advertising and community relations as they relate to forest certification & market acceptance.
• Strong strategic planning and management skills including handling of budgets and company resources.
• The ability to plan, organize and effectively present ideas and concepts to groups, along with the ability to assimilate information from a variety of sources, analyze information and make recommendations for appropriate actions as necessary.
• Excellent interpersonal, listening and communication skills. Ability to work cooperatively and strategically in a team environment with all levels of stakeholders or independently as required.
• Demonstrated ability to set priorities, counsel and effectively influence stakeholders. Strong leadership, conflict resolution and negotiation skills.
• Excellent writing, analytic and presentation skills with superior attention to detail.
• Ability to manage several high-visibility projects simultaneously in fast-paced environment.
• Ability to travel.

Education:

• University degree in the field of marketing, communications or journalism; with a minimum of 10 years in the field of marketing and/or communications.  

Minimum Experience:

• More than 5 years experience in media relations, securing positive media coverage and implementing effective media relations strategies to address negative issues.
• Experience in public affairs, such as Hill, agency or advocacy group work.

Compensation: We offer a competitive salary, generous benefits and the opportunity for challenging work as an integral part of the world's single largest forest certification standard.

To Apply:

To apply for this position, please email a resume and cover letter as one document. Resumes will be accepted until the position is filled.

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.