Executive Director, Hawaii National Marine Sanctuary Foundation

~ Established in 2009, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (NMSF), based in Silver Spring, Maryland, is the official private partner of NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. The mission of NMSF is to enhance national marine sanctuaries in their goal to protect essential US marine areas and ensure a healthy ocean. ~

With a FY 2017 budget of $16.7 million, NMSF manages contracts and funds an extensive network of partners, public and private, who conduct research, education, advocacy and conservation on behalf of the ocean and Great Lakes. 

Hawai`i National Marine Sanctuary Foundation 

Position Overview 

The Hawai`i National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (the Chapter) seeks a part-time Executive Director with experience in nonprofit organizational development, fundraising and Board relations, to develop internal capacity and increase fundraising to benefit the Hawai`ian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary (HIHWNMS). This position represents the first paid leadership role for the Chapter, and a unique opportunity to showcase leadership and organizational management skills.

The Executive Director position is a contractual position, approximately 20 hours per week at $20-$25 per hour based on experience. The anticipated duration of the initial contract is September 2016 - June 2017. This contract may be extended depending on completion of the goals, objectives and outcomes below. This position requires frequent presence at the NOAA Inouye Regional Center on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Oahu. This position requires close coordination and collaboration with HIHWNMS staff, including routine on-site presence at the NOAA Inouye Regional Center of Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Oahu.

Scope of Work

The Hawai`i National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, one of two local Chapters of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation based in Silver Spring, Maryland, is poised for its next phase of evolution. The Chapter seeks to centralize and align operations across the Hawai`ian islands, develop internal capacity and increase fundraising to benefit the Hawai`ian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. 

The FY 2017 objectives for this position are as follows: 

• Expand and align the Chapter's Board of Directors toward shared priorities, regarding fundraising readiness and capacity, roles and responsibilities, operations and revenue goals
• Create a three-year Chapter Strategic and Fundraising Plan, to launch July 2017, ensuring incremental increases in financial support for projects at HIHWNMS
• Create an Operations Manual covering, for example, gift shop receipts, database, web site, accounting and coordination with NMSF in Silver Spring, Maryland
• Clarify process with HIHWNMS for identifying and prioritizing projects for Chapter support
• Track and meet projected revenue and expenses for FY 2017, including modest expanded fund raising goals from individuals and corporations
• Prepare and submit, with support from NMSF, interim and final reports to capacity-building grantors 

NMSF has secured approximately thirty percent of budgeted revenue and support for FY 2017. Approximately fifty percent reflects a continuation of historical trends in Chapter revenue and support. The Executive Director, with support from the Board of Directors, HIHWNMSF leadership and staff, NMSF leadership and staff, will secure the balance before the end of the fiscal year (June 30, 2017).

This position will be supervised by the Chapter Board of Directors, with support from NMSF (e.g., NMSF President and CEO, Foundation Relations Manager, Director of Operations and Grants Management). NMSF has identified organizational development of the Hawai`i Chapter as a priority for FY 2017.

Additional Information 

Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary 

Authorized by Congress in 1972, national marine sanctuaries - fourteen underwater parks from the Great Lakes to the Olympic Peninsula, from to the Florida Keys to American Samoa - are our nation's tool for sustaining vital marine and Great Lakes resources such as migration routes, coral reefs, breeding grounds and historic shipwrecks. NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is trustee and manager of these parks, which encompass more than 170,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters.

The United States Congress created the Hawai`ian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary (HIHWNMS) in 1992, to protect humpback whales and their habitat in Hawai`i. The sanctuary is located around the four island area of Maui; Penguin Bank; and off the north shore of Kaua'i, the north and south shores of O'ahu, and the north Kona and Kohala coast of Hawai`i Island. HIHWNMS is jointly managed between the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the State of Hawai`'s Department of Land and Natural Resources. 

Hawaii National Marine Sanctuary Foundation 

The Hawai`i National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, established in 2012, is one of two legal Chapters of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, governed by a Chapter affiliation agreement. The Chapter's mission is to inspire, educate, and engage people of Hawai`i's culturally-rich communities and diverse marine ecosystems by supporting the Hawai`ian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

While the Chapter is a self-governed entity independent of the HIHWNMS, its reason for existence is to increase awareness and support of HIHWNMS projects. The Chapter Board and Executive Director will work in close coordination with the sanctuary Superintendent and staff to, for example, identify, cultivate and steward supporters, and identify and prioritize sanctuary projects most compelling for private support. The Chapter will, over time, increase its level of financial support for sanctuary projects.

The Chapter's Board members currently serve from Kaua'i, O'ahu, Maui and Hawai`i; the Chapter President is based in Maui. Since the Chapter launched in 2012, Board members initiated and continue to manage activities varying by island, ranging from gift shop management on Oahu and the sanctuary visitor's center in Maui, to mobilizing volunteers for Hawai`i's annual Whale Count. 

To Apply 

Qualified candidates should use the email address below to send your resume and cover letter illustrating necessary skills and experience, and a list of references and salary requirements. In addition, applicants must submit responses to the following questions, limited to one page total. 

• How do the cultures of the Hawai`ian islands influence fundraising and centralized operations?
• How does an organization expand and realign itself toward increased fundraising capacity?
• What challenges and opportunities are inherent to operating parallel but independent government/private partnerships? 

Note: Applicants should send cover letter, resume and responses in one single PDF file, with "Hawai`i Chapter Executive Director" in the subject line. 

• Applications received before September 15, 2016 will be given priority treatment. 
• No phone calls please.  

~ NMSF is an equal opportunity employer ~