Executive Director

Are you a changemaker? Do you feel inspired by the thought of blazing new trails for community conservation on the north coast of Oregon? The Necanicum Watershed Council (NWC) is a small but mighty team of passionate conservation and community engagement advocates and leaders, focused on uniting the ecological and economic sustainability of our 56,000 acre basin. We are looking for our next Executive Director to shepherd our team through our newest chapter of growth and impact. If you are a visionary leader with a deep commitment to collaborative conservation and driving meaningful change to the conservation system that empowers disenfranchised communities to guide conservation priorities, we want you.

About Us

The Necanicum Watershed Council is a community-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Seaside, Oregon. The Council is composed of a diverse group of volunteers who collaborate to ensure the continued and amplified stewardship and monitoring of the 56,000 acre Necanicum Basin. The NWC promotes and leads projects which protect and enhance natural resources and ecosystem services through the cooperation and support of many partners including local agencies, schools, organizations, landowners, industries and business owners. In addition, the NWC is deeply committed to being a leader in the dismantling of inequities in the conservation space, as can be highlighted by our partnerships with the Chinook Indian Nation and Consejo Hispano, a local nonprofit providing community and services for the north coast’s Latinx population.

For close to thirty years the Necanicum Watershed Council has engaged with volunteers and stakeholders to conduct habitat restoration and conservation outreach work in the Seaside and Gearhart communities. We have a creative, committed and supportive Board of Directors made up of a variety of backgrounds from tribal conservation forestry to legal practice. With our recent growth in the last three years, the NWC is in the final stages of drafting and adopting a Strategic Action Plan as well as smaller guiding plans such as a Fundraising Plan, Annual Work Plan and Equity Action Plan. 

Who Are We Looking For?

You are a natural leader that is passionate about coastal riparian habitat restoration, natural resources stewardship, underserved community engagement in conservation and tribal leadership in conservation planning. You are committed to working in a cooperative manner with like-minded partners to ensure a more ecologically and economically sustainable future for the basin. But you are also able and willing to work with individuals and partners who may not share the same opinions but are critical components to watershed conservation and management. 

Our next Executive Director will place a premium on the continued fostering of partnerships that we have developed with the Chinook Indian Nation and Consejo Hispano, blazing the path for new ways to create leadership space for underserved communities in conservation. Our ideal candidate will be strategic in planning but creative in thought, mending the two for a meaningful and changemaking vision for the NWC. They will be a thoughtful listener and excellent communicator in their own individual way. In addition, the next Executive Director of the NWC will work tirelessly to support their staff of two who play a pivotal role in project development, management and implementation. 

Most of all, our next visionary leader will have the courage to empower the NWC to continue blazing new paths for conservation that drive radical shifts towards indigenous leadership and BIPOC engagement, while maintaining critical relationships within the community, and will handle the complexities of local geopolitics with grace and care. 

You Are A/An:

• Experienced nonprofit, agency or business leader with demonstrated proficiency in nonprofit fundraising, natural resource restoration and outreach grant writing, budgeting and noted financial management. 
• Creative and individual leader with visionary guidance and versatile communication skills that can assist with tackling multi-layer stakeholder issues, working with diverse cultural and economic backgrounds and collaborative decision-making processes. 
• Individual adept in project and people management, comfortable driving solution-oriented conversations and more macro-scale planning, particularly as they pertain to natural resource management and conservation. 
• Fearless leader, willing to stand up for critical changes to the conservation system, step back when it is appropriate so that tribal and BIPOC partners can assume leadership roles, and continue working with community partners to establish these same practices across our conservation region. 

Who Is Also:

• Comfortable existing in often uncomfortable spaces, navigating rapidly changing organizational landscapes, funding opportunities and partnerships and a steadfast multi-tasker. 
• Confident working with very little direct guidance while also directing a diverse, multidisciplinary, multi-worldview team of experts and volunteers that foster a shared commitment to community and conservation. 
• Excited by the opportunity to engage with the Board of Directors and staff to create working plans and an ever-adapting vision for the organization’s next chapter of growth. 
• Deeply passionate about and dedicated to actionable, radical and changemaking programming in the Diversity, Equity, Justice and Inclusion space. 
• Bilingual in Spanish or Chinuk-Wawa (preferred but not required). 

Sound familiar? If it does, here’s what we can give back to you:

• An expected starting salary of around $83,000 (depending on experience) and a reasonably generous benefits package (medical, dental and vision insurance, 10 paid federal holidays as well as 2 floating holidays, PTO equivalent of 15 days per year in year 1 and 2 of employment, growing in subsequent years and 12 days paid sick time per year;
• A small but mighty staff of two working with you to drive change in our community and move forward our mission of an ecologically and economically sustainable future;
• A diverse and engaged Board of Directors that is committed to supporting the work of the NWC Executive Director;
• Opportunity for growth. Using your creativity and passion, there is ample room to grow this position, the organization and our programming within the community.
• A changemaking group of individuals and partners working together. The NWC has taken the lead on driving radical changes to the conservation system, most notably in the area of tribal and Latinx engagement and leadership. 

What Is It That You Will Do?

The Executive Director provides guidance and leadership to the organization, as a whole, to effectively follow the mission and vision of the NWC. You will play a critical part in the development of new, and fostering of current, partnerships, lead strategic planning and initiative making and ensure that NWC’s programming is an accurate portrayal of the organization’s core values in diversity, equity, inclusion and justice. In addition, you will ensure that the NWC is maintaining growth and creating impact for our community both in habitat restoration and outreach. 

• Board Engagement: You will closely with the Board of Directors to provide guidance, advice and information, and to facilitate communications between NWC staff and the Board; plan, prepare for and facilitate meetings of the Board and committees; Interpret relevant local, state and federal laws, policies and opportunities for the Board and committees to make informed decisions and updates to organizational direction; Actively participate in Board development, training, recruitment and training. 
• Strategic Planning and Navigation: You will facilitate necessary strategic planning processes and regularly evaluate the NWC’s objects, resources, programs, services, roles and responsibilities; ensure effective implementation and maintenance of NWC projects and programs; develop internal and shared planning documents. 
• Administration: You will manage NWC’s daily operations and legal obligations, maintain fiscal sustainability and foster organizational growth; respond to media, agency representatives, partners and other inquiries on behalf of the NWC; manage the NWC’s social media and website updates; assume other duties related to administrative and organizational operations.
• Team Management: You will direct and supervise staff, including recruitment, development, and retention; sustain motivation through performance management, supportive resources and a positive work environment; engage qualified contractors and consultants for work that demands such expertise; promote and develop volunteer opportunities and ensure staff oversight; monitoring and maintain federal state and local HR compliance; act as a steward of NWC’s culture, representing the mission and values at all times and fostering expectations of fairness and trust. 
• Grant Writing & Fundraising: You will research and secure funding for continued general operations, projects, outreach, education and other Board and staff initiatives through grants, partnerships, contracts and donations; direct and participate in fundraising efforts and engage committee and board support and participation; provide resources and coaching to staff to support their ability to develop and secure grant funding, project accurate cost estimates for projects and consider operational resource needs and growth. 
• Budgeting and Financial Management: You will manage all NWC budgeting and financial operations in cooperation with the NWC Contracted Bookkeeper, NWC Treasurer and Fundraising and Finance Committee; provide oversight and accountability for the control of resources and report regularly to the Board of Directors on NWC’s financial trajectory; fulfill required grant reporting expectations.
• Partnership Development and Community Outreach: You will attend important partner and agency meetings to stay informed of regulatory changes, upcoming opportunities and best practices for nonprofit management and seek; foster and nurture connections amongst the community, NWC’s stakeholders and partners, other watershed organizations, agencies and service groups; communicate and coordinate with funding agencies and other organizations central to the NWC’s missions and programs; Work to sustain critical partnerships and develop necessary and productive new partnerships and coalitions within the region; interface routinely with local media, city officials and partner organizations; provide direct lines of communication between the NWC and general public; writing and sending of the quarterly newsletter, management of the NWC social media channels, website updates and more. 
• Landowner Relationships: You will provide guidance to NWC staff in securing landowner agreements, cooperation and relationships that foster project planning and implementation; effectively communicating with impacted parties; maintaining a landowner database. 
• Continued Education and Training: You will attend conferences, training and partner meetings that further your ability to lead the NWC with pertinent and updated information and perspective; guide staff to the appropriate training and conferences; assist the Board of Directors with planning annual BOD training. 

Where Will You Work?

The NWC offices are located in downtown Seaside at 39 N. Holladay Dr., Seaside, Oregon 97138. It is expected that the Executive Director will work a hybrid schedule with roughly 3 days per week conducted at the offices. However, there is flexibility in scheduling and it is important to note that the Executive Director is responsible for traveling throughout the basin, region and state for meetings and training. This position often requires working evenings and weekends for meetings and travel. 

Preferred Background:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in nonprofit management, natural resources, fish and wildlife, botany, habitat restoration or another related field;
• Experience leading a nonprofit organization, or being in a high-level leadership position;
• Experience writing, securing and managing habitat restoration grants in the Pacific Northwest;
• Experience working closely with tribal, Latinx or other BIPOC or underserved communities;
• Comfort with working in uncomfortable situations, often leading radical changes that partner organizations need help understanding;
• Experience working effectively with agency representatives and processes