Project Manager

Project Manager
Position based in Walla Walla or Ellensburg, WA
Type: 1.0 FTE, fully benefited
Salary Range: $75,000 – $86,000, DOE
Applicants may be considered for a more senior position based on experience
Application Review begins upon receipt through March 15, 2025

About Washington Water Trust
Washington Water Trust (WWT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit leader in river and stream flow protection. Our mission is to protect and restore healthy rivers and streams across Washington so that fish, farms, and communities can thrive for generations. WWT is a leader in water rights and water law, stream flow restoration, multi- stakeholder engagement, implementaion of instream flow projects, water banking and large-scale water conservation projects. We craft smart, collaborative, and durable solutions to our freshwater challenges. For more informaion, visit us at www.washingtonwatertrust.org or view our most recent annual report.

The Position
WWT seeks a team-oriented, motivated, and resilient Project Manager with a passion for rivers and streams. The Project Manager will partner with landowners, tribes, conserva on districts, land trusts, as well as local, state, and federal agencies to implement and fund innovative projects with lasting benefits to endangered fish, streams, and local economies primarily in Eastern Washington. We are seeking candidates who embrace a collabora ve approach, hold a technical and social skill set to deliver high quality outcomes, and have an interest and enthusiasm for working in rural communities.

WWT values a collaborative team environment, built on respect for each other and the people, partners and communities with whom we work.

This is a full-time exempt position, located in either Walla Walla or Ellensburg, Washington, and supervised by a Program Director. Applicants who exceed the minimum criteria may be considered for a more advanced Project Manager position.

WWT is commited to professional development and career advancement opportuni es for our employees. WWT supports professional development by providing a training budget for staff and offering position and salary advancement as staff gain skills, experience, and expertise to meet our mission.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Project Management: Manage multiple projects with attention to funder and project deliverable schedules, budgets, project implementation sequencing and team communication.
• Project Development: Research water rights and ecological needs to identify and prioritize stream restoration opportunities and develop flow restoration projects. Supplemental training provided as needed.
• Coalition/Team building: Build upon WWT’s 20-year history of strong relationships with landowners, public agencies, tribes, conservation groups, agricultural users and funders in the Walla Walla Basin. Collaborate with stakeholders to achieve mutual goals. Participate on behalf of WWT in the Walla Walla 2050 Water Management Plan.
• Outreach: Develop and implement outreach strategies to engage instream flow projects in collaboration with project partners and/or water right holders. Communicate effectively by phone, email, mail, media, events and in person to build project opportunities that sustain and expand our mission.
• Communications: Create and provide effective writen and oral communica ons to diverse audiences, ranging from highly technical to general and accessible for the public.
• Negotiation: Negotiate with water rights holders, subcontractors, agencies and funders to secure contracts and agreements for water transactions and other flow restora on strategies.
• Fundraising: Occasionally support WWT fundraising staff in direct fundraising and fundraising events.
• Other duties as assigned. The project manager will be included WWT’s project team efforts statewide based on their specific area of expertise.

Skills and Atributes

• General knowledge of and/or ability to learn the following (training will be provided as needed):
  o Western water rights laws
  o Conservation markets and or easements
  o Microsoft Suite
  o Project management software (WWT uses Smartsheet)
• Strong communication skillset including writen, verbal, interpersonal
• Relationship building
• Creative problem-solving and critical thinking
• Ability to work independently and in teams with self-direction
• Familiarity with two or more of the following: fisheries science, watershed science, western water law, restoration project management, agricultural practices, or other relevant fields outlined in cover leter.
• Demonstrated experience managing projects; experience managing multi-year projects a plus.
• Experience with geographic informa on so ware a plus (WWT uses ArcGIS Pro)

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience is required, with a strong preference for natural resources or a related field; a post-graduate degree or equivalent experience in natural resources or a related field is a plus.
• 5-10 years’ work experience in a natural resource management or related field, or equivalent combination of graduate school and professional experience.

Working Conditions
WWT believes in work life balance with a 40-hour work week. On occasion, employees may be asked to work occasional non-standard hours, including evenings and weekends. Staff must be willing and able to travel throughout Washington.

This job requires frequent use of computers, phones, and virtual meeting platforms. This is not a field-based position. Under our flexible work policy, WWT offices are open to those who have been fully vaccinated, and staff may also operate from a home office. There will be in-person weekly office days required for team coordination. For remote work, employees must maintain a workspace with an internet connection where they can reliably perform work during scheduled work hours.

We are a completely COVID-19 vaccinated staff team and require proof of vaccination for any new hire, to protect the health of our WWT Team, our families and communities.

Salary and Benefits
WWT offers competitive compensation commensurate with qualifications and experience.
The annualized salary range for this position is $75,000-$86,000, depending on experience. Applicants may be considered for a more senior project position depending on experience.

We offer a generous benefits package which includes: 100% paid health, vision, and dental insurance; 12 paid holidays; 3 weeks paid vacation (4 weeks after two years employment), paid sick leave, WA Paid Family Medical Leave, and a contribu on to 403(b) retirement program of up to 4% of annualized salary.