Wildlife Conservation Manager

POSITION SUMMARY:  The Wildlife Conservation Manager (WCM) plans, prioritizes, and implements management activities to protect wildlife on Catalina Island. WCM supervises small and large-scale wildlife management and monitoring projects including supervising wildlife biologists, technicians and interns. Wildlife biologist guides monitoring and management of rare and endemic wildlife species on Santa Catalina Island. She/he guides, and participates as necessary in introduced species control, habitat restoration, and reintroductions. The position is also expected to interact with staff at all levels within the organization and partner organizations, including donors, land owners, contractors, volunteers, and the community.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Wildlife Program Manager will perform any combination of the duties listed below as needed or assigned:

• Leads development of wildlife conservation strategy for Catalina Island Conservancy in collaboration with Senior Director of Conservation.
• Serves as a main point of contact with universities and other institutions on developing partnerships for conservation of wildlife on Catalina. Maintains a vibrant professional network of contacts.
• Trains crews in fieldwork and joins team when needed. Manages Wildlife Biologists, Technicians, and interns within wildlife conservation program. Meet regularly with employees to ensure that all focus on priorities.
• Effectively communicate progress and results through professional organizations and publications to CIC staff, general public, and internal/external media.
• Formulates and reports annual goals.
• Monitors and reports on island wildlife conservation.
• Identifies and pursues funding opportunities from foundations and government agencies to finance monitoring and wildlife management projects.
• Supports and provides consultation to Senior Director of Conservation in delivery of organizational priorities.
• Ensures that programs follow legal requirements and ensures that safety is followed across programs.
• Collaborate with Conservation Operations Manager on performing essential administrative functions including, but not limited to, the following:  develop and manage operating; purchase services and materials; maintain and care for equipment and tools; implement safety policy and procedures for assigned areas.
• Works with development and communications on writing articles and envisioning donor events.
• Recommend appropriate resource management practices to improve the ability of the Conservancy to accomplish its mission.
• Updates and enhances knowledge by continuing education for professional growth, i.e., attends relevant conferences, seminars and certification programs.
• Performs administrative functions with accounting team including, but not limited to, the following: develop and manage operating and capital budgets; purchase services and materials; maintain and care for equipment and tools; maintain payroll and human resource records; conduct performance evaluations for assigned employees; implement safety policy and procedures for assigned areas.
• Performs other duties as needed or assigned by Senior Director of Conservation.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS:

• Professional knowledge of Southern California native wildlife and natural history, as well as recent trends in conservation practice.
• Experience designing and managing projects including budgets, grant writing, and supervising personnel.
• Experience in implementing wildlife projects including managing work crews, including planning, scheduling, contracting, hiring, supervision and evaluation.
• Ability to manage, analyze and prepare technical reports or papers on wildlife monitoring data including using Microsoft Access, Excel, and statistical software like Program R.
• Ability to adapt and respond to unexpected ecological (e.g. fire, new invasions) or programmatic (e.g. changes in priorities or funding) circumstances while still progressing towards core program objectives.
• Ability to work effectively on interdisciplinary team balancing conservation, education and recreation goals.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to function and thrive within complex, multi-goal (conservation, education, recreation) organization with diverse professional staff.
• Ability to guide the of use standard wildlife sampling methods for project-specific or island-wide monitoring,
• Excellent written and oral communication skills. Demonstrated skills in budget management and proposal/grant/report writing.
• Demonstrated skills in budget management and proposal/grant/report writing.
• Ability to schedule, coordinate, organize and manage diverse activities in a dependable manner.

COMPLEXITY/PROBLEM SOLVING: 

• Able to think critically and creatively to develop solutions to complex conservation, facility operations and land use problems.
• Ability to adapt and respond to unexpected or unplanned ecological (e.g. fire, drought, new invasions) or programmatic (e.g. changes in organizational priorities or funding) circumstances while still progressing towards core program objectives.
• Ability to work effectively on an interdisciplinary team balancing conservation, recreation and education organizational goals.

COMMUNICATIONS/INTERPERSONAL CONTACTS: 

• Strong management experience as well as organizational, coordination, and project management skills.
• Ability to function and thrive within a complex, multi-goal (conservation, education, recreation) organization with diverse professional staff (scientists, operations professionals, guest experience managers, marketing and public relations) is crucial.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to work both independently and as a part of a team is essential; strong team building and relationship building skills critical. Positive attitude, sense of humor, energetic, creative and transparent, focused on strategic goals of the Conservancy.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: 

• S. in wildlife biology, ecology, biology, or other equivalent discipline from an accredited institution and 7 years of work experience. Ph.D. preferred.
• Professional knowledge of California’s wildlife and current conservation issues.
• Track record of technical/scientific publications, demonstrated ability to develop partnerships and an extensive professional network.
• Demonstrated experience with various regional, state and federal agencies (e.g. CA Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and National Park Service) with regards to animal and environmental concerns, protocols and procedures. A familiarity with CEQA, NEPA and CA Coastal Commission and SEA programs preferred.
• Experience preparing funding proposals and knowledge of funding sources for wildlife work in California and nationally.
• Supervisory experience in managing teams composed of interns and volunteers with varying skills.
• Field work experience should include most of the following:
  • General wildlife monitoring experience such as point counts, pitfall trapping, radio telemetry, and coverboard surveys.
  • Trapping, handling, and drawing blood from meso-carnivores (particularly island foxes).
  • Using radio telemetry.
  • Remote camera deployment and analysis.
  • Using GIS to plot location data.
  • Operating 4WD vehicles and Zodiac rafts with outboard motors.
  • Managing large amounts of data using Microsoft Excel and Access.
• Must possess a valid California Driver’s License and be able to operate a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE: 

Ph. D preferred but not required. Master’s degree in Natural Resource Management, Wildlife management or related field required. Minimum 5 years of professional experience.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

• The position may be off Island primarily remote with short-interval visits to the Island which can be day trips OR overnights. During fox trapping season, employees will need to be on Island for a week at a time for six weeks in total. The WCM has office space available in Long Beach occasionally but will be expected to work from home often. Ferry departures occur as early as 6 AM for those days that they are needed on Island. When overnight on the Island, WCM will stay in a bunkhouse in the middle of the Island.
• The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The office environment has moderate noise levels and is a non-smoking environment.  Field conditions are strongly weather-dependent and may be hot, dusty, cold, muddy, and/or wet depending on season and degree of exposure.  Smoking is allowed only at limited designated locations on the island.  Work may be conducted independently or with groups of staff and volunteers.  Hiking conditions include steep, rugged terrain with unstable rocky substrate and cactus.  Wild animals, including bison and rattlesnakes, may also be encountered in the field and pose some threat.
• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Position involves functioning in both field and office environments.  Field work involves manual labor, hiking long distances over rugged terrain and through dense scrub, and routine odd hours and night surveys.  The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS: The upper portion of the salary range is typically reserved for existing employees who demonstrate strong performance over time. Starting salary will vary by qualifications, and prior experience. We pay competitively in the nonprofit space and offer a robust benefits package.

Catalina Island Conservancy provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.