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Project Manager for Carbon Ranch Initiative

*We are currently interviewing for this position and are closed for applications. 

Quivira Coalition is a Santa Fe-based nonprofit that builds resilience on working lands. We foster ecological, economic, and social health through education, innovation, and collaboration. We envision a world where agriculture provides for the health of rural economies and communities, heals social injustice, and regenerates climate, land, water, and ecosystems. We work to support the community and implementation of regenerative agriculture until it is embraced as a crucial piece of our food systems, our land stewardship, and our solutions to climate change. Quivira’s work, at its foundation, advances the current shift from extractive to regenerative culture and economy. Knowing that it is critical to the success of our work, Quivira is committed to diversity and inclusion, and we aspire to build a diverse staff team and community, including groups that are traditionally under-represented among stewardship and agricultural support services.

We seek a project manager for a technical position supported by grant funding. Ideally, this manager can commit to the 4 years of funded projects. The Carbon Ranch Initiative (CRI) Manager will work with the rest of the CRI team and partner organizations to implement on-the-ground research and demonstration projects, as well as contribute to ecological, social, and economic analyses of ranching that builds soil health. This person will also organize, develop, and facilitate outreach and engagement opportunities around topics related to soil health, organic soil amendment production and use, and other regenerative ranching topics. Finally, this person will support other CRI and Quivira projects, such as ranch/farm planning, open source soil health monitoring and evaluation, and Quivira’s ongoing efforts to be a diverse, inclusive, and equitable organization.

The CRI Manager will bring professionalism and organization to working with diverse groups of people on their land, the other programs in Quivira, and the partner organizations associated with the Carbon Ranch Initiative. The manager will build and develop content, methods, protocols, and strategies, as well as operationalize their own and others’ activities. They then will evaluate and revise those activities to best meet the goals and objectives for the relevant stakeholders.

The manager will be expected to: 

• work with farmers, ranchers, and natural resource management professionals from diverse communities to implement projects and educational activities centering carbon storage and soil health priorities
• manage land-based projects and data 
• write reports and educational materials that are useful for working ranchers, farmers, and technical service providers, 
• Contribute to applications and reports to funding agencies to support ongoing work 
• navigate the challenges, opportunities, and social dynamics in agricultural and natural resource management and collaboration 
• communicate complex land management issues in clear, constructive, and non-polarizing ways 
• organize events and facilitate a community of practice around working lands collaboration.

Program activities

o Multi-day site visits, facilitation of trainings/workshops and in-field monitoring,  and remote work using remote sensing or model-based data collection and analysis.
o Work remotely and independently to plan and organize logistics and resources for multi-day site visits, implementation activities, or workshops
o Delegate tasks and responsibilities to contractors, coordinators, or interns, when applicable, to complete deliverables
o Track time and expenses for each project/deliverable to ensure the project is on time and on budget, or provide sufficient advance notice of issues
o Write reports for funding or collaboration
o Supervise coordinators, interns, volunteers as needed
o Coordinate with outside contractors, including assembling documentation for payment as needed
o Work with the CRI team to manage projects in other aspects of the program
o Engage in research processes and teach evidence-based techniques in regenerative agriculture
o Contribute to and use evaluation tools to adaptively manage projects to achieve program objectives and mission

Administrative activities

• Report regularly to the program director
• Participate in internal meetings and subgroups in support of maintaining and evolving culture and internal work
• Engage with other program and Quivira staff in routine program and cross-program activities

Outreach

• Shape and facilitate other CRI activities, including writing newsletters or social media posts that keep stakeholders informed
• Table or present at conferences
• Support Quivira’s annual REGENERATE Conference in ways that fit capacity and align with program goal

All of these activities will evolve with a commitment to identifying ways to more effectively include communities that have been historically underserved in agricultural support services.

This position is salaried (40 hours per week) and the pay scale is fixed between $47,267 – $63,949 per year in the first year. After three months, benefits include health care, dental, vision, simple IRA, paid-time-off, short and long term life insurance, and a disability policy. While we actively seek funding to support staff long term, we cannot guarantee employment beyond the duration of the grant funding.

Required Qualifications

• Familiarity with regenerative agricultural practices and soil health principles
• Experience working with ranchers/farmers
• Familiarity with USDA services provided by FSA and NRCS
• Experience managing a land-based project, including developing expectations and planning implementation within a set budget and timeline
• Experience working with others and effective delegating on land-based and/or education projects
• Experience with monitoring and evaluating ecological, economic, or social information about agricultural activities
• Professional written and verbal communication skills
• Strong skills related to working with diverse groups of people and cross-cultural communication
• Must be able to travel to remote locations where camping may be required for multiple days/nights at a time and drive long distances (up to 8 hours in a day)
• Flexible schedule to accommodate weekend, evening, and remote work
• Strong organizational skills and ability to coordinate with a diverse and busy group of stakeholders
• Must have a valid driver’s license
• Must be able to lift 25 lbs. and work long hours bending and walking outdoors
• An understanding of how conservation and agriculture have historically and currently impacted Hispanic, Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color

Desired Qualifications

• Existing relationships and experience working with rural, agricultural producers on conservation or value chain projects in the Southwest 
• Experience developing educational programs for adult learners
• Experience planning and documenting activities and parameters to meet voluntary and mandatory certifications and standards 
• Experience providing technical support to producers (connecting people to resources, navigating bureaucracies, planning, logistical support around implementation, logistical support around monitoring and evaluation)
• Experience writing grants and engaging in other types of fundraising
• Experience supervising personnel and managing resources
• Experience with G Suite (gmail, drive, calendar, etc.)
• Experience with project management software (e.g. Asana)
• Multi-lingual in Spanish or Native languages 

Application Instructions

Please apply using the form below. Please include a current two page resume with the application. The application will be in place of a cover letter; no cover letter is needed. Please provide the name, phone number, and email of three professional references. References will be checked as a part of the hiring process and we will let applicants know when we reach out to references. 

Anyone who meets our required characteristics will be invited for a short initial interview (15-20 min.) with the CRI director and at that time we will request professional writing samples that demonstrate communication with a producer audience and communication with a technical audience.
Finalists who demonstrate substantial desired characteristics will then be invited to a full interview (1 hour) with the CRI director and one other staff member. 

Please send questions to Eva Stricker eva@quiviracoalition with the subject line “Carbon Ranch Initiative Manager Application.”

Deadline for best consideration of applications is January 4, 2024 with the intention of a start date in early March 2024. Position will remain open until filled.

Since its establishment in 1997, Quivira has prided itself on its history of working across differences at the radical center, though we have not always accomplished this and continue to strive for improvement. In the last year, we have become increasingly aware of the work that we must do to ensure that individuals and communities of all backgrounds are truly included and welcomed into our work, and the ongoing legacies of racism. Quivira is taking its steps toward becoming an antiracist organization, and reevaluating what diversity, equity and inclusion means for the organization. This is difficult, often messy, ongoing work, and we are committed to working through the challenges to join the movement for racially just regenerative agriculture. We have made mistakes, committed harm, and are committed to growth. We hope new hires and the perspectives they bring will continue to help us navigate this path. We invite candidates to ask questions about where we are in this journey, and to join us in moving the organization and the regenerative agriculture movement towards becoming more just, equitable, and inclusive.