The Appalachian Resource Conservation & Development Council, headquartered in Johnson City, Tennessee, seeks a Director of its Farmland Conservation Program. Candidates should be experienced with and able to communicate effectively with farmers on a variety of farmland and agricultural issues related to building and sustaining healthy soils, pastures, forests, and water resources. They should also have an understanding of economic and development pressures leading to farmland loss and possess a knowledge base, some skillsets, and an eagerness to help us protect farmland in the face of those threats. 

The selected person will have strong people skills and an ability to get along well with all types of people - from farmers to funders, retirees to youth, agricultural and engineering professionals to volunteers and laypersons. Performing outreach with the public and specific audiences will be a large part of this person's job. They will be a self-directed, project manager - well organized with excellent planning, budgeting, scheduling, and tracking/documentation skills and an ability to coordinate teams and delegate responsibilities. This person will enjoy fieldwork and getting in the dirt and also operating in the office. Ideally, this person will have Geographic Information Systems (GIS) competency to spatially analyze data and make maps and other graphical representations to illustrate concepts. Because writing reports and making presentations are an essential part of this job, the selected candidate must be a good writer and adept with MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint and other software applications. Applicants with a bachelor's degree in agricultural sciences, natural resources management, forestry, fish and wildlife or a related field will be considered but a master’s level education is preferred. Our ideal candidate will possess a combination of real-world, practical experience with the higher education necessary to do the job. 

This person will be able to work very well in a collaborative team environment with the directors of the other programs, and our support and administrative staff.  

The Appalachian RC&D (ARC&D) Council is a 31 year old non-profit organization that connects farmers, gardeners, food entrepreneurs - and those who want to be - with resources like training, funding, technical assistance, land, markets and each other while stewarding and preserving farmland, supporting rural folk arts and promoting access for all to nutritious local foods. Our ultimate aim is to promote & sustain healthy, thriving and resilient communities in northeast Tennessee and beyond through fostering a vibrant local farm and food scene.  We have four core programs: 1) Farmer & Gardener Training; 2) Nutrition & Food Access for All; 3) Farmland Conservation; and 4) the Market & Information Hub.