BACKGROUND

Trout Unlimited (TU) seeks a Project Manager to join its California staff. The Project Manager will be responsible for managing habitat restoration projects that benefit streamflow and endangered salmonids in watersheds along the majestic Northern Coast of California.

Trout Unlimited is a national organization with 300,000 members and supporters. Our grassroots volunteers are matched by a respected staff of project managers, organizers, lawyers, policy experts, and scientists. In California, TU has a full-time staff of over twenty, working across the state in a highly collaborative environment, with a diversity of partners including landowners, tribes, state and federal resource management agencies, private and public funders, and other NGOs.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Project Manager is a full-time position that will work with Trout Unlimited’s North Coast Coho Project (NCCP), based in Fort Bragg, California. The NCCP is one of several TU programs in California and focuses on habitat restoration in coastal Northern California that benefit native salmon. This is a non-supervisory position that will manage and implement multiple restoration projects simultaneously. The Project Manager will have the lead responsibility for managing their own restoration projects and will support establishing key partnerships and conservation priorities that align with TU’s Strategic Framework.

The Project Manager will work side-by-side with the NCCP Project Director and other NCCP staff to protect, conserve, and restore salmon and steelhead habitat in watersheds with high recovery value. The Project Manager’s restoration portfolio may include floodplain and instream enhancement, large wood augmentation, barrier removal, hydrologic re-connection efforts, and other types of habitat restoration. This position will support Trout Unlimited’s ongoing work across the redwood curtain in watersheds spanning from the Lost Coast to Humboldt Bay by working in close coordination with landowners, local partners, tribal governments, and resource agencies to identify, prioritize, develop, and implement habitat enhancement projects.

The Project Manager will work in close collaboration with TU staff as well as TU grassroots members to support an integrated and team-based approach to salmon, steelhead, and watershed restoration. The position will be a part of a growing and dynamic team of staff in California, as well as a member of the organization’s larger national restoration program. This position will provide program support in Mendocino and Humboldt counties. The Project Manager will be required to travel frequently to project sites throughout the region.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Managing multiple restoration projects including landowner outreach, project scoping and planning/design activities, securing environmental permits, coordinating implementation activities, and overseeing monitoring and data management.
• Preparing grant proposals through private, local, state, and federal funding sources.
• Managing agreements with funders, consultants, and subcontractors.
• Managing bid processes, contract negotiation, and contract administration.
• Developing and managing budgets and working closely with accounting staff submitting invoices.
• Maintaining detailed records, project files, and producing high-quality reports.
• Building strategic, scientific, and technical capacity in the field.
• Building and maintaining positive and productive relationships with agency, NGO, tribal, and private partners, to collaboratively plan and implement projects.
• Organizing partner involvement, including TU chapters, and outreach meetings.
• Coordinating growth with TU California’s water, inland trout, science, policy and public lands programs.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree and 5 years relevant experience with conservation, restoration, or related work.
• Professional experience working with landowners, agencies, scientists, tribal representatives, resource managers, and other interested parties in a collaborative setting.
• Experience with water conservation and stream restoration principles, methods, and practices.
• Experience with grant writing. Familiarity with state and federal grant programs a plus.
• Familiarity with environmental permitting.
• Experience developing and managing project budgets.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills with special attention to detail.
• Ability to solve problems and think creatively to achieve a conservation mission.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines simultaneously.
• Ability and willingness to travel within the northern California region. A valid driver’s license and personal vehicle are required.
• Self-motivated and highly energetic, with excellent time management skills.
• Passion for wild rivers, rugged coastal forests, and native trout and salmon.

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY EQUITY AND INCLUSION

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. At TU, we value diversity, and we actively seek candidates for this position who come from communities that have been historically under-represented in conservation and those who have been most impacted by degraded rivers and streams. We are committed to building space for all people to participate in our work to care for trout and salmon and our shared waters.