Arizona BLM Partnership Coordinator

                                         PHEASANTS FOREVER AND QUAIL FOREVER

                                                               The Habitat Organization

                                                                    JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

                                                                        Arizona BLM

                                                                Partnership Coordinator

Location: Preferred Office location BLM Headquarters in Phoenix 

with options in other BLM offices throughout Arizona 

Application deadline: Open until filled. Preference will be given to applications received by November 27th, 2023.

Anticipated start date: January 4th, 2023 (negotiable)

This is a full-time position working directly with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV) and Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever (PFQF) to foster a collaborate partnership approach with other in-state conservation partners to coordinate the delivery of fire management projects associated with land use and fire management plans within the state of Arizona. This position has statewide responsibilities and will work with BLM staff and conservation partners across Arizona to assist with the implementation biome-scale restoration activities through the BLM’s Fire and Fuels Program.  It will also work with partners to support ecosystem restoration activity across various landownership to reduce wildfire risks and improve habitat for wildlife.    Quail Forever provides general supervision and oversight for this position with BLM providing day to day direction for implementation activity.

Need Statement:

The BLM Fire Program in Arizona has identified a need for establishing more partnerships to meet their goals of managing BLM lands and reducing wildfire risk on BLM lands. Management of the 12 million acres of BLM land in Arizona has become increasingly more difficult due to decades long drought conditions, woody vegetation invasion into desert and grassland ecosystems, and increasing areas of invasive annual grasses.  These factors taken together have increased the risk of wildfire across Arizona. To address this challenge increased effort is required to implement fire management and conservation projects like mechanical and chemical treatments of invasive plant species. These actions have been identified in several land us plans and fire management plans. 

Project implementation is best achieved through a partnership approach between the BLM and other conservation organizations and agencies.  The proposed position will focus on the following:

• Developing partnerships with conservation agencies and organizations with a goal of understanding partner priorities
• Working to identify common priority areas for project implementation that addresses wildfire risks,
• Leveraging capacity and financial resources towards the priority areas to maximize conservation impact 
• Using strengths of the individual partner organizations to complement BLM to provide additional implementation lift.

One current example of a highly functional partnership is the relationship the BLM has with PFQF. Through this partnership BLM mission delivery has been enhanced in the following ways:

• Increased flexibility and agility in the procurement process to select contractors to implement projects
• Dramatic reductions in the time required to deliver Federal funding (documented to in partnership work with BLM in sagebrush ecosystems in Idaho and other states)
• The ability to easily leverage other available funding sources to efficiently implement land use and fire management plans at a faster pace. 

The goals of this partnership are to:

• Hire a coordinator position to complete the duties outlined below, which include developing partnerships, increasing communication between BLM programs and other conservation partners, and seeking funding to scale up implementation of fire management and land use plans.
• Increase the number of new conservation partners or expand resource leverage with existing partners working with the BLM fire program by adding 5 new partners over the next 3 years.

Qualifications

Minimum qualifications are a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in conservation, natural resource management, biology, agriculture or closely related field with three years of work experience in your field. Experience with partner facilitation and coordination along with experience working with BLM processes, procedures, and policies is highly desirable for this position.

Expected experience and skills include:

• Project land use planning and fire management planning coordination and execution 
• Strong coordination, facilitation, team building, and collaboration skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong background in natural resource management
• Substantial computer and technology-based understanding
• Planning, budget management, program evaluation, and report writing skills
• Experience with grant writing and familiarity with NRCS conservation programs, state wildlife agency conservation program in Arizona and other restoration programs available through grants and foundations

Desirable experience and skills include:

• A strong understanding of the BLM’s processes specifically as it relates to restoration project implementation, management planning, and environmental compliance.
• Working with federal, state, NGO and private industry partners
• Experience managing multiple complex projects and managing contracts and contractors
• Providing recommendations for land restoration goals and objectives covering a large landscape

Salary – $60,000-$65,000 depending on Experience + benefits and 401k match (see our attached benefits summary)

Duties and Expectations             

The Program Coordinator will: 

• Serve as project lead to oversee project design and coordinate the implementation of fire management projects, completing follow-up monitoring and reporting when required. Develop and track project budgets in coordination with BLM point of contact and QF State Coordinator 

• Coordinate with BLM Fire Program staff located in all Arizona field offices to assist with the implementation of planned projects to reduce wildfire risks, improve rangeland sustainability, and improve habitat for wildlife.  This includes coordination with PFQF field staff located in Arizona to help oversee on the ground activities such as field site visits, meeting with contractors, and monitoring project progress. 

• Work to establish relationships with BLM field office staff in the Fire Program and other BLM programs, and establish relationships with other state and federal agencies, industry partners, and other nonprofit conservation organizations to leverage support and create buy in for current and future land use initiatives and fire management plans and activities.  This includes creating partnerships to plan and implement projects both on BLM administered lands and across landownership boundaries including private, state, and other federal lands.

• Work with PF/QF West Regional Director, QF State Coordinator, IWJV leadership, and BLM point of contact, and Pheasants Forever Inc. & Quail Forever Marketing Team to promote successful project implementation and provide information focused on highlighting strategic conservation efforts.

• Work with IWJV, BLM and QF staff to identify natural resource outcomes for all activities associated with this partnership and seek to establish relationships with Universities or other partners to develop the monitoring, research, and/ or literature reviews needed to document the outcomes of the fire management activities completed.

• Work with QF State Coordinator, IWJV leadership, and BLM point of contact to develop, coordinate, plan, and lead new or existing land use and fire management plans seeking partners to support these efforts.

• Work with QF State Coordinator, IWJV leadership, and BLM point of contact, and the appropriate field level partner staff to facilitate cross land ownership boundary project planning that leads to continuous landscape restoration.

• Monitor the progress of project planning and implementation keeping partners aware of timelines and milestones, prepare quarterly written progress reports and a full year summary report to share with all partners.

• Identify opportunities (grants or groups) that will enhance strategic implementation of fire management and natural resource conservation. Pursue granting opportunities as they become available, and administer all successful grants as requested by the partnership.  Examples include National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grants, Regional Conservation Partnership Grants, Arizona Habitat Partnership Program, and several others.

To Apply: Visit our website at www.pheasantsforever.org/jobs 

ONLY ONLINE APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Please combine your cover letter, resume and 3 references into a single Word document or PDF file before uploading to our Recruitment website. Additional questions may be directed to Al Eiden, West Region Director, at 602-513-6360 or aeiden@pheasantsforever.org

Pheasants Forever, Inc and Quail Forever is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, status as a qualified individual with disability, or any other category that may be protected by law.