[at-l] Fw: Virginia Regional Director Search

[daveh at psknet.com (David Hicks)]

FYI --

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The Appalachian Trail Conference is seeking a Regional Director for Central
and Southwest Virginia to be based at the ATC office in Blacksburg,
Virginia.
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Please share with other club members or anyone you feel may be interested
in applying. The position is open until filled.

Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) POSITION DESCRIPTION Position Descrition

Position Title: Regional
Director                                               Posted: January 2005
Office Location: Southern Central/Southwest Va. Regional Office   Status:
Exempt
Supervisor: Director Of
Conservation                                       Program: Conservation
________________________________________________________________________
The Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) invites applications for the
position of Regional Director for Central and Southwestthe Virginia
regional office. This is a newe Regional Director position is new and under
represents the launching ofthe implementation of ATC's strategic plany.

With the public- land corridor for the Trail essentially established, and
the Trail maintenance program well in place, the ATC has entered a new era
of responsibilities and challenges. The protection and management of the
Trail has become more complex with greater external threats, including an
ever-increasing number of hikers, air and noise pollution, and
telecommunication towers, to name just a few. Natural-resource inventories
have identified more than 2,000 occurrences of rare, threatened, and
endangered species at more than 500 sites within the Trail corridor,
ranking the A.T. as one of the most biologically diverse units in the
national park system. Similar inventories are underway now to identify
cultural resources. The protection of those diverse resources also
represents a significant challenge for the organization. Thereforee, the
ATC ATC's Board of Managers adopted a new and ambitious plan to build the
organization's capacity to better protect and manage the Appalachian Trail.
As part of this strategic plan, the ATC recognizes that it has the
opportunity to reach well beyond its traditional partners and engage
donors, local communities, land trusts, businesses, and other organizations
to help meet those challenges.


POSITION SUMMARY

The Regional Director provides leadership, direction, and management for
the regional office and programs. The Regional Director reports to the
Director of Conservation (DOC) and works with him/her to establish ATC's
overall regional capacity, priorities, strategies, resources, and plans and
ensures their successful execution within the region, exercising
considerable independence and autonomy in the day-to-day implementation.
The Regional Director also administers the operations of the regional field
office; raises funds with support from the Directors of Development and
Conservation to execute ongoing and new programs and projects; supports
research and knowledge sharing; and integrates all aspects of the
conservation and stewardship functions in the region. The Regional Director
advocates for protection of the Appalachian Trail and negotiates
conservation outcomes in high- profile cases, executing a variety of
conservation approaches, and oversees ATC's resource- management, land-
protection, fundraising, policy analysis, advocacy, community- outreach and
government- relations programs. The Regional Director represents ATC in the
region, participates in, and builds where necessary, conservation alliances
and partnerships to achieve ATC's strategic goals. She/he nurtures ATC's
critical relationships with trail clubs, land trusts, and agency partners
and cultivates relationships and serves as ATC spokesperson with key local
and state elected officials, media, and stakeholders. The Regional Director
advises on organization-wide initiatives and assists other ATC staff
members in their implementation.

Specifically, the Director will have the following essential duties and
responsibilities:

Operations and Administration
?        Establishes an effective regional organization to carry out the
mission, strategy, and objectives of ATC and administers the operations of
the regional office and other regional facilities.
?        Creates, justifies, negotiates, monitors, and reports on regional
budget. Has approval authority for expenditures within budget with and
discretion for expenditures consistent with ATC and donor policy and
overall organizational strategy.
?        Ensures compliance of field-regional-office operations with all
ATC policies and procedures.
?        Implements ATC's response to emergencies and Trail-related
incidents in the region.
?        Negotiates agreements.
?        Supervises preparation of contracts and subsequent tracking,
dispute resolution, and reporting.

Capacity Development
?        Has primary authority and accountability for hiring, orienting,
cultivating, evaluating, and counseling regional-office employees.
Coordinates salary decisions, performance evaluations, and disciplinary
actions with the Conservation DirectorDOC.
?        Delegates responsibility and authority to employeesstaff and
clearly defines expectations.
?        Provides staff support as appropriate to Bboard committees and the
Rregional Ppartnership Ccommittee;; participates, as requested in Board
committee meetings.
?        Identifies and ensures that regional programs addresses capacity
needs of Trail clubs and partners.
?        Works closely with the DOC and Director of Development to
establish an annual plan for fundraising and directs regional fundraising
efforts;, builds and maintains relationships with donors and prospects;,
prepares and contributes to grant proposals and donor reports.
?        Collaborates with Director of Administration to identify and
secure the technology and systems necessary to accomplish program strategy.

General Program Support
?        Fosters the cooperative partnership among ATC, Trail-maintaining
organizations, and conservation, and resource- management and resource- use
organizations and agencies in the region; serves as primary spokesperson
for ATC in the region.
?        Works with other ATC staff members, Appalachian Trail Park Office
(NPS-ATPO), the Regional Partnership Committee, the Trail Stewardship
Council, and the Board of Directors on strategic plans, ensures project
completion and evaluates program effectiveness.
?        Assists with preparation of annual congressional briefing
materials; schedules and participates in congressional-briefing visits, and
prepares follow-up correspondence.
?        Assists ATC program managers?, including administration,
development, and communications? in implementing other ATC objectives.
?        Contributes to management-related, membership, and visitor
publications by providing articles, manuscripts, review or editorial
services, and/or/or photos.

Conservation -- ?Trail Operations and Corridor Stewardship
?        Ensures high-quality visitor services, Trail treadway and facility
design, construction and maintenance within ATC policy guidelines,
including local-management planning processes and review processes intended
to refine the Trail route and define land- protection objectives for
federal land--acquisition programs.
?        Supervises staff management ofing Trail-crew, ridgerunner,
outreach, resource-inventory,, outreach and resource-monitoring programs,
as well as seasonal technical projects.
?        Oversees the regional environmental- monitoring program where
applicable, and assists Director of Conservation and Conservation
Department staff in the selection of monitoring projects and the
presentation of results.
?        Directs project selection and design with affected clubs and
partners; provides general oversight for volunteer recruitment; sSupervises
identification, development, and implementation of agricultural-management,
open-areas, and other land-management ; corridor monitoring,
boundary-survey maintenance, repair and rehabilitation, and
hazardous-materials- abatement projects.
?        Resolves conflicts within ATC community and amongst Trail
stakeholders.

Conservation -- ?Land Trust and Resource Protection
?        Implements ATC's regional conservation action by facilitating
partnerships in accordance with organizational strategy.
?        Develops strategy to proactively mitigate prevent potential
threats and manages diverse responses to threats that arise.
?        Provides written comments, offers testimony, and negotiates
conservation outcomes with industry executives and government officials to
address threats posed by a myriad of development projects.
?        Develops land- conservation opportunities and sets priorities for
the regional land trust program; oversees land- trust coordinators in the
region and the execution of land- acquisition projects in the region.
?        Monitors ongoing inventory of natural and cultural resources by
ATC, NPS-ATPO, and partners.
?        Collaborates with DOC to develop and implement environmental-
education program and community- outreach programs designed to prevent or
mitigate short and long-term threats to the Trail experience and to
maximize the potential influence of the Trail and its stakeholders on
conservation through improved local ordinances and land-use plans,
increased civic and philanthropic engagement, etc.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

?        Extensive travel and, evening and weekend work may be required.
Flexibility to work long hours during deadline or special event periods.
?Ability to communicate with individuals by phone, email and in person.
?        May require visits to and, in exceptional cases, physical
inspection, of Trail locations.
?Willingness to travel to organization-wide meetings and to project sites
offices.
?        Flexibility to work long hours during deadline or special event
periods.




WORK ENVIRONMENT
?        Moderate noise level due to open office environment, with a high
level of activity on the telephone, computers, and printers.

LOCATION
This position is based in Blacksburg, VaA.

SALARY RANGE
The salary range for the position is $46,000 to $74,000 with excellent
fringe benefits.

QUALIFICATIONS
?         Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree in conservation,
management, or related area preferred.
?         Seven7-ten-10 years of relevant experience.
?         Strong financial- management experience, with track record of
ensuring program accountability and legal compliance.
?         Demonstrated strength managing people, with significant
supervisory experience and proven ability to lead and coach a
multi-disciplinary team of staff members and volunteers and to develop
organizational capacity.
?         Strong oral and written communication skills.
?         Superb facilitation skills, with experience engaging diverse
stakeholders, resolving conflicts, and inspiring collaboration with diverse
partners.
?         Self-starter, able to organize, track, finish, and report on a
diverse program portfolio and complete projects amidst a dynamic and
changing organizational context with patience, perseverance, and minimal
supervision.
?         Proven talent developing constructive and effective relationships
inside and outside the Trail and conservation communities as well as with
donor and government institutions.
?        Familiarity with the Appalachian Trail community, hikers,
recreation, volunteers, and natural- resource management, and park and land
management.
?        Expertise developing and executing land- conservation transactions.
?        Experience writing grants and cultivating donors, with a proven
success in raising funds.
?        Fluency in Microsoft Office and e-mail software is essential; and
familiarity with GIS is preferred.
?        Knowledge of government relations and innovative, non-profit-
management practices.
?        Analytical, strategic, and systematic thinker with experience
developing and implementing multi-year strategies and plans.
?        Record of excellent decision -making and risk management.

PostedPosted January 2005. Position is open until filled. Compensation is
commensurate with experience for this high-visibility role. ATC offers
excellent benefits.
: January 2005. Position is open until filled. Salary is commensurate with
experience benefits are excellent.

To apply: Please submit a cover letter, r?sum?, three references, and
salary history (three3 most recent years) by e-mail to
<rdsearch@appalachiantrail.org>, by mail to VARO Director Search, P.O. Box
807, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425, or by fax to 304-535-2667.to


Appalachian Trail Conference is an equal opportunity employer.


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