Executive Director, North Carolina

Who We Are

The Nature Conservancy’s mission is to protect the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science-based organization, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that we can create a world in which people and nature thrive. We’re rooted in our Mission and guided by our Values, which includes a Commitment to Diversity and Respect for People, Communities, and Cultures.

Whether it’s career development, flexible schedules, or a rewarding mission, there’s lots of reasons to love life inside TNC. To learn more, check out our TNC Talent playlist on You Tube or Glassdoor.

Our goal is to cultivate an inclusive work environment so that all our colleagues around the globe feel a sense of belonging, and that their unique contributions to our mission are valued. We hire and engage a diverse workforce that reflects the communities in which we work. Please apply – we’d love to hear from you.

The Executive Director functions as Executive Director and conservation strategist for the North Carolina Business Unit (BU). They are accountable for the BU’s success in implementing TNC’s conservation approach, producing measurable conservation results, and maintaining organizational values. They ensure outcomes are achieved in priority areas that fall within the BU’s responsibilities and contribute intellectual, financial, and/or human resources to priority cross-boundary efforts.

They support alignment of activities by securing, coordinating, and configuring resources, capacity, and programs to address the most critical organization-wide projects, threats, and strategies. They are responsible for collaborating with others on procurement and application of resources to address conservation priorities established by TNC, both in their BU and beyond their span of authority. They serve as the primary local spokesperson for TNC to internal and external audiences (including staff, volunteers, the Board of Trustees, public and private donors, government agencies and officials, community leaders, and other partners) and cultivate those audiences to support and promote TNC’s mission and vision.

The North Carolina Executive Director oversees fundraising for the BU, including approving budgets and setting priorities which dictate private and public fundraising goals. They support philanthropy and external affairs staff in the cultivation and direct solicitation of donors to meet fundraising goals. They are responsible for a significant portion of the BU’s direct fundraising, sometimes in a major market area(s). They have a dotted line to marketing staff supporting and servicing the BU and play a central role in planning and executing marketing strategy and activities in collaboration with the Division Marketing Director.

The staff comprising the various BU functions may be structured as needed or shared with other BUs as efficiency dictates to meet the needs of the BU.

The North Carolina Executive Director helps create a multi-state vision for how to maximize conservation outcomes within North Carolina and across the broader Southern U.S. Division, comprised of 8 business units from Virginia and Kentucky southward to Florida and Louisiana. Increasingly and fundamentally, the Executive Director collaborates with others across the Southern Division and beyond to build partnerships and support the most critical organization-wide impacts, strategies, and projects that align and meet the overall initiatives of North Carolina, the Southern Division, and the organization.

The Executive Director reports to the Southern Division Director.

The Executive Director leads staff and works closely with the local trustees/advisory board, cultivates new and existing donors, expands partnerships, and builds a broader constituency for conservation across the state. Currently the North Carolina chapter team includes more than 50 full-time and approximately 50 seasonal staff across conservation, philanthropy, government relations, and operations. The Executive Director plays a primary role collaborating with partner organizations,…