Program Director

LOCATION:

Candidates must reside in New York – preferably a central location with access to Albany Overview

The Land Trust Alliance is the voice of the land trust community. As the national leader in policy, standards and education, we work passionately to support land trusts across America so they can save more land and better serve their communities.

Our natural places and working lands are a lifeline to clean air, water, food and good health. These lands also bring us together, inspire us and provide opportunities to recreate and recharge. The land trust community is a crucial component in this equation. With important places under continual threat, land trusts need access to the best tools, information and policy advocates.

Armed with a diverse network and valuable resources, the Alliance is the land trust community’s source for the knowledge and capabilities they need to reach their goals. From tax and funding policies on Capitol Hill to innovative ideas, partnerships and initiatives, we ensure our land trust members can always be heard and achieve more.

The Alliance is seeking to elevate land conservation as a priority nationwide. We envision a reenergized, more relevant conservation movement in which land trusts join with partners that have not traditionally identified as conservation organizations, including from the for‑profit sector, around our shared interest of protecting special places.

The New York Program Director position offers an exciting new opportunity to play a senior leadership role in the New York land conservation community. The successful candid must have working knowledge or previous experience working with New York land trusts and the ability to build and sustain close, working relationships with diverse stakeholders in the context of complex regional conservation and land use issues.

The Land Trust Alliance’s New York Program is the coordinating body for the New York land trust community. The Program Director is responsible for working with the community to set the strategic direction and deliver a suite of high impact programs and activities described below while ensuring close alignment with the Alliance's strategic priorities.

The Program Director supervises the New York Policy Analyst and the New York Program Manager and works closely with the New York Advisory Council (NYAC) and other conservation leaders. NYAC is composed of land trust leaders from across the state that provide direct knowledge of the opportunities and challenges facing the New York land trust community. NYAC helps inform the activities and priorities of the Alliance’s work in New York, assists and advises on key policy priorities important to the land trust community and assists with the advocacy and fundraising necessary to maintain grant funding and programmatic work.

The Program Director represents the land trust community’s interests with New York State government, including the Governor’s Office, executive agencies, and the State Legislature, and plays an active and critical role in advancing public policy, budget, and funding priorities relevant to land trusts and land conservation. The effectiveness of the New York Program’s government relations, policy, and advocacy work requires close collaboration and coordination with Alliance government relations staff, our retained lobbyist, the NYAC, land trusts, state agency partners and other key stakeholders including participation in several statewide coalitions.

Through a partnership with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Alliance’s New York Program is responsible for the administration of two grants programs. Funded by the state Environmental Protection Fund…