Southwest Prescribed Fire Manager in Phoenix, Arizona

Southwest Prescribed Fire Manager

The Southwest Prescribed Fire Manager provides fire management leadership in Arizona and New Mexico by directly implementing priority prescribed fire, coordinating and enabling Conservancy fire capacity across programs and Business Units, and focusing prescribed and beneficial fire where it can most effectively advance dry forest restoration objectives. This position is jointly supported by the Arizona and New Mexico Business Units and is designed to deliver high impact operational fire leadership while strengthening cooperative burning, workforce capacity, and cross-boundary implementation in support of priority restoration needs.

The position works closely with Arizona and New Mexico forest management, forest leadership, and Stewardship Programs, as well as North America Fire, to ensure prescribed fire planning, implementation, and staffing are coordinated, strategically aligned, and focused on priority outcomes.

The Fire Manager also coordinates with other TNC Business Unit Fire Managers to share best practices, align standards, and contribute to a cohesive and resilient fire management community within the Conservancy. The position indirectly supervises the New Mexico Prescribed Fire Specialist and may supervise, advise, or mentor additional fire staff as programs and capacity are developed. The Fire Manager works closely with each Business Unit's forest management, forest leadership, and Stewardship Programs to align prescribed fire programming with forest stewardship priorities, place-based management needs, conservation planning, and long-term landscape objectives.

A core component of this role is building and sustaining strong partnerships with public agencies, Tribal governments, NGOs, local fire departments, and private landowners to advance durable prescribed fire outcomes.

The Fire Manager supports collaborative, codeveloped fire implementation approaches, including engagement with Tribal natural resource and fire programs, and works to respectfully support cultural burning and Indigenous fire stewardship practices where invited and appropriate. All such engagement is grounded in respect for Tribal sovereignty, local leadership, and place-based knowledge systems, with an emphasis on building trust and shared implementation capacity over time.

The Southwest Prescribed Fire Manager leads by doing, serving in operational fire leadership roles and directly implementing prescribed fire across priority dry forest and other fire adapted landscapes in Arizona and New Mexico to maintain qualifications, model best practices, and advance conservation outcomes. The position provides fire management leadership for the Arizona and New Mexico Business Units, overseeing prescribed fire, wildfire response support, fire training, and fire personnel qualifications in accordance with The Nature Conservancy's Fire Management Manual.

In this role, the Fire Manager reviews and approves fire management plans, prescribed burn plans, and contractor qualifications, mentors and designates Burn Bosses, and provides Ignition Authorizations for Conservancy prescribed burns. As a qualified Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Type 2 (RXB2), the Fire Manager plans, directs, and implements prescribed fire operations, including serving as Burn Boss when needed to meet program objectives and maintain qualifications.

Fire operations may involve staff, partners, interns, and volunteers operating across a wide and varied geographic area, consistent with Conservancy and interagency standards.

The Fire Manager provides strategic advisement on the use, timing, scale, and location of prescribed and beneficial fire, integrating applied fire science, fire behavior and effects, landscape context, and conservation objectives to achieve ecological resilience and forest stewardship outcomes. The role participates as a key member of planning and leadership teams for Arizona and New Mexico programs, ensuring prescribed fire implementation is aligned with forest management priorities, conservation planning, and long-term landscape strategies.

The role facilitates Incident Command coordination for wildfire…