Manager, Program Operations, Tree Equity

Department: Urban Forestry
Reports To: Director, Program Operations & Administration, Tree Equity
Location: Remote
FLSA Category: Exempt
Application Deadline Extended: October 31, 2024
Candidates Selected for Interviews Will Be Notified: The week of November 4, 2024 

ABOUT US
American Forests is a national non-profit organization committed to creating healthy and resilient forests from cities to wilderness, that deliver essential benefits for climate, people, water and wildlife. We advance our mission through forestry innovation, place-based partnerships to plant and restore forests, and movement building. We envision a world in which the significant environmental, societal and economic benefits of forests are fully realized and equitably available to all people. Established in 1875, American Forests is the oldest national non-profit conservation organization in the U.S. working to restoring urban forests and forested landscapes for nearly 150 years. 

American Forests is proud to be a diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible workplace. These are our shared values. We welcome individuals who bring a variety of backgrounds and experiences to be a part of our team to help make a difference individually and collectively as we work toward achieving our mission. We are committed to fostering an environment that is welcoming and respectful and provides opportunities for advancement and professional growth for every team member. 

POSITION SUMMARY
In 2018, American Forests (AF) doubled down on the goal of supporting communities by using the power of trees to right the systematic wrongs and environmental injustices faced by the country’s most disadvantaged communities. With this, American Forests created a bold goal of delivering the needed technical and policy expertise and funding to help 100 U.S. cities commit to and make progress towards Tree Equity by 2030.  To help manage the growth of this Tree Equity work, the new Manager will serve as a trusted core member of the Tree Equity ‘Executive Office.’ Reporting to the Director of Program Operations and Administration - Tree Equity, and working closely with the Executive-level Tree Equity Chief Program Officer (CPO), the Senior Manager will be responsible for oversight and tracking of grant deliverables and will support budget management and internal reporting/communications to ensure that all work is being carried out in alignment with the larger program and organizational goals and critical grant deliverables. 

The Manager will come with demonstrated success in non-profit and policy environments, with a hands-on understanding of grant funding, budgets and report writing.  The Program Manager will be a go-to internal resource on behalf of the Tree Equity team, and will own an understanding of the goals, strategies, and current status of the full breadth of Tree Equity team's work and content expertise. Logistics and administrative work will also be part of this work, as needed.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:
Program Management Support (25%)

• Monitor and stay abreast of key programmatic workstreams managed by program leaders, proactively helping to triage problem solving, flagging issues for discussion with the larger team and/or CPO and Director of Program Operations, and being able to generally speak to the work of business unit.
• Support leaders within the Tree Equity team to deliver programmatic workplans that track against grant delivery and shared milestones and develop systems to track and check-in on these workplans. 
• Deliver rapid response Tree Equity team updates, written deliverables and work products, and / or guidance for time-sensitive requests, including but not limited to marketing information needs, Executive Office and Board of Directors needs, and other AF business needs.

Budget and Operations Support (50%)  

• Set up and monitor systems for tracking and staying abreast of the Tree Equity team’s overall strategic vision and the status of discrete workplans and deliverables required to achieve them, as well as how these track against team budgets; this includes management of an Airtable-based CRM that captures the Tree Equity team’s work with cities and other partners. 
• Support the CPO and Director of Program Operations in prioritizing and triaging programmatic areas that need operational support, whether in expansion, funding, or overall strategy. 
• Develop successful structures and systems that promote visibility, communications, and knowledge sharing across a diverse and geographically distributed team.
• Work across the organization to integrate support from shared services (communications, philanthropy, policy, GIS, and finance as needed) with programmatic delivery across the business unit, serving as a go-to internal partner and first stop for those teams.
• Update and help maintain the CRM and Operational tools and systems as needed to support the Director.
• Work with the Director to provide critical support on grants monitoring, reporting, and administration including but not limited to updating budgets and financial documents, identifying critical grant reporting deliverables, and tracking.
• Handle calendar, meeting management, and administrative support for the CPO and other key staff as needed.

Internal Communications and Coordination (25%)

• Develop systems for and take ownership of Tree Equity internal communications, including providing reporting, and other deliverables in coordination with Executive office, Board and other departments, as well as within the Urban Forestry team.
• Synthesize updates and adapt team progress reports for a variety of audiences, including but not limited to CEO and Board updates, Communications and Marketing, etc.
• Directly interface with key internal stakeholders including Philanthropy, Marketing and Communications and other departments to ensure information flow and coordination and manage internal deadlines.
• Create agendas, take notes, and manage priority follow-ups on key tasks and bodies of work according to CPO, Director of Program Operations, and grant obligations.
• In partnership with Director of Program Operations, creation of best practices and operational policies for Tree Equity program staff with a focus on transparency, fiscal responsibility, and grants administration and compliance with organization-wide policies at American Forests.  

QUALIFICATIONS:

• 2-4 years of work experience in a similar position with program administration, logistics, operations, etc. in the public sector – specifically a nonprofit, policy, or government environment. 
• Bachelor’s degree preferred.  
• Experience managing or tracking deliverables or workflow for a team.
• Hands-on experience working with budgets and grants, including both private and public funding, particularly around tracking programmatic delivery. Therefore, a comfort with Excel and other financial information is key.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize and share complex information in well-written, concise form including but not limited to memos, talking points, board books, PowerPoint decks, etc. 
• Confident writing and public speaking skills, including persuasive writing/memos, policy research & writing.
• Comfort and demonstrated track record in working across teams within an organization to achieve discrete outcomes on behalf of a team and develop collegial working relationships with colleagues in different functional areas.

AMERICAN FORESTS’ CORE COMPETENCIES: 

• Attitude: Brings a positive outlook to the work and helps inspire others to achieve excellence. 
• Communication: Produces strong written documents, edits documents effectively, engages in effective verbal communication—1-on-1 and small group—and conducts effective large group presentations. 
• Organization: Prioritizes tasks effectively, accomplishes tasks efficiently, follows through on all commitments, breaks down large projects to make them manageable, and effectively manages complex projects involving multiple actors. 
• Problem-Solving & Creativity: Identifies issues, effectively structures problems, analyzes data to produce insights, and generates wise, actionable recommendations. Understands the limited resources available and produces creative solutions. 
• Representing the Organization: Serves as an effective ambassador, builds connections, and maintains relationships with outside partners, vendors and donors. Brings credibility to the organization in how they present themselves. 

LOCATION & WORKING CONDITIONS:
This is a remote position. 
This position will require up to 10% of travel throughout the U.S. and/or to American Forests’ headquarters in Washington D.C. to engage in key meetings and events and other external stakeholder meetings, events, and projects, as funding allows.
Subject to applicable laws, American Forests requires all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. We will consider requests for accommodation to this vaccination requirement during the recruiting process. Any requested accommodation(s) must be reviewed and approved (if applicable) in advance of your start date.  

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS 
The individual must be comfortable with prolonged periods of sitting and/or standing at a desk and working on a computer. Reasonable accommodations may be made to provide access to all individuals along the continuum of human ability and experience.  

SUPERVISORY REQUIREMENTS 
This position does not have any supervisory requirements.  

American Forests is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to provide access to all individuals along the continuum of human ability and experience.

 Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran/LGBTQ+
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In accordance with federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, and reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible State or local Agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information is also available in languages other than English.