Project Manager - Washington Water Trust : Job Details

Type: 1.0 FTE, fully benefitted

Salary Range: $75,000 - $86,000, DOE

Applicants may be considered for a more senior position based on experience

Application Review begins upon receipt through March 15, 2025

About Washington Water Trust

Washington Water Trust (WWT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit leader in river and stream flow protection. Our mission is to protect and restore healthy rivers and streams across Washington so that fish, farms, and communities can thrive for generations. WWT is a leader in water rights and water law, stream flow restoration, multi- stakeholder engagement, implementation of instream flow projects, water banking and large-scale water conservation projects. We craft smart, collaborative, and durable solutions to our freshwater challenges. For more information, visit us at www.washingtonwatertrust.org or view our most recent annual report.

The Position

WWT seeks a team-oriented, motivated, and resilient Project Manager with a passion for rivers and streams. The Project Manager will partner with landowners, tribes, conservation districts, land trusts, as well as local, state, and federal agencies to implement and fund innovative projects with lasting benefits to endangered fish, streams, and local economies primarily in eastern Washington. We are seeking candidates who embrace a collaborative approach, hold a technical and social skill set to deliver high quality outcomes, and have an interest and enthusiasm for working in rural communities.

WWT values a collaborative team environment, built on respect for each other and the people, partners and communities with whom we work.

This is a full-time exempt position, located in either Walla Walla or Ellensburg, Washington, and supervised by a Program Director. Applicants who exceed the minimum criteria may be considered for a more advanced Project Manager position.

WWT is committed to professional development and career advancement opportunities for our employees. WWT supports professional development by providing a training budget for staff and offering position and salary advancement as staff gain skills, experience, and expertise to meet our mission.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Project Management: Manage multiple projects with attention to funder and project deliverable schedules, budgets, project implementation sequencing and team communication.
• Project Development: Research water rights and ecological needs to identify and prioritize stream restoration opportunities and develop flow restoration projects. Supplemental training provided as needed.
• Coalition/Team building: Build upon WWT's 20-year history of strong relationships with landowners, public agencies, tribes, conservation groups, agricultural users and funders in the Walla Walla Basin. Collaborate with stakeholders to achieve mutual goals. Participate on behalf of WWT in the Walla Walla 2050 Water Management Plan.
• Outreach: Develop and implement outreach strategies to engage instream flow projects in collaboration with project partners and/or water right holders. Communicate effectively by phone, email, mail, media, events and in person to build project opportunities that sustain and expand our mission.
• Communications: Create and provide effective written and oral communications to diverse audiences, ranging from highly technical to general and accessible for the public.
• Negotiation: Negotiate with water rights holders, subcontractors, agencies and funders to secure contracts and agreements for water transactions and other flow restoration strategies.
• Fundraising: Occasionally support WWT fundraising staff in direct fundraising and fundraising events.
• Other duties as assigned. The project manager will be included WWT's project team efforts statewide based on their specific area of expertise.

Skills and Attributes

• General knowledge of and/or ability to learn the following (training will be provided as needed):
  • Western water law
  • Conservation markets and or easements
  • Microsoft Suite
  • Project management software (WWT uses Smartsheet)
• Strong communication skillset including written, verbal, interpersonal
• Relationship building
• Creative problem-solving and critical thinking
• Ability to work independently and in teams with self-direction
• Familiarity with two or more of the following: fisheries science, watershed science, western water law, restoration project management, agricultural practices, or other relevant fields outlined in cover letter.
• Demonstrated experience managing projects; experience managing multi-year projects a plus.
• Experience with geographic information software a plus (WWT uses ArcGIS Pro)

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience is required, with a strong preference for natural resources or a related field; a post-graduate degree or equivalent experience in natural resources or a related field is a plus.
• 5-10 years' work experience in a natural resource management or related field, or equivalent combination of graduate school and professional experience.

Working Conditions

WWT believes in work life balance with a 40-hour work week. On occasion, employees may be asked to work occasional non-standard hours, including evenings and weekends. Staff must be willing and able to travel throughout Washington.

This job requires frequent use of computers, phones, and virtual meeting platforms. This is not a field-based position. Under our flexible work policy, WWT offices are open to those who have been fully vaccinated, and staff may also operate from a home office. There will be in-person weekly office days required for team coordination. For remote work, employees must maintain a workspace with an internet connection where they can reliably perform work during scheduled work hours.

We are a completely COVID-19 vaccinated staff team and require proof of vaccination for any new hire, to protect the health of our WWT Team, our families and communities.