Stewardship Director

Schedule and Focus: Typical hours are Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm, with occasional evening and weekend work. Some remote work is possible, though the role is primarily office and field-based.

While the position includes fieldwork across Skagit County, the primary focus of the Stewardship Director is leadership, planning, and program management to ensure the Trust’s incredible conservation areas and easements are strong for generations. The primary duty will be setting direction and ensuring implementation of the Trust’s stewardship program. You will work with other Trust departments and partners at the leadership level and supervise stewardship staff.

Reports to: Executive Director.

Position Description

The Stewardship Director plays a central role in shaping how Skagit Land Trust fulfills its permanent conservation commitments.

The Stewardship Director works closely with the Executive Director, other department directors, staff, board members, and the organization’s Stewardship Committee to ensure that the Trust’s stewardship program remains strong, credible, and sustainable as the organization grows. The Stewardship Director also collaborates across departments to align program needs and goals.

This role requires the ability to think strategically about land stewardship, including protecting and restoring habitat and ecosystem function, evaluating risks, identifying opportunities and overseeing plans for both immediate and long-term land management. Maintaining a long-term perspective in a landscape of competing stewardship needs is essential.

The Stewardship Director will:

• Supervise, mentor, hire, train, and develop stewardship staff.
• Ensure SLT sets and accomplishes an appropriate level of conservation area land management including ecological restoration, grants and contracts, property clean-up, public access, cultural use agreements, agricultural leases, forestry-related tasks, property management plans, and issues and obligations.
• Ensure conservation easement monitoring is done annually and potential violations are addressed.
• Serve as the staff lead for the Stewardship Committee and work with the ED to plan and execute stewardship goals for the organization.
• Help guide and build organizational strategy around long-term stewardship responsibilities. This includes shaping visions, policies, practices, and budgets that strengthen our stewardship programs.
• Collaborate across departments to ensure proposed acquisitions, complex restoration opportunities, and public access are aligned with stewardship capacity and goals.
• Collaborate with directors of other SLT departments to ensure mutually beneficial work planning and best use of staff and volunteer capacity.
• Build partnerships with landowners, volunteers, public agencies, tribes, local businesses, and conservation organizations to achieve common goals across shared ecosystems.
• Develop strategic stewardship work plans that balance immediate needs with long-term stewardship responsibilities.
• Be the lead for the Trust in a significant, on-going, multi-partner marine habitat and community resiliency restoration project.
• Work to ensure that stewardship responsibilities remain financially and operationally sustainable, and seek funding and partnerships to achieve goals.
• Ensure the Trust’s stewardship program meets Land Trust Alliance Standards and Practices.
• Contribute to the organization’s long-term conservation strategy and to organization-wide events.

A successful candidate will value team-based problem solving and cross-department collaboration. They will enjoy working with landowners and a diverse range of partners and communities that love the Skagit.

Permanent land conservation only succeeds when long-term stewardship is strong.

Our values at Skagit Land Trust guide everything we do: healthy ecosystems, responsible long-term stewardship, engaged volunteers, community connection, partner collaboration, and integrity. The Stewardship Director ensures that Skagit Land Trust honors the promise made to landowners, partners, and the community that conserved lands will be protected and cared for not just today, but decades into the future.

This leadership position is ideal for someone who finds professional satisfaction in collaborating to evolve the Trust’s stewardship program to meet the ecological, financial, and organizational realities of long-term land protection.

Qualifications

• At least five years of management-level experience in land conservation, natural resources management, restoration, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated success supervising professional staff and managing multiple projects with varying timelines, priorities and resources.
• Strong project management and people management skills, including the ability to establish budgets, set priorities, delegate effectively, and maintain progress across simultaneous projects.
• Experience managing local, state and federal grants is desirable.
• Experience working with long-term nonprofit boards, committees, engaged volunteers, or community partners is desirable.
• Strong situational judgment, including the ability to assess risk, identify potential hazards, and make sound decisions in both field and office settings.
• Excellent interpersonal and diplomatic communication skills, including conflict management, that foster positive relationships with staff, board members, and external stakeholders.
• Enthusiasm for working with volunteers and engaging community members in stewardship activities.
• Ability to work effectively in multiple environments, including the field, office, and public meetings or events.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to travel throughout Skagit County to visit conservation properties.
• Physical ability to conduct regular fieldwork year-round in a variety of weather conditions. This includes navigating uneven terrain off-trail and carrying approximately 25 pounds of tools and field equipment over distances of several miles. Occasionally heavier items may need to be lifted for short periods.
• Proficiency with databases and standard office software (Skagit Land Trust currently uses Salesforce and Microsoft Office tools).
• Familiarity with GIS mapping tools such as ESRI ArcGIS software.
• Familiarity with tools and equipment used in conservation and land management.
• Bachelor’s degree in ecology, biology, natural resources, environmental science, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

Additional qualifications that strengthen an application include:

• Familiarity with invasive plant management, including both manual and chemical control methods.
• Knowledge of Pacific Northwest ecosystems, flora, and fauna.
• Experience with multi-partner habitat restoration projects.
• Experience working with local governments, including tribes.

At Skagit Land Trust, we value diversity, equity, and inclusion and strive to create a positive team environment where all team members feel comfortable expressing their views and opinions. Our focus is on employee satisfaction, engagement, and fostering a culture of trust, respect, and inclusiveness.

Application

To apply for the Stewardship Director position, please send your resume, cover letter, contact information, and at least three references to jobs@skagitlandtrust.org In your cover letter, please answer the following questions:

1. Why are you interested in this position?

2. What is your philosophy on stewardship of conservation land?

3. What is your relevant experience supervising professional staff and helping a team develop strategies for land management?

4. What is your experience in planning, executing and budgeting for land management, conservation and/or restoration projects?

Please state Stewardship Director Job Application, (name) in your email subject line.

We look forward to reviewing your application and potentially welcoming you to the Skagit Land Trust team!

Benefits:

• 17 days of vacation annually (increasing with tenure)
• 11 paid holidays
• 12 family and medical leave days annually in addition to WA Family Leave benefits
• 5% employer retirement contribution
• Health insurance stipend equivalent to a silver level plan for the employee.
• Cell phone stipend
• Paid professional development
• Leave of absence policy

About Skagit Land Trust

Skagit Land Trust (also known as SLT, or the Trust) is a nationally accredited 501(c)(3) land trust working to protect the extraordinary lands and waters within the extended watersheds and islands of Skagit County, Washington. We are a collaborative, mission-driven organization supported by an active board, talented staff, dedicated volunteers, supportive members, and strong partnerships.

From the North Cascade Mountains to the Salish Sea, over the past 34 years the Trust has conserved over 11,200 acres of land and 50 miles of shorelines under an encompassing mission of protecting wildlife habitat, wetlands, agricultural and forest lands, scenic open space, and shorelines for the benefit of all generations of people and wildlife.

Stewardship at Skagit Land Trust offers the rare opportunity to care for lands across one of the most ecologically diverse and beautiful landscapes in the U.S. — from the marine shorelines of the Salish Sea, to floodplains along the Skagit River, to forestlands stretching toward the North Cascades. Often connected to vast areas of protected public lands, Trust conservation areas and easements support and restore fish and wildlife populations, provide access to trails and nature parks, help ensure sustainable farms and forests, and connect with vibrant communities. Trust project areas hold deep cultural significance for Coast Salish peoples who have stewarded this landscape since time immemorial.

The Stewardship Director will help guide how these conserved lands are cared for—working alongside a dedicated team of staff, board members, volunteers, contractors, landowners, and community and funding partners.