What are the responsibilities and job description for the ASSISTANT STATE FORESTER - DIRECTOR OF FOREST MANAGEMENT position at State of Tennessee?
Executive Service
ASSISTANT STATE FORESTER, DIRECTOR OF FOREST MANAGEMENT
Department of Agriculture
Forestry Administration
Nashville, TN
Closing Date: 11/02/2026
Please provide cover letter and resume.
Who We Are and What We Do:
The Tennessee Division of Forestry (TDF) celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2014. One of the Division's first missions was to plant trees on eroded and abandoned farmland in the western part of the state. Over the decades, TDF has grown to protect, conserve, and enhance Tennessee's 14 million acres of forestland through forest health protection, rural and urban forest management, wildfire and prescribed fire management, water quality protection, forest business services, state forest management and conservation education. Today, TDF employs over 400 personnel statewide and is well known as the wildfire and forest health experts. The Division resides within the Tennessee Department of Agriculture whose mission is to promote wise uses of Tennessee's agricultural and forest resources, to develop economic opportunities, and to ensure safe and dependable food, fuel, and fiber for all citizens
How You Make a Difference in this Role:
The Assistant State Forester, Director of Forest Management serves as the branch head for the Division's forest management programs to include associated programmatic, operational and administrative functional units and teams. This position serves on the Division's executive leadership team, providing strategic and operational input and support to ensure effective and efficient business operations. This position provides visioning, strategic direction, operational oversight, and supervisory oversight for multiple statewide programs and associated functional areas under their respective administrative umbrella. The Assistant State Forester is an executive service position and works under the direct supervision of the State Forester.
Key Responsibilities:
- Provides executive level leadership in implementing the State Forester's (Assistant Commissioner) vision for the Division.
- Represents the department in providing technical and analytical support/subject matter expertise in formulating state and national polices/laws.
- Stands in as the Division executive for the State Forester-Assistant Commissioner.
- Works with the department's legal team to resolve disputes, respond to litigation, draft and implement Memorandums of Understanding and Interagency Agreements, and revise contract language.
- Plans branch level strategies and operations to ensure the Division resources are adequate and aligned to face the challenges and seize opportunities in pursuit of the Division's mission.
- Coordinates program development and implementation with sister state agencies and local / federal governments.
- Oversees the development, implementation, and accounting of branch level budget.
- Collaborates with Assistant State Forester, Director of Forest Protection to manage the Division's operational budget, facility budget, and carry forward funds.
- Manages, supervises, and develops members of their respective branch. Members include the State Forest Unit Leader, the Forest Health & Sustainability Unit Leader, the Reforestation Unit Leader, and the Forest Data & Analysis Unit Leader.
Minimum Qualifications:
Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor's degree in forestry or similar natural resources; curriculum that may include fire science, natural resource data science, watershed management/hydrology, reforestation, forest management, or related curriculum and experience equivalent to five years of full-time professional forestry work, including at least three years of supervisory, administrative and/or forestry program development work.
Pursuant to the State of Tennessee's Workplace Discrimination and Harassment policy, the State is firmly committed to the principle of fair and equal employment opportunities for its citizens and strives to protect the rights and opportunities of all people to seek, obtain, and hold employment without being subjected to illegal discrimination and harassment in the workplace. It is the State's policy to provide an environment free of discrimination and harassment of an individual because of that person's race, color, national origin, age (40 and over), sex, pregnancy, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status or any other category protected by state and/or federal civil rights laws.