Soil Health & Nutrients Strategy Specialist

The Nature Conservancy in Midwest, US

The Nature Conservancy is hiring a Soil Health & Nutrients Strategy Specialist, located in the Midwest United States (Indianapolis, Indiana, USA or other Midwest location preferred).

Essential Functions

The Soil Health & Nutrient Strategy Specialist will build a strong internal and external network with TNC staff across business units and agricultural industry partners to help advance the implementation of the North American Region Soil Health and Nutrients strategy. This team member will lead a portfolio of projects focused on advancing to increase the adoption of conservation agriculture practices on rowcrops in North America. S/he will interpret economic, agronomy and/or water quality research, assist agribusinesses with corporate practices and conservation goals, and communicate regularly about soil health, nutrient management and water quality.

Essential functions of this role include: 1) build and maintain the Conservancy as a major conservation partner within the area of soil health and nutrient stewardship, especially with farmer advisors; 2) apply social science, economics, and other evidence to inform and advance the Soil Health and Nutrients strategy; 3) develop key partnerships with public and private organizations to identify and resolve technical issues and to widely communicate solutions and best practices; and 4) assist TNC staff to advance to expand the agricultural community’s support of conservation efforts and have a broader impact on our natural resources.

Responsibilities and Scope

Fosters and advances existing collaborative relationships with the agricultural businesses and non-profits, with a focus on Certified Crop Advisors (CCA), agriculture input suppliers, and agriculture fertilizer manufacturers.
Cultivate relationships with TNC state chapter staff to support strategy implementation.
Designs and implements projects to advance the strategy and achieve grant objectives.
Represents the organization externally.
Makes independent decisions based on analysis, ambiguous information, experience and context.
Prepares business proposals, presentations and/or strategic work plans.
Works within a budget to complete projects, negotiates contracts, and assists with budget development.
Assists in ensuring that public and private funds are raised to meet program needs.
Work involves extensive travel domestically and may include evening and weekend hours.
May work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, on difficult and hazardous terrain, and under physically demanding circumstances.

Minimum Qualifications

BA/BS degree and 7 years’ experience in agriculture, business, economics, conservation, or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Experience working with highly effective, multi-disciplinary teams and meeting deadlines.
Experience managing complex or multiple projects, including managing finances and coordinating the work of other professionals and partners.
Knowledge of current trends and practices in conservation agriculture relevant to North America row crop.
Experience advancing external relationships to achieve objectives.
Experience influencing, developing, and implementing relevant agriculture sector projects.
Experience writing grant proposals and managing multi-year, multi-stakeholder grants; including reporting, relationship management, etc.
Experience working well in a highly matrixed, decentralized and collaborative organization.
Experience working in a fast-paced environment and meet time sensitive deadlines.
Experience communicating clearly via written, spoken and graphical means in English and other relevant languages

Desired Qualifications

7-10 years of experience in the agribusiness, agronomy, or conservation agriculture related field.
Ability to collaborate effectively and build consensus across team members.
Previous agribusiness sales, management, team lead experience.
Demonstrated experience influencing, developing and implementing conservation policy and plans with the public and private sectors.
Multi-lingual and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
Politically savvy.

How to Apply

Details on how to apply are available here (search for Soil Health & Nutrients Strategy Specialist).

About The Nature Conservancy

Founded in 1951, the Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world's toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more sustainable. One of our core values is our commitment to diversity. Therefore, we strive for a globally diverse and culturally competent workforce. Working in 79 countries and territories, including all 50 United States, we use a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit www.nature.org or follow @nature_press on Twitter.

The Nature Conservancy offers competitive compensation, 401k or savings-plan matching for eligible employees, excellent benefits, flexible work policies and a collaborative work environment. We also provide professional development opportunities and promote from within. As a result, you will find a culture that supports and inspires conservation achievement and personal development, both within the workplace and beyond.

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