at Conservation Legacy in SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, United States
Job Description
Title: Program Director, Illinois COVER Corps
Starting Salary Range : The starting salary range for this position will be in the $71,900 – $74,057 range, depending on experience, education, and skills relevant to the position. Please note that the indicated starting salary range describes the range for an incumbent in this position. Most new staff generally start at the beginning of the range percentile to ensure internal salary equity. Location: Springfield, IL Status: Full-Time, Exempt. This position is a one-year position grant funded by Working Lands Climate Corps. Continuation beyond the first year is contingent upon grant funding and not guaranteed. Benefit Eligible: Health, Vision, Dental, Long-Term Disability, Retirement, Paid Time Off Reports to: Executive Director Posting Period: Applications will be review on a rolling basis, with the first review beginning on July 12th. To Apply: Send Cover letter and resume to Geoff Elliot at gelliot@conservationlegacy.org.+ + Subject line includes “Applicant_(Your Name)”.
+ Cover Letter must include a response to the following: Provide some examples of your experience effectively working with diverse communities, including those specific to Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and other underrepresented populations, in personal or professional context.
Organizational Summary: Conservation Legacy is a nationwide non-profit. The Corps programs within the organization engage participants in diverse conservation and community projects that serve public and private lands. These projects provide opportunities for personal and professional development and strive toward a high priority of needs for public land managers and community partners. Through the mission of engaging future leaders who protect, restore and enhance our nation’s lands through community-based service; Conservation Legacy works toward a world with healthy lands, air and water; thriving people and resilient communities. The Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts (AISWCD), is a grass roots organization formed in 1948. It is made up and serves Illinois’ 97-member Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs). Soil & Water Conservation Districts work to protect Illinois’ greatest assets – the rich, fertile soils and water resources of the state through strategic conservation efforts. Soil and Water Conservation Districts, working in conjunction with agricultural as well as environmental stakeholders, have for decades over played a central role in efforts to protect and sustain the viability of Illinois’ natural resources for future generations. The AISWCD mission is: To represent and empower Illinois’ Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The Vision supports the mantra “Clean Water, Healthy Soils.” Led by AISWCD, the COVER Corps partnership joins forces with The Conservation Legacy, The Corps Network, USDA/NRCS, and NACD to launch a new Conservation Outreach Volunteers Engaging Resiliency (COVER) Corps program engaging Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Eight (8) full-time AmeriCorps members will serve as COVER Corps members to meet Illinois’ statewide immediate need for connecting Illinois producers, landowners and community members with conservation/climate resiliency programming and resources available. Members (based in AISWCD or SWCD offices) will assist producers, landowners and community members in navigating conservation programs and cost-share funding opportunities as well as assist them with gathering all the necessary supporting documentation to complete applications. Members will follow up with stakeholders served to see whether referrals to community resources were successful and provide feedback to local, state, and federal partners. Members will also serve to build capacity for Soil and Water Conservation Districts and will perform outreach functions to assure sites are connected with the support and training needed to assure sustainability of this service within the local community. The anticipated outcome of the direct COVER Corps efforts will be increased conservation practices and awareness of climate and conservation initiatives. Position Summary: The Program Director oversees operational excellence and functions while supporting established relationships with partners and assisting in the identification and establishment of new partnerships as assigned by the Executive Director. This position interfaces significantly with other Conservation Legacy programs and staff on all program aspects. This position works collaboratively as a leadership member of the Conservation Legacy team ensure programmatic operational effectiveness, process evaluation and staff training and oversight. The Program Director will supervise and mentor COVER program participants and is responsible for providing leadership for staff who carry out day-to-day programmatic and administrative operations. The Program Director will also serve as a representative of Stewards on Conservation Legacy Committees and be expected to work collaboratively across Conservation Legacy with staff of sibling programs. The Program Director must develop and maintain good working relationships with staff, agency partners, members, and site supervisors. Essential Responsibilities and Functions: Supervision:+ Leads member professional development.
+ Recruits, hires, and trains new program members.
+ Supervises, supports, guides, and evaluates members in managing their responsibilities and expectations.
+ Tracks, approves, and processes timesheets, PTO requests of members .
+ Establishes weekly check-ins with each supervised member to address questions, ensure procedures are being followed, and foster a collaborative work environment.
+ Works with program member to coordinate distribution of responsibilities, and step in as necessary to cover member responsibilities when a member is unavailable.
Program Operations:+ Reviews, updates, and documents all policies and procedures to ensure ethical, safe, and well documented processes for field placements.
+ Collects feedback from partners, members, sites, and staff and implements programmatic changes to create a culture of continuous improvement.
+ Manages compliance for systems used by the program.
+ Guarantees member activities follow project agreement requirements.
+ Manages and coordinates incident response, processing, documentation, and includes those that lead to worker’s comp claims.
+ Ensures compliance of all AmeriCorps provisions. Facilitates process for gathering necessary data and information for AmeriCorps reporting.
+ Guarantees that all partner program summaries and related marketing/highlight materials are accurate, appropriate, and disseminated in line with Stewards and Conservation Legacy policy; assigns writings and contributes to summaries as needed.
Partner Relations and Member Engagement:+ Develops and maintains a positive relationship with existing partners to ensure support is provided and needs are met by staff through regular check-ins and formal evaluations.
+ Assists Executive Director in reviewing and approving new projects and partnerships; processes site applications for new sites; maintains an annual 90% retention of members, ensuring that all projects are completed per CNCS and partner goals.
+ Leads partner communication and check-ins as each partnership requires/determines, with Executive Director.
+ Oversees Salesforce CRM record creation, maintenance, and use.
+ Verifies that agreements and projects are properly entered to Salesforce and that agreements are fully executed (or approved) prior to allowing members to begin service.
+ Leads the identification, selection, implementation and evaluation of training and professional development tren
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