Scion Nonprofit Staffing has been retained to conduct the search for the Director of Product Development on behalf of the American Forest Foundation (AFF), an incredible organization with a mission dedicated to deliver meaningful conservation impact through the empowerment of family forest landowners. This phenomenal opportunity is for immediate hire and operates full-time from the Southern United States (remote) or from the organization’s headquarters in Washington D.C (non-remote), with the ability to travel up to one week per month.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The American Forest Foundation seeks a highly motivated, entrepreneurial, and creative minded Product Manager to join their team as the Director of Product Development. In this exciting role, the Director of Product Development’s contributions will make incredible impact within the organization as AFF works to address global climate change through the activation of America’s family-owned forests as a measurable and verifiable natural climate solution. Family lands represent the largest part of U.S. forests, and until now, there has not been a viable way to bring the carbon potential of those forests to the market. The Family Forest Carbon Program (FFCP) is a partnership between the American Forest Foundation and The Nature Conservancy to generate significant, additional carbon sequestration and storage on America’s 280 million acres of family forests.

The incoming Director of Product Development will explore innovative ways to expand the FFCP program offering to build a programmatic and financial model to support reforestation/afforestation at scale in the U.S. South, expanding over time to include identifying opportunities for the creation of additional carbon accounting methodologies, stacking co-benefits, exploration of alternative financing mechanisms, and designing of scope 3 emissions reductions offerings. This position will truly embody the entrepreneurial spirit of the team, highlighting ways the program can and cannot develop effectively, with the expectation that the Director of Product Development will ensure that subsequent explorations maintain the FFCP’s dedication to credibility, transparency, and impact in all endeavors.

Collaborating with internal and external stakeholders across the country, the Director of Product Development’s success in this role will result in 50 million acres of family-owned forests enrolled in carbon-friendly practices, making a clear and globally significant contribution to the effort to limit the negative impacts of climate change!

The Director of Product Development works collaboratively with the FFCP team and partners to ideate complementary and alternative FFCP product offerings and independently assess their viability. In the past year, the team has successfully identified opportunities to expand the program to focus on reforestation, financing that does not rely on the monetization of carbon credits, stacking carbon credits with other measurable co-benefits, and aligning the existing carbon product with upcoming scope 3 intervention guidance. This role will assess these ideas and others to filter out those with the greatest opportunity.  While this position is initially grant funded, there is an immediate priority to establish a scalable financial and programmatic model for afforestation/reforestation in the U.S. South.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN FOREST FOUNDATION:

Across the U.S., forests are facing critical challenges that must be addressed if we are to continue to have the clean drinking water, wildlife habitat and wood supply that all Americans count on. Family forest owners, who have a passion for conservation, can help. That’s why the American Forest Foundation (AFF) is working with partners on conservation projects in the most critical landscapes where intervention is needed. Taking on the biggest issues, these partnerships are working to significantly increase the number of family and private landowners actively managing their woodlands to ensure the health of these forests and the resources they provide.

For more than three-quarters of a century, the American Forest Foundation (AFF) has helped family forest owners care for their land. And their work continues today. Faced with growing threats to our forests, it is more important than ever that family woodland owners actively steward their land. In collaboration with partners, AFF employs numerous strategies, programs and tools which help overcome the barriers to forest stewardship and engage more forest owners in conservation impact on the ground.

AFF is embarking on a bold new strategy for conservation impact across America’s family-owned forests. The organization’s entire organization is in a mode of complex problem solving and rapid iteration. All teams at AFF are working to discover the root challenges in forest conservation issues, create solutions, and adapt based on constant learning to develop viable and scalable models for impact. AFF is driven by values of shared purpose, measurable and verifiable results, and learning for continuous improvement to tackle big conservation challenges in climate change mitigation, biodiversity loss, reducing threats of catastrophic wildfires, and ensuring a sustainable resource economy for rural communities.

EXAMPLE FIRST YEAR RESPONSIBILITIES/ACHIEVEMENTS:

At the end of their first year in this role, the incoming Director of Product Development will have:

• Assessed the opportunity to build a program around reforestation in the South and determined the need to develop an additional carbon accounting methodology and potential options for financing these projects and creating an associated carbon benefit.
• Embarked on the journey to understand the emerging scope 3 intervention guidance and where the FFCP program can contribute to these emissions reductions. You have a plan to identify recommendations for how we can adapt program delivery to offer these products, if appropriate.
• A deep understanding of the existing program’s business model and financing structure. Similarly, the Director of Product Development will understand how the credit generation, or supply-side, of the program functions and its potential ability to deliver on alternative products.
• Assessed additional opportunities at a high level and can workplan (likely in years to come) when the program can assess, address and/or align to deliver on these opportunities.
• Coordinated with members of the larger FFCP team to share learning, experiences, and results in an agile management system framework.
• Demonstrated knowledge of AFF’s existing metrics tracking systems and/or innovated to develop a system of tracking and understanding key metrics related to Product Development.
• Immersed themselves in the culture and mission of the organization, developed a broad understanding of AFF and the FFCP program, possessing a firm understanding of AFF’s long-term goals and how the FFCP contributes toward those goals.
• Established strong lines of communication between FFCP teammates, foresters, local partners, and contractors to provide a seamless experience for the landowners involved with the FFCP program.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree and/or post-graduate degree in natural resource management, forestry, climate change policy, business, or related field.
• 5-7 years of experience in project management and communications experience preferred.
• Time spent in an entrepreneurial or “start-up” environment establishing business model or financing frameworks with skills in assessing scalable solutions.
• Proven success managing a major program in a collaborative environment, relying on sense of shared purpose and strong personal relationships to motivate action.
• Experience working with internal and external stakeholders to identify their needs and adjust program tactics as a result.
• Ability to think strategically, analyze critically, and translate ideas into actions.
• Willingness and openness to evaluate outside opinions, incorporate diverse viewpoints, and foster consensus where possible, even when such consensus does not reflect one’s personal opinion.
• Proven track record of demonstrating unqualified respect to colleagues, partners, stakeholders, and others.
• Ability to use independent judgment and to manage and impart information to a range of constituencies.
• Ability to communicate effectively--to listen, influence, motivate, and lead.
• Willingness/ability to travel up to 1 week/month.

TO APPLY:

For immediate consideration please apply with your resume and cover letter, formatted in Microsoft Word, via: https://www.scionstaffing.com/job/7449

Review of applications, nominations, and expressions of interest will begin immediately and continue on a confidential basis until an appointment is made.

The American Forest Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages diversity and equity in all facets of the organization’s work. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other protected class.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

In addition to a competitive base salary (DOE), AFF also provides employees with a generous benefits package which includes Health, Vision & Dental Insurance (employee AND dependent plans covered by AFF at 75%), FSA, HSA, EAP, life insurance, 401(k) with 7% employer contribution and up to 4% match, short and long-term disability, a fitness reimbursement program, generous paid time off, paid sick leave, and 11 paid holidays per year!

ABOUT OUR FIRM:

Scion Nonprofit Staffing is an award-winning national staffing firm headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Over the past few years, our firm has had the pleasure of successfully assisting hundreds of local employers. No matter the requisition or size, our track record and recruitment process has made us one of the top recruitment firms in the United States.

Scion Staffing is an equal opportunity employer and service provider and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, citizenship status, sexual orientation, disability, political affiliation or belief. We are committed to the principals of Equal Opportunity Employment and are dedicated to making employment decisions based on merit and value, for ourselves, our client companies, and for the candidates we represent.