American Farmland Trust: Deputy Director of Climate & Soil Health DC

Staff Support

• Hire (if/as needed), mentor, and manage a team of diverse Climate and Soil Health staff while fostering a high-performance and equitable culture

• Manage daily staff activities related to communications, project/program management and professional development efforts.

• Lead weekly Climate and Soil Health staff meeting to discuss management approaches, upcoming deadlines, key capacity constraints and/or shared initiatives, co-lead programmatic, technical, and strategic discussions with Director.

• Support Climate and Soil Health staff with collection of relevant project metrics and updates/summaries for Executive Bullet, Board Book and/or other reporting purposes upon request.

• Support Director and division staff and assigned Project Manager(s) with management of division led projects, subawards, and/or program components to ensure successful execution of committed work on time, within scope and budget.

• Support Director in defining priorities for Scientist(s) or other technical experts as needed.

• Help Director foster synergy across AFT’s National Initiatives and Regional Programs to leverage diversified insight, education and skillsets of cross functional staff.

Programmatic & Financial Management

• Partner with Director on development of annual division work plan that establishes fiscal year deadlines, staff hour allocations, other expenditures, and committed outcomes in accordance with award agreements.

• Oversee division development of annual budget that establishes fiscal year revenue projections, operating expenses, and associated labor costs in accordance with award agreements.

• Collaborate with Director and partners to execute and monitor subawards on projects.

• Participate in quarterly work plan and financial reviews to establish overall program status, deviations from budget, foreseeable delays and management actions required.

• Monitor division level budget on a monthly basis in partnership with the Project Management Team (PMT) and Finance to track YTD spenddown, revenue recognition, identify coding discrepancies, and escalate >8% budget deviations to VP of Programs for National Initiatives with plans for correction, and to Finance during quarterly financial reviews.

• Support Project Manager(s) in validating data for interval reports to state/federal agencies, foundations, and other funding partners, and support Director and staff in progress reporting, in accordance with Accounting and Development led processes.

• Advocate across AFT Departments for dedicated cross-functional staff support and commitment to division led projects.

Strategic Growth Planning

• Serve as thought leader alongside Director to define current and future programmatic areas (i.e. scaling up diverse producer adoption of soil health practices, biochar integration, climate mitigation and resilience, etc.) to evolve the Climate & Soil Health division.

• Identify opportunities to develop new partnerships in areas that elevate AFT’s mission to expand education and outreach to underserved communities with a specific focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ).

• Support Director in the development of compelling proposals to secure multi-year funding opportunities for priority programmatic areas.

• Support Director in stewardship of current and prospective funders, including individual, foundational, corporate, and government agencies.

• Work with National Communications staff to actively communicate about the Climate and Soil Health initiative, including op-eds, blog posts, press releases, websites, etc.

• Projects: History of successful design, planning and execution for interconnected portfolios/programs/projects on time, within scope and budget. Experience in annual strategic planning and operating plan processes.

• Financials: Experience managing complex federal/non-profit/or other budgets and grants with ability to translate financial concepts to staff at all levels of the organization.

• Funding: Familiarity with state and federal grant management processes, contracting procedures and compliance, and other contracting or accountability systems required by universities, corporations, or foundation partners.

• Contracting: Experience developing contracts with both for/not-for-profit partners for a variety of contract types and funding sources.

• Communication: Timely, effective and responsive verbal and written interpersonal communication across various platforms for internal/external team members with ability to distill complex information into concise, actionable tasks

• Leadership: Ability to effectively listen, respond to, and motivate internal/external team members to achieve common goals in a collaborative, highly matrixed and/or remote environment. High emotional intelligence.

• Mindset: Self-driven, highly organized, systematic problem-solver with strong ability to exercise authority and effective collaboration within division, while excelling at welcoming, valuing, and, integrating diverse perspectives.

• Adaptability: Proven ability to adapt quickly and support the effective management of conflicting priorities in a rapidly changing environment.

• Systems: Proficient in using Microsoft applications such as Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; comfortable learning new systems.

• DEIJ: Dedication to practice, learning, and advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice within AFT and across agriculture with a focus on social/cultural barriers that may impact practice adoption.

• Agriculture: Basic familiarity with and deep interest in agriculture and/or conservation, climate change, soil health, carbon sequestration and/or regenerative practices with a desire to learn in support of AFT’s mission to holistically improve agricultural systems.

Education and experience:

• BA/BS in agribusiness management, business management, natural resource management, soils, agronomy or related field

• Master’s in Business Administration or Management would be beneficial; 2 years of additional relevant work experience can be substituted.

• 5-7 years’ experience working in a Program Lead/Management or Supervisory role with strong experience and demonstrated confidence in budget, people and program management.

• Additional non-profit work experience or professional accomplishments in one or more of the disciplines noted may substitute for the Masters.