PROJECT MANAGER POSITION OVERVIEW The Statewide Stewardship Initiative (SSI) Project Manager/Management Team is a contracted position responsible for overseeing the planning, implementation, and tracking of the COSC Statewide Stewardship Initiative (SSI), a specific short-term project to be completed by March 2018. The SSI is funded through Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) with specified, date-sensitive deliverables.
The position requires a highly-organized and accomplished project manager and/or management team, with demonstrated experience in and knowledge of environmental and conservation issues. Successful applicants must have several years of proven successful project management experience, and possess the intellect necessary to motivate and to lead professionals and volunteers through decision making processes that codify environmental stewardship in new standardized and innovative ways. The SSI Project Manager/Management Team will also provide guidance in the development and implementation of COSC’s strategic growth, helping to ensure that the SSI’s efforts are developed for long-term application and appropriate infrastructure to support on- going success. The COSC Project Manager/Management Team will report to the COSC Advisory Committee which is authorized to direct and oversee the SSI. Advisory members represent a subset of the full COSC. The Project Manager/Management Team will be a temporary contractor to Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, which serves as the fiscal agent for the SSI. If necessary, day-to- day administrative support and physical office space will be available at Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) located in Denver’s Washington Park. On-site VOC staff responsible for this project includes Ann Baker Easley and Dean Winstanley. Work may be accomplished remotely but regularly scheduled in-person meetings with the Advisory Committee in Denver and in other designated locations throughout the state is expected. Flexible scheduling, including availability for occasional weekend and/or overnight in-state travel, to allow for meetings with outdoor stewardship organizations and land management agencies, is required. POSITION REQUIREMENTS Provide Comprehensive Project Management Services as follows: • Serve as the contractor to the COSC to undertake the planning initiative. • Define the scope of the project in collaboration with the COSC Advisory Committee. • Create a detailed work plan, which identifies and sequences the activities needed to successfully complete the SSI project. • Determine the resources (such as time, money, equipment) required to successfully provide the stated deliverables. • Develop a schedule for project completion that effectively allocates the resources to the activities. • Review the project schedule with COSC Advisory Committee and all other stakeholders that will be affected by the project activities; revise the schedule as required. • Determine the objectives and measures upon which the project will be evaluated at its completion. • In consultation with the COSC Advisory Committee recruit, interview and select additional sub- contractors with appropriate skills for the required project activities. • Execute the project according to the project plan. • Develop appropriate records to document project activities. • Set up on-line and paper files to ensure that all project information is appropriately documented and secured. • Monitor the progress of the project and make adjustments as necessary to ensure the successful completion of the project. • Establish a communication schedule to update stakeholders including appropriate staff in the organization on the progress of the project. • Review the quality of the work completed on a regular basis with the Advisory Committee to ensure that it meets the project standards. • Write interim reports on the project for COSC and funders. • Ensure that the project deliverables are on time, within budget and at the required level of quality. IDEAL CANDIDATE We seek candidates, - apply as individuals or project management teams -- with proven experience in project management in collaborative-based initiatives. Successful applicants will have skills in effective consensus decision making that have achieved widespread levels of participation and agreement. Applicants must be able to demonstrate their experience in convening inclusive stakeholder groups, and use of participatory and collaborative discussion and decision-making processes that achieve a concerted attempt at full agreements. Additionally, applicants must have: • A willingness and commitment to support the vision and purpose of the Colorado Outdoor Stewardship Coalition and the goals and objectives of Great Outdoors Colorado’s Stewardship vision. • A minimum of 5 (and preferably 7) years of project management in collaborative-based efforts. Experience in related conservation or other environmental non-profit and/or business operations highly desirable. • Demonstrated experience in community development/partnership cultivation, with experience in establishing organizational relationships that encourage diversity and inclusivity. • Supervisory experience of project contractors; able to provide oversight and daily management of their related activities. • An ability to work well under pressure and effectively handle sensitive situations and relationships. • An ability to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends, and travel as required. • BS/BA in an environmental discipline, non-profit management, business or related fields. Master’s degree in non-profit management or related field preferred. Demonstrated excellence in: • Written and verbal communication; • Project management and administration;  Consensus and collaborative decision making; • Computer usage, including mastery of all Microsoft Word programs and experience in database use. We seek a contractor/contractor team who is engaged, genuine in respect for others, and has a collaborative management style. We want professionals who focus on results and opportunities and will take a proactive role with the COSC and in executing the position’s responsibilities. COMPENSATION This is a contracted project management effort not to exceed 15-months. Compensation is determined based on experience and credentials. Estimated total project costs are $100,000; project management and related travel and meeting expenses are estimated to be 75-80% of the total project. APPLICATION DIRECTIONS To apply for this position, please send your resume and cover letter, with salary requirements ELECTRONICALLY to Jennifer Peterson at: [email protected]. Applications are due by 5:00 PM (MST) on February 13th, 2017. Interested in learning more about the project or have questions before applying? Please join the COSC Advisory Committee members for an information call on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8th from 12:00 NOON – 1:30 PM (MST). Conference line: 1-888-875-1833 Participant Code: 293436260# For additional information please contact any of the following SSI Advisory Committee members by email with the subject line: COSC Project Management ApplicationQuestion David Hamilton – [email protected] Jennifer Peterson – [email protected] Ann Baker Easley – [email protected] If you are selected for an interview as a qualifying candidate or project management team, please hold February 22, 23 and 24 for potential interviews. BACKGROUND Recent initiatives aimed at connecting Coloradans, especially youngsters, to the great outdoors, are encouraging and exciting. Governor Hickenlooper’s Colorado the Beautiful campaign has a goal to ensure, within a generation, that every Coloradan will live within 10 minutes of a park, trail, or vibrant green space. His “16 in 2016” trail initiative, representing the state’s 16 most important trail gaps, missing trail segments and unbuilt trails is intended to start a more focused, coordinated conversation to support trails and promote outdoor recreation across Colorado. And, Great Outdoors Colorado’ Inspire Initiative is rallying communities, particularly kids, to appreciate and enjoy nature. But we are without a simultaneous strategic action plan to strengthen public involvement in caring for Colorado, our parks, open space, trails and landscapes. Outdoor stewardship organizations (OSOs) are the most effective vehicle to move us towards a culture of stewardship that is embraced by all Coloradans. Colorado is fortunate to have many OSOs that work in creative and highly effective ways with natural resource managers and are capable of engaging thousands of people each year on important stewardship projects. OSOs vary from very small, “place-based” volunteer-run organizations working with a handful of volunteers, to regional and statewide organizations with professional staff and year-round volunteer engagement programs. As stewardship needs of our public land management agency partners have increased over the decades, these organizations have been filling important gaps left by too few dollars and growing natural resource challenges. Yet, Colorado OSOs for the most part operate independently, inadvertently competing against one another for volunteers, claiming “turf” geographically, and frequently approaching land management partnerships as single entities versus as a collective whole. Nor have OSOs collaborated in programmatic efforts when seeking funding support, resulting in contributions that achieve relatively small project-specific outcomes or a single programmatic innovation. Funders have similarly lacked cohesion in effectively coordinating their investments to achieve scale and impact. These non-collaborative and underfunded approaches are sorely lacking for the level of large-scale impact that is now required in Colorado. On December 8, 2016 the governing board of Great Outdoors Colorado officially approved the COSC planning proposal for $100,000 aimed at addressing the following four critical GOCO priorities: 1) Increase the quality and quantity of statewide stewardship projects; 2) Increase the collective impact of stewardship organizations by advancing collaborative projects at scale; 3) Increase the diversity of stewardship volunteers; and, 4) Engender a stewardship ethic in Colorado’s citizens. Over a 15-month planning period, the COSC will contract for project management to undertake the various components of this planning effort. These efforts will be guided by an advisory committee with direction and input provided by the broader COSC membership. Through online surveys and assessments, direct solicitations, and in-person regional meetings, the COSC seeks to engage a broad and representative diversity of OSOs and land managers across Colorado. The COSC proposes four discrete outcomes for this planning effort, summarized below. 1) The COSC will develop an accessible online database of Colorado OSOs that exist around the state. This database will increase the ability of OSOs, land managers, and funders to partner effectively and coordinate regional-scale stewardship efforts. 2) COSC will develop OSO best practices and standards made available online as the Colorado Outdoor Stewardship Best Practices Guide. The standards are intended to amplify the effectiveness of outdoor volunteer stewardship organizations by improving the quality of work and, correspondingly, offering land managers more consistency and reliability from volunteer labor. 3) COSC will develop comprehensive uniform metrics for data reporting. Currently, land managers, funders, and OSOs use inconsistent reporting metrics which creates difficulty when trying to assess the statewide performance and progress of OSO stewardship efforts. The uniform metrics seek to address this issue which holds universal value for funders, OSOs, and land managers alike. 4) COSC will undertake the planning of at least three, large-scale and collaborative demonstration projects across Colorado. Working together, the COSC believes it will achieve a shared vision and move beyond a group of independently operating outdoor stewardship non-profits towards a model that, over the next four years, advances and provides for greater coordination of stewardship of our state’s treasured rivers, plains, mountains, parks, trails and open spaces. Great Outdoors Colorado’s leadership in directing a strategic investment in this effort to help establish scalable, collaborative solutions that will improve Colorado’s environmental health and create a next generation of stewards to preserve it. The planning period allows the COSC to work in tandem with Great Outdoors Colorado to shape a sustainable future for our state’s outdoor resources.
