The National Audubon Society is hiring a
The National Audubon Society is a nonprofit conservation organization that protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. We work throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon’s state, regional, national, and international programs, nature centers, and chapters have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. As a sentinel species, we recognize that the fate of birds is inextricably tied to the fate of us all.
Audubon has more than 700 staff working across the United States and seven countries in 17 state and regional offices, 41 nature centers, and 23 wildlife sanctuaries. Together as one Audubon, we aspire to alter the course of climate change and habitat loss, leading to healthier bird populations and reversing current trends in biodiversity loss.
Audubon is committed to a culture of workplace excellence, where our talented and diverse staff are deeply engaged, with a strong sense of belonging. The birds Audubon pledges to protect differ in color, size, behavior, geographical preference, and countless other ways. By honoring and celebrating the equally remarkable diversity of the human species, Audubon will bring new creativity, effectiveness, and leadership to our work throughout the hemisphere.
The Senior Manager, Special Projects plays an important role working with the Office of the CEO and the Audubon National Board relations team to support and implement a portfolio of key projects. Initially the Senior Manager’s project portfolio will focus on initiatives in service of the National Board’s Governance Action Plan and will evolve into a broader portfolio over time.
Strong collaborative and project management skills are required, in addition to the ability to listen deeply to key internal stakeholders, synthesize information from multiple sources, and write concise and highly professional work products on behalf of the project team.
The Senior Manager will have broad exposure to and the ability to support all parts of Audubon. Internal stakeholders include the CEO and other senior staff as well as members of the National Board of Directors. The Senior Manager will report to the Chief of Staff in the Office of the CEO.
• Lead and deliver, through collaborative support and project management skills, key project deliverables, including governance initiatives for Audubon’s National Board of Directors.
• Deliver work products that reflect the input and guidance from project teams.
• Manage the full life cycle of multiple projects simultaneously, including working with stakeholders to define scope and deliverables, schedule team meetings, prepare meeting agendas, develop draft materials, and ensure that stated deliverables are completed on time.
• Conduct independent research on a variety of topics, identify and summarize best practices, and develop clear and concise summaries and recommendations for project teams.
• Build trusting relationships with CEO, senior staff, National Board Directors, and the Chief of Staff to facilitate quality execution of work products.
• Create project status reports, executive reports, and dashboard updates on a regular basis.
• Ensure that elements of equity, diversity, and inclusion principles and values are incorporated into projects and decision-making processes.
• Work collaboratively and build and maintain strong working relationships with colleagues at various levels of seniority.
• Act independently to lead diverse activities, analyze situations, evaluate alternatives, develop processes, project outcomes, and initiate solutions to improve effectiveness.
• Other duties as assigned.
• Bachelor’s degree and 8+ years of project coordination, management, or delivery experience.
• Excellent written communication skills, including ability to gather data and information from multiple sources, synthesize key takeaways, and develop compelling and high-quality written memos and recommendations. Effective verbal communication skills, including the ability to adapt communication style to suit different audiences.
• Experience working with Boards of Directors (or similar) and working knowledge of Board governance topics.
• Skilled in collaboratively working with and leading project teams to achieve high-quality deliverables.
• Excellent judgement, tact, and ability to successful navigate complex interpersonal situations
• Proven track record of supporting successful projects and related best practices
• Passion for Audubon’s mission and a commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
• Excellent listener who can help connect dots between teams and across individuals
• Strong leadership, interpersonal and relationship-building skills
• Self-motivation and strong work ethic
• Resourceful and creative mindset to address project related issues/risks
• Organizational savvy in soliciting cooperation from different levels - upper management, managers, staff and across the organization and departments
• Persuasive, encouraging, and motivating.
• Effective time management skills and detail oriented multi-tasker and ability to manage multiple projects in parallel.
• Comfortable working both independently and in a team-oriented, collaborative environment.
• Ability to work under conditions of uncertainty shifting priorities, demands and timelines
• Ability to effectively triage, prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment.
• Working knowledge of Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio, MS Project, SmartSheet, etc.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification preferred.
The National Audubon Society is a federal contractor and an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. We are committed to a policy of nondiscrimination, inclusion and equal opportunity and actively seek a diverse pool of candidates in this search.
The National Audubon Society endeavors to keep our careers site accessible to any and all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please contact Accommodations@audubon.org. This contact information is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.
All new hires must be fully vaccinated prior to their start of employment unless they are pre-qualified by HR for exemption.