Community Engagement Program Manager

Great Bay Stewards in partnership with the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is seeking a half-time community engagement program manager to plan and implement the second year of a program called the Great Bay Changemaker Bootcamp. The program seeks to inspire, train, and support champions and advocates for water resources in the Great Bay watershed in southeastern NH, and will involve working closely with the Great Bay Piscataqua Waterkeeper and other environmental organizations and specialists in the region. The program is being supported by New Hampshire Charitable Foundation through the Great Bay 2030 Initiative.

The Community Engagement Program Manager is a contract position with the Great Bay Stewards, with one year guaranteed funding and the possibility of extension. The Program Manager will report to the Coastal Training Program Coordinator of Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and be guided by a small program team and a diverse advisory group of natural resource managers, community engagement professionals and environmental advocates. The Program Manager can work remotely but the preference is for someone based in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire. Office space in Greenland or Portsmouth, N.H., is available if desired.

The Great Bay Stewards is also recruiting for a half-time communications coordinator. The two new hires will have an opportunity to collaborate, or it’s possible that a single individual could apply for both jobs to create a full time position. See: greatbay.org/hiring

Key Responsibilities

• Participate in and seek input through quarterly meetings with the Great Bay 2030 Engagement and Stewardship Workgroup, which will serve as an advisory group for the Changemaker program.
• Meet regularly with a small program team that includes the Great Bay-Piscataqua Waterkeeper and attend relevant community meetings as time allows.
• Identify strategies that will help to center the principles of inclusion and equity throughout the program.
• Talk with partners to identify key issues, locations and speakers to feature in this year’s Changemaker program and collaboratively develop content for training sessions.
• Building on the curriculum piloted in Year 1, plan a series of Changemaker training sessions that includes community building activities, skill building exercises, field visits and opportunities to learn about locally relevant issues.
• Develop detailed agendas for each training session and manage logistics, including speaker coordination, venue reservations, and food and material preparations.
• Advertise the program, recruit a diverse cohort of residents interested in strengthening their environmental advocacy skills, and manage registration.
• Work with guest speakers and the program implementation team to lead a series of 4 - 8 Changemaker program events in 2024.
• Maintain communication and build strong relationships with Year 1 and Year 2 participants, fostering an environment of trust and inclusion.
• Draft and manage content to be shared publicly through the Changemaker program webpage as well as materials to share with program participants such as reference sheets or slide decks.
• Evaluate program activities and analyze findings to help adaptively manage the program.
• Develop a written summary of lessons learned and suggestions for future years.

The person who will best succeed in this role: 

• Cares deeply about water resources and environmental sustainability and wants to be a part of building something new
• A Bachelor’s degree or comparable experience in Natural Resource, Ecology, Environmental Policy, Communication, Education or related field. 
• Has 3+ years of experience with program management, environmental / natural resources work, and/or public/adult education.
• Enjoys designing educational experiences, facilitating groups, and creating welcoming spaces for diverse program participants.
• Has superb interpersonal and communication skills and is able to engage a wide range of people with authenticity, candor and warmth, and synthesize diverse perspectives.
• Possesses excellent project management skills and is able plan and track the many activities needed to design and execute a multi-session training program.
• Is creative, curious, and committed to learning about a range of current water resources issues and finding new ways of engaging people and building a culture of stewardship
• Can understand and translate science or technical content for non-technical audiences
• Works well both independently and collaboratively
• Is a problem solver with strong critical-thinking skills who enjoys finding solutions as challenges arise 

A few other qualities we are looking for include:

• A spirit of adventure - someone who wants to be out in the community, talking with people about their interests and learning about current water resources challenges.
• Experience with word processing, spreadsheets, slide development, basic survey development, Google Drive and email marketing.
• A commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and accessibility, and a strong desire to empower residents to become advocates for their community.
• Access to own computer equipment, cell phone, car and remote office equipment
• Ability to participate in occasional events in the evenings or potentially on weekends.