Job Opening: Executive Director

The job search for an Executive Director is now closed. We are currently reviewing applications and will contact qualified candidates after our review has been completed. If you have already applied and need to send us supplementary material please do so right away.

Woodbine Ecology Center is working with JVA Consulting LLC (www.jvaconsulting.com), a leader in non-profit consulting, to hire an outgoing, community minded, and knowledgeable Executive Director. JVA is dedicated to identifying, evaluating, recruiting and delivering the highest-caliber Executive Director professionals. The ideal candidate is a collaborative leader, enjoys working with a diversity of people, and shares our passion in our mission.

Woodbine Ecology Center operates its programs and facilities guided by certain fundamental principles and values. Learning to live together in this place is not a quick or easy process and our own understanding of these principles will evolve over time. Yet, we make a commitment to them and to continuously challenge ourselves and those around us to live up to them to the best of our abilities.

When our decisions and our actions are based on these principles, we can rise to a new way of acting and being. When we raise new generations according to these principles, then it will be a way of life for them. The changes may be small, slow, even imperceptible at times. Many of them may not become obvious for years, decades, even lifetimes, but this place, and we along with it, will have changed.

The Executive Director (ED) will work in close partnership with the founding Director of Sustainability at Woodbine Ecology Center to take Woodbine to the next level and to help it become a thriving, sustainable, community-oriented center. This new leader will be responsible for supporting the vision of Woodbine to provide: a space to live again as members of a community of humans and nonhumans alike, a place where we can work, eat, laugh, cry, learn and play together, a place where old ways of knowing lead to new ways of being, and a place where we can learn to live in balance and show our home the respect and love it deserves. As a new position, the ED will work closely with the Director of Sustainability to assume full leadership after a transition period, and to build a lasting foundation of authentic and collaborative leadership at Woodbine.

We are looking for a solutions-focused person whose strengths and talents lie, quite simply, in making things happen. This person will ensure that day-to-day operations lead to accomplishment of a larger vision, and will demonstrate both creative leadership and the ability to ensure that the details are taken care of. This position will be responsible for the overall operation of Woodbine Ecology Center, including, but not limited to: programming, project management, human resources, fundraising, community building, financial management and facilities management.

This is a full-time position with some evening and weekend hours. The main business office is in downtown Littleton, CO and the Ecology Center is outside of Sedalia, CO. The director will be expected to spend time in both locations.

Compensation/Benefits: Negotiable based upon experience and qualifications.

Skills And Talents:

• Demonstrated experience in taking an idea from concept to fruition and managing multiple projects at various stages of development and different timelines.
• Credibility and connections in the community.
• Ability to develop good rapport and positive relationships with community, staff and volunteers.
• Demonstrated background and ability to develop, launch and sustain earned income ventures and diverse funding streams.
• Nonprofit or equivalent management experience, as an executive director, program director or in an equivalent role, especially in:
• Start-up and growth-stage organizations
• Organizations that rely heavily on volunteers and are responsive to community
• Organizations that manage facilities
• Experience and high comfort level with budgeting, financial management and fundraising.
• A high comfort level with taking on the external role of representing the organization in different venues and among various constituencies. Solid verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work well within, and to demonstrate leadership in, team, community and volunteer environments, with culturally and racially diverse members. Willingness to work with diverse populations who may have different priorities and understanding of our mission.
• Ability to develop a solid understanding and familiarity with at least a few of the following, and an appreciation for their interconnectedness:
  • Traditional ecological knowledge
  • Indigenous values and struggles
  • Permaculture
  • Wilderness and nature awareness
  • Non-violent communication
  • Social ecology
  • Sustainable community development and organizing
• Demonstrated understanding, through background, work experience or community involvement, of issues of race, power and privilege and their intersection with sustainability and ecological issues. Demonstrated passion for and commitment to sustainability and ecological issues as well as social and environmental justice.

Qualifications:

• B.A. degree in related field or equivalent experience.
• Volunteer management experience.
• A minimum of one-year experience in a professional, supervisory position.
• Share our passion for and commitment to our vision and mission.

Please email (NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE) the following to: jobs@woodbinecenter.org

• A cover letter:
  • Stating why you are interested in this position, how you meet the qualifications/talents sought and why you are passionate about sustainability and social and community change work< /li>
  • Listing specifically any relevant courses (college and graduate level), advanced training and or work experience in areas relevant to the position
• Your résumé
• A brief, relevant writing sample
• Three professional and community references

Application end date: Monday October 10th, 2011. Applications will be reviewed in the week following the end date and qualified candidates will be contacted for interviews after that time.

Woodbine Ecology Center does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, ability, veteran status, or national or ethnic origin. 
Women and people of color strongly encouraged to apply.
We are an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.