Director of Conservation

Sea turtles tell us the health of our ocean, the ocean tells us the health of our planet. Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) is one of Palm Beach County Florida’s most visited cultural and scientific destinations. On an annual basis LMC’s networked campuses attract over 500,000 guests. LMC’s mission is to be recognized locally and internationally as the leading authority in sea turtle education, research, and rehabilitation.

A decade of impact and growth:

In 2007 LMC opened their current campus in Juno Beach, Florida, our operating budget and our programmatic impact have grown at a rapid pace and we are in the midst of breaking ground on our capital expansion campaign which will triple the size of our campus.

The Director of Conservation is an integral member of the Senior Leadership Team and reports to the Chief Operating Officer. The Director of Conservation is responsible for identifying, deploying, and growing LMC’s forward thinking conservation strategy. LMC’s Director of Conservation will be a highly visible ambassador for the LMC brand/portfolio and will work in-lock-step with LMC’s CEO, Senior Leadership Team, and Board of Directors to position LMC as “Ahead of the Best.” A critical component of LMC’s Director of Conservation is to promote conservation through education as such, the Director of Conservation will help guide LMC’s educational portfolio and strategy in particular LMC’s public programming portfolio.

Our portfolio of services is highly unique in the non-profit arena. Our unique structure offers nearly unlimited fundraising and marketing capital. We are:

• A top visited cultural destination, over 500,000 guests per year

• The world’s most advanced sea turtle hospitals, saving thousands of sea turtles annually and serving as a global veterinary teaching and training hub

• One of the most prolific ocean conservation & sea turtle research laboratories, we have among the largest data sets in the world managed by exceptional PhD researchers driving insights to action

• A highly evolved educational hub impacting over 50,000 registered students annually, county, state and where applicable federally certified, STEM infused

• A global ocean and environmental conservation team, with nearly 70 global partnerships

Our unique multifaceted programming can attract, engage and ignite prospects across a very wide spectrum of interests. When we engage on specific areas of interest, science for example, our prospects will observe one of the most advanced and impactful organizations in existence.

We are highly passionate about our unique ability to protect the world’s sea turtle population and our oceans. We will significantly increase our impact in the years to come and we seek a seasoned fundraising leader who shares our passion and commitment to this most important of opportunities.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Grow, manage and evolve LMC’s Conservation strategy including, but not limited to the following focus areas:

o Provide strategic vision for LMC’s conservation point-of-view

– Keep strategy (macro and micro) current and evolve the strategy as necessary

• In collaboration with Director of Education, develop LMC’s conservation ‘messaging’

o Manage and deploy conservation initiatives across-campus:

– Across all LMC departments

– Within LMC signature events/programs

• Go Blue Awards

• Blue Friend Society

• Blue Friends Beach Clean Ups

o Manage and deploy conservation initiatives, serve as LMC’s “Brand Ambassador”:

– Responsible Fishing Pier Initiative

– Voluntary Speed Reduction Zone (VSRZ) Initiative

– Conferences & Symposiums

– Partnerships and co-branded conservation initiatives

– Corporate conservation funding/grants

– Monthly and Annual Sort Reports

• Serve as LMC’s conservation point of contact in-partnership with the CEO or singularly for the following organizations:

– Conservation based NGOs

– Current and future partner organizations (i.e. JDC)

– Research partner institutions (i.e. In-Water)

– Elected officials

– Corporate partners

• Supervisory Responsibilities: Responsible for supervision of Conservation Coordinator

• Develop, implement and evolve LMC’s Conservation Strategy

– Provide strategic vision for LMC’s conservation point-of-view

– Develop LMC’s Conservation Campaign

– Oversight of LMC’s Project SHIELD

• Maintain current relationships on behalf of LMC and serve as LMC’s conservation point-of-contact in partnership with the CEO

– Establish new collaborations on behalf of LMC.

• Build significant (conservation) brand equity for LMC through new local and global partnerships.

• Identify, develop, prepare and submit grant applications/proposals.

• Oversight of Juno Beach Fishing Pier Management

• Actively maintain LMC’s Conservation/Explorer blog

• Collaborate with the Marketing/Communications Department to create marketing materials and ensure consistent messaging

• Lead conservation projects

• Maintain involvement onsite through regular communication and participation in center committees (see communication plan).

• Collaboration, Policy, and Budgeting

– Collaborate with all department heads to ensure an open line of communication as it pertains to a proactive department specific conservation strategy unique to each LMC department.

– Ensure departmental strategies are fully aligned with LMC’s holistic conservation strategy

– Assist in development of policies, procedures and protocol as needed

– Manage and develop direct reporting staff

– Manage and control operational departmental expenditures within agreed budgets

• The Director of Conservation will maintain the following communication schedule:

– Weekly meeting with Director of Education

– Weekly meeting with COO

– Weekly meeting with Marketing/Communication Department

• Prepare and deploy innovated monthly and annual reports. Create compelling and exciting content for traditional and digital distribution.

• The ultimate goals for the Director of Conservation are to:

– Build significant (conservation) brand equity for LMC

– Identify and deploy mission-centric local & global partnerships (i.e. expand our footprint)

– Grow corporate conservation funding

EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:

• 10 years of relevant cross functional sea turtle, beach, and ocean conservation expertise with a strong understanding of interrelated ocean ecosystems is required.

• Must be highly organized, very well educated, articulate (written and verbal), and above all, passionate. This role is akin to the Secretary of State (in government) and the Director of Conservation will be serving as LMC’s global conservation spokesperson.

• Must have exceptional public speaking and presentations skills, grant writing experience, and a strong research and analytical background.

• Experience collecting scientific data and the ability to publish findings from the data collected by the conservation department. Preferably, have experience with publishing peer-reviewed, primary literature. Able to publish material that is designed for the scientific community as well as all other general stakeholders.

• Several years’ experience building, developing and retaining strong relationships within the conservation community. Ability to manage LMC’s global partnerships which includes researching prospective partners for proper fit and appropriateness.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES:

• Outstanding communication skills: an attentive listener, articulate speaker, and clear and persuasive writer.

• Excellent strategic, organizational and project management skills. A decisive, “roll-up-the sleeves,” results-oriented individual who can keep seemingly diverse projects moving forward within a consistent strategic framework.

• Must have the ability to motivate and inspire confidence among staff, colleagues, volunteers and donors. A leader whom people want to support and follow.

• A self-motivated, confident and influential style that is coupled with sensitivity and flexibility. A strong leader with high emotional intelligence and professional standards.

• Character and substance; a person with the highest ethical standards.

• Must be trustworthy, approachable, friendly, collaborative, and flexible.

• Must be willing to travel frequently

Education and Certifications:

• A Master’s or PhD degree from an accredited college or university in biology or conservation plus a with strong publication history.

This is an outstanding opportunity for a highly motivated professional to assume a pivotal role in the evolution of a fast-growing, highly respected organization. We are seeking an individual of outstanding quality with a respected track record. LMC is prepared to offer a competitive compensation package, including a base salary as well as health, 401(k), and vacation benefits.

This is a salaried position, which may require the supervision of one or more employees and requires significant exercise of independent judgment and discretion with respect to matters of significance and which directly relates to management and the general business operations of Loggerhead Marinelife Center. The job position is exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and no overtime will be paid.

It is the policy of LMC that all team members, including newly hired, transferred and promoted team members, will be carefully monitored and evaluated for an initial introductory period on the job. After satisfactory completion of the introductory evaluation, such team members will be evaluated on an annual basis.

The physical demands described herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand and walk. The employee is frequently required to climb or balance and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 30 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. The employee must be able to withstand a fast-paced, highly dynamic environment.

About Loggerhead Marinelife Center:

Unique among nonprofits, LMC is a totally free (no charge) facility in North Palm Beach County, FL. The Center relies on the generosity of guests, volunteers, and supporters to power their mission and vision. For more than 30 years, the center’s history revolved around community, family, conservation and fun. In their current structure, LMC’s significant scientific expertise rests upon their strong legacy of community and family engagement, providing guests and collaborators with one of the most unique experiences available. LMC is one of the most visited Cultural destinations in Palm Beach County. In 2017 LMC’s beach-side campus attracted over 330,000 visitors’ half of whom were from outside of Palm Beach County.

LMC also operates the Juno Beach Pier and has an operating agreement in place with FPL’s Manatee Lagoon. Total guests served on an annual basis = over 500,000. On an annual basis LMC provides over $52m of annual economic impact to Palm Beach County’s economy.

LMC’s core focus areas are: The Educational Institute at LMC: Over 50,000 registered students served in 2017. The Sea Turtle Hospital at LMC: Over 100 sea turtles, and thousands of hatchlings saved in 2017. The Sea Turtle Research Laboratory at LMC: Advanced scientists and technicians responsible for 9.5 of researching one of the most densely nested sea turtle nesting beaches on our planet. Global Ocean Conservation: A multifaceted team dedicated to global collaborations with a ‘one ocean’ perspective, expanding LMC’s mission to nearly every continent.

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by this employee. He or she will be required to follow any other instructions and to perform any other duties requested by his or her supervisor.

To apply, please forward your cover letter and resume to: thannon@marinelife.org, “attention” Director of Conservation”.