Chattanooga Program Director

The Chattanooga Program Director helps develop the capacity of urban communities to sustain parks, gardens and open space conservation. S/he will provide technical assistance to non-profit and community based groups interested in urban land conservation. The position assists in raising funds and coordinating project staff on specific transactions and geographic and programmatic focus areas. The Program Director’s primary objective is to increase the demand, capacity and opportunity for The Trust for Public Land’s Park Design Development Program as well as transactional assistance.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

30% Provides technical assistance to urban communities in park design development, land conservation, and helps communities address long term park and land stewardship issues. Initiates and maintains contact with community, trade and environmental organizations, and appropriate public agencies. Provides ongoing information about projects and activities. Serves as spokesperson at appropriate conferences, meetings and public engagements.

30% Develops and maintains working relationships with community based organizations to build their capacity; assesses needs, formulates and implements support strategies; provides assistance in organizational development and strategies for ongoing resource stewardship. Plays lead role in identifying and initiating new urban projects and assessing need for community capacity building, park design development and conservation services necessary to accomplish park projects /transactions.

20% Provides assistance in the development and implementation of a parks for people program and urban land conservation strategies. Assists communities in accessing or creating funds for land conservation projects. Develops presentations, articles, and training materials to market TPL’s park design development and land saving services.

10% Develops fundraising strategy; helps cultivate relationships with urban funders to provide program support. Assists in facilitating marketing and outreach programs.

5% Works with other programs and staff to create strong urban projects and programs.

5% Other administrative tasks.

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES:

Other relevant duties as necessary.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree required in landscape architecture, planning, or related fields
• At least 4 years of experience in community based organizations, especially those focused on urban space creation
• Experience working with government and other partners in developing parks and public spaces
• Experience in managing the design function
• Experience with the grant process; a proven track record of fund raising a plus
• Experience working with marketing
• Ability to work on complex problems where in-depth analysis and judgement is needed to select methods, techniques and evaluation criteria for obtaining results.
• Experience with project management.
• Requires high degree of creativity, visualization, and resourcefulness.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; public speaking skills.