The Aquatic Restoration Manager provides technical leadership and support to The Nature Conservancy in Maine by supporting the development and implementation of strategies and plans in close collaboration with the Freshwater Program Director and Climate Adaptation Program Director that leverage river and stream restoration efforts at watershed and statewide scales. Projects will primarily address barriers to aquatic organism passage (AOP) and flood-risk and resilience; including road-stream crossings, tributary and main-stem dams, and may also include floodplain and coastal habitat restoration. The Aquatic Restoration Manager will employ a full range of restoration, networking, and management expertise to identify and select priority projects and broad-reaching strategies. They will actively engage and coordinate with a broad range of public and private partners, including NGOs, federal and state agencies, tribal nations, municipalities, and private landowners towards more significant restoration implementation. The Aquatic Restoration Manager will assist in securing public and private funding, garnering public support from local communities for restoration projects, supporting development of engaging communications materials, and fostering learning within the state, region, and broader conservation community.

• Collaborate with existing state and federal grant programs to maximize the number of awarded projects that effectively upgrade road-stream crossings that are high priorities for aquatic biodiversity and climate risk.
• Oversee management and updates to restoration project prioritization technologies via existing databases related to aquatic connectivity restoration; support development of integration with other relevant databases (i.e., flood risk) and pursuit of focused outreach strategies to leverage use of these data and decision support tools by partners.
• Identify new opportunities for funding mechanisms that support aquatic connectivity restoration and where possible also increasing community safety and reducing climate risk. This will entail working with TNC’s Government Relations staff and the Climate Adaptation Program Director to influence allocation of state and federal funding and advance restoration implementation of these projects.
• Work closely with government, academic, non-profit and private partners to maintain collaborative relationships and ensure cooperation and support of program goals.
• Oversee project management, including managing partners, budgets, subcontractors, timelines, and concurrent project implementation– of select current/ongoing aquatic connectivity projects.
• Ensure financial responsibility which includes working within and managing a complex budget to complete projects.
• This employee may be required to negotiate, draft, and manage contracts for engineering design, project construction and managing contractors to obtain project completion.
• Engage in learning, practicing and sharing principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion, and using these principles in communication and decision-making.
• Under minimal supervision, make independent decisions based on analysis, experience, and context.
• Be ready to safely, although only occasionally work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, on difficult and hazardous terrain and under physically demanding circumstances.