VA Pinelands Burn Boss & Stewardship Manager

About the role

The Virginia Pinelands Burn Boss & Stewardship Manager position is focused on prescribed fire management and forest stewardship. The position will be stationed at TNC’s Virginia Pinelands office in Waverly, VA and will report to the Virginia Pinelands Program Director. The position supervises the Pinelands Restoration Specialist and works closely with TNC’s Virginia Statewide Fire Manager/Longleaf Pine Specialist and a wide range of state and federal agency partners, private landowners, volunteers and others to implement projects on TNC and partner lands.

Responsibilities

• Directs prescribed fire operations and develops prescribed burn plans and site fire management plans under the guidance of the Fire Manager for VA.
• Directs safe and effective fire operations, leads burns on TNC and partner lands, administers physical fitness testing, trains and organizes crew, conducts annual refresher training, and maintains documentation files for crew member training and qualifications.
• Oversees seasonal fire crew members, volunteers and permanent staff.
• Responsible for fireline construction and maintenance, monitoring fuel conditions, equipment maintenance, data entry and compilation.
• Participates as a leader on the Conservancy’s statewide fire management team and effectively communicates between diverse teams of Conservancy and partner agency staff, volunteers, and interns.
• Maintains relationships in the professional fire community and in the local community where the Conservancy works.
• May work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, on difficult and hazardous terrain and under physically demanding circumstances.
• May work in rapidly changing and potentially hazardous conditions that may affect the safety of staff and resources.
• Supervises professional staff, with responsibility for performance management.

Requirements

• Full NWCG qualifications for RxB2, including coursework and experience requirements.
• Bachelor’s degree and 3 years’ experience in natural resource management or similar field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience building relationships with a variety of stakeholders, i.e., state, federal agency partners, non-profit organizations.
• Must achieve annual physical fitness requirements specified in NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications (PMS 310-1).
• Experience completing tasks independently with respect to timeline(s).
• Experience with communication via written, spoken and graphical means in English and other relevant languages.
• Experience using common software applications such as Word, Excel, web browsers, etc.
• Valid driver's license.

Qualifications

• Fully meets NWCG qualifications for RxB2, including coursework and experience requirements.
• Bachelor’s degree and more than 3 years’ experience in fire operations or natural resource management, similar field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Forestry experience, including writing forest management plans and overseeing forestry consultants and loggers.
• Experience training and supervising staff and burn crew members or volunteers.
• Demonstrated ability and interest in private landowner outreach and community engagement.
• Familiarity with ecological management of longleaf pine ecosystem.
• Experience with grant proposal writing and administration.
• Experience with GIS mapping software such as ArcMap or ArcPro.
• Multi-lingual skills and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
• Willingness to live within 30-minute drive of Waverly, VA / within the Pinelands Program Area.