Director, Office of the President

Founded in 1936, the National Wildlife Federation has grown into America's largest and most trusted grassroots conservation organization with 53 state/territorial affiliates and more than six million members and supporters, including hunters, anglers, gardeners, birders, hikers, campers, paddlers, and outdoor enthusiasts of all ages and stripes. The mission of the National Wildlife Federation is to unite all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in our rapidly changing world. We advance this mission through programming focused on conserving wildlife, restoring habitats and waterways, expanding outdoor opportunities, connecting children with nature, advancing environmental justice, and addressing the causes and consequences of climate change.

The National Wildlife Federation believes that in order to save wildlife and ourselves, we need to ensure that everyone in America has clean air and water, safe communities, easy and equitable access to the daily benefits of nature, and protection from the ravages of climate change. These basic needs, equally necessary and urgent for all people, are foundational to bringing the conservation movement and ethos into the 21st century.

The Director of the Office of the President is a key partner to the President and CEO, focusing time on the highest priority strategic initiatives to advance of the Federation’s mission. This position provides executive support and manages the day-to-day operations of the Office of the President (OP). The Director is welcoming and equitable in access to the President and CEO, collaborating with staff across the organization, and engages regularly with Board members, affiliates, donors, external partners, government and administration officials, and the general public.

The Director reports to the President and CEO and supervises an Executive Assistant who assists with scheduling, meeting preparations, correspondence, and expense reports.

In this role you will:

Lead Operations: Responsible for the day-to-day operations, work flow and quality control of the Office of the President, including supervision of and close coordination with the Executive Assistant. Oversees the President and CEO’s calendar and travel planning, the preparation of meeting materials and briefings, the timely completion and submission of expense reports and relationship management inputs, and the completion of various signature requests. Supports the organization’s Executive steering committee. Convenes standing check-ins with key staff to operationalize the President and CEO’s calendar, harmonize workflows, clarify deliverables, and address urgent priorities.

Support Scheduling: Ensures adequate time is given to strategic priorities of the President and CEO. Prioritizes internal and external equity and justice efforts and anti-racism meetings, events and trainings. Assists in prioritizing speaking and travel requests and interacts with internal and external colleagues at all levels to finalize logistics. Partners with colleagues in Philanthropy in managing the President and CEO’s portfolio of donors and prospects, dedicating sufficient time for relationship building and implementing engagement strategies.

Budget Management: Administers the budget for the Office of the President with input from the Executive Assistant. Responsible for monitoring and adhering to the budget, iBudget (NWF's internal budgeting system) entries, and financial reporting and reprojections.

OP Communications: Responsible for communications from the President and CEO. Works collaboratively with staff across the organization to finalize various collaterals sent on behalf of or under the signature of the President and CEO, including funding proposals and reports, fundraising appeals, invitations, etc. Entails light writing of correspondence from the President’s Office and editing of material produced by others. Consistently takes special care to correct white supremacy culture language in correspondence going out over the President and CEO’s signature. Coordinates with the Executive Assistant to finalize correspondence. Maintains and monitors the public ‘President’ email account, responding to emails to this account as appropriate and redirecting emails to others for action and response as necessary.

Culture: Demonstrates commitment to help NWF become an anti-racist organization. The position is self-aware and models an inclusive and equitable work culture. Dedicates time and energy to ongoing equity work and growth and collaborates with team members to help them develop in this area.

Execute Various Workflows: Approves expense reports and timecards on behalf of the President and CEO for direct reports to the President and CEO. Oversees expense report preparation for the President and CEO and submits timecards for the President and CEO. Monitors and accurately reports lobbying time for the President and CEO. Approves expense reports and timecards for the Executive Assistant.

Fundraising and Relationship Management: Assists the President and CEO in effectively managing a portfolio of major funders, prospective supporters, and key partners. Works closely with the Chief Development Officer and other Philanthropy and Program staff on a range of fundraising and prospect cultivation activities. Also partners with the Senior Manager of Meetings and Governance and other key staff in building and managing relationships with volunteer leaders comprising the Federation’s governance structures. Ensures the President and CEO’s activities are well documented in CRM.

Experience: Strong administrative and communications skills coupled with experience in executive offices in government, non-profits, or business or other high-functioning and public-facing environments will serve this role well. The Director is a capable manager and teambuilder/team player, adept in delegation, communication, coordination, and follow through.

Competencies:

Self-Awareness & Learning

• Exhibits a commitment to continuous learning and growth and models this approach with others
• Dedicated to deepening understanding of cultural and systemic racism and the intersectionality of multiple forms of social inequality
• Demonstrates awareness of positional power and privilege (both personally and professionally) and its attendant impacts
• Consistently brings a high level of empathy and social skills to work and interpersonal interactions

 Authentic Relationships & Community Partnerships

• Maintains a sophisticated understanding of how group dynamics impact supervisory relationships, organizational culture, partnerships, campaigns and coalition work
• Demonstrates capacity to maintain relationships across difference and create greater psychological safety in the workplace
• Acknowledges when mistakes are made and harm is done; works to repair breaches in relationships
• Openly holds space, and invites others into conversations during sensitive engagements, exhibiting a responsible and respectful demeanor with colleagues and partners
• Endeavors to be a recognizable and approachable leader in the organization, proactively building working relationships across programs, teams, and offices

 Direct Communication

• Exhibits strong interpersonal skills rooted in teamwork, diplomacy, and respect
• Provides clear and direct communication
• Strives to match intent and impact in all interactions
• Works proactively to resolve conflicts and misunderstandings toward restorative solutions; attends to conflicts as opportunities for learning and growth

Supervision & Power Sharing

• Supports the leadership, success, and professional development of staff members, with a commitment to utilizing power to ensure equitable access and opportunities for staff of color and with other marginalized identities
• Consistently provides positive and developmental feedback to support growth of team members
• Actively seeks feedback, direction, and guidance from all team members and keeps staff informed of decisions that impact them
• Intentionally shares power through decision-making, clear definition of roles and responsibilities, effective delegation, and equitable access to resources
• Helps establish clear roles and responsibilities when delegating authority to others, and, working with teams, helps to clarify who is doing what and when in the implementation of strategy.

Innovation

• Actively seeks new solutions to persistent problems by engaging a diversity of perspectives and experiences
• Practices both/and thinking and the ability to accept ambiguity
• Demonstrates willingness to take risks, pilot new approaches, learn from failure, and continually improve efforts

Equity Analysis & Action:

• Motivated by values of equity and responsibility to those most marginalized
• Committed to deepening an environmental justice approach in policy priorities, program development and partner engagement
• Demonstrates awareness of the attributes associated with a white dominant culture and takes actions to dismantle hierarchies of oppression within that culture
• Dedicated to advancing NWF’s internal equity transformation and compelling partners and allies to incorporate equity into their work

Travel Requirements:

Attends Board meetings and select Federation events and gatherings, establishing an identifiable and approachable presence. Occasionally travels for team meetings and trainings. Approximately 10-12 overnights per year.

Application:

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

The salary range for this position begins in the low 80’s.

The National Wildlife Federation values work-life balance and a family-friendly atmosphere.  Our paid time-off includes 3 weeks of vacation leave, open wellbeing leave, 10 paid holidays, 3 floating holidays, a week-long winter break, and additional leave options, per year.  In addition, our benefits package includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, company paid life insurance, AD&D, short and long-term disability, 16 weeks of paid FMLA leave, 403b retirement plan with employer matching and annual contribution, adoption benefits, and flexible work options including telecommuting, non-traditional work hours, and compressed work weeks.  Applicants are invited to learn more about National Wildlife Federation’s benefits package at https://www.nwf.org/About-Us/Careers.

We strive to increase diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) in all elements of our work and with our partners to support the interdependent needs of wildlife and people in a rapidly changing world.  We recruit, employ, train, compensate, and promote regardless of race, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender individual), age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, genetic information, past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  Applicants are invited to learn more about National Wildlife Federation’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion at nwf.org/equity. 

If you have a disability and require an accommodation or assistance with our online application process, please tell us how we can help by calling us at 703-438-6244.

The requirements listed in our job descriptions are guidelines, not hard and fast rules, and if you have 75% of the qualifications listed we encourage you to apply.  Your experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work, which helps build the competencies, knowledge, and skills that translates directly to our openings.  Applying gives you the opportunity to be considered.

Candidates should submit a cover letter and resume.

If selected for this position, a background check will be conducted. 

www.nwf.org