Senior Agricultural Land Protection Capacity Manager

AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST•Washington, DC

15d•$90,000 - $100,000

About The Position

American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 7 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres, and supported thousands of farm families by improving farm viability and farmland access. Long a pioneering leader, AFT is now riding a new wave of growth, driven by agriculture’s most pressing needs and opportunities. Job purpose Supervise a team of agricultural land protection professionals who expand agricultural land protection capacity of public and private organizations. Initial focus of the position will be on supporting NRCS with conservation easement program enrollments and acquisitions.

Requirements

Deep experience with all aspects of agricultural land protection and real property easement and fee simple acquisition.
Thorough knowledge of NRCS agricultural land easement programs (ACEP ALE & WRE).
Strong skills in verbal and written communication, analysis and problem-solving.
Excellent administrative and organizational skills.
Proven experience with complex project management and managing a diverse team of individuals, peers and partners.
Work history of developing and implementing effective programs and projects.
Ability and subject matter expertise in agricultural land conservation sufficient to conduct and oversee complex farm and ranch land protection transactions.
Organized and detail-oriented; demonstrates a commitment to high quality professional work.
Familiarity with land use, property law, working lands conservation and estate planning concepts.
Familiarity with GPS, ArcGIS, Google Earth, soil surveys, public land records and maps.
Strong budget management skills and knowledge of federal and non-profit accounting principles.
Ability to use Microsoft applications such as Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Ability to learn and utilize other program software applications utilized by AFT including Concur, Paycom, ContractWorks, Martus and Dynamics 365 or other, similar applications that AFT uses in the future.
Ability to use NRCS computer systems and applications, as required.
Bachelor’s degree
Minimum 10 years of direct experience in agricultural land and easement acquisition within the United States.
Minimum 5 years of direct experience in utilizing NRCS programs such as ACEP ALE and WRE programs.

Responsibilities

Supervise a team assigned to supporting NRCS Easement Program Division (EPD) with program enrollments and acquisitions.
Establish clear work goals, objectives, and performance evaluation criteria for staff.
Set schedules, agendas and expectations for regular check-in meetings and performance reporting.
Ensure staff receive necessary training, resources and support.
Provide feedback and guidance to team members as needed.
Manage the team consistently with AFT’s Management Responsibilities Framework.
Conduct staff performance reviews.
Manage staff in supporting NRCS conservation easement program enrollments and acquisitions including activities such as 1) easement acquisitions tracking and coordination, 2) reviewing and advancing easement acquisition transactions, and 3) conducting title review and preparing properties for closing.
Track, document, record, and report status of pending easement purchase applications as they move through the easement acquisition process.
Administer easement applications in accordance with the terms and conditions of the easement deeds and program regulations.
Review application documents to ensure compliance with applicable standards; identify errors and omissions; coordinate with necessary parties to obtain corrected/missing information to advance the application.
Conduct required easement acquisition activities including but not limited to: evaluate easement offers, review proposed partner cost share estimates and other applicable financial documents, review draft easement deeds and develop/review modifications thereto; review title and survey reports, develop subordination 2 agreements; review title commitments and final surveys; prepare easement acquisitions for closing.
Review real property title documents, appraisals and Easement Warranty Deeds and attachments, subordinations, affidavits, organizational documents, title opinions, and other documents required by the U.S. Office of General Counsel to determine their correctness, adequacy, and completeness.
Make contact with closing agents, title companies, appraisers, surveyors, agency state personnel, landowners, attorneys, National Program Managers, USDA Office of General Counsel attorneys and others to obtain information, provide information and guidance, order services, resolve deficiencies, obtain corrected documents, and establish clear title.
Provide guidance and instructions to the closing agent and State Program Managers in the preparation, execution, and clearing of title, payment recording, and providing title insurance for the closing of easements.
Provide specification guidance to surveyors and receives and reviews survey documents.
Populate NRCS’s National Easement Staging Tool (NEST) other required NRCS system tools.
Manage team workflows to advance assigned land protection projects.
Communicate with supervisor, AFT staff, and partner organizations to clearly identify required work output and production targets.
Develop workflows, processes and procedures for team members to follow to ensure work goals, reporting requirements and performance evaluation criteria are met.
Support staff members in all aspects of their work, including actively participating in problem solving within AFT and partner organizations.
Effectively assess team progress, identify and troubleshoot obstacles to success, develop internal AFT process improvements and increase team efficiency.
Build positive team dynamics within the assigned team, within AFT broadly, and with partner organizations.
Ensure clear and consistent communication between AFT staff and partner organizations to maximize efficiency and productivity to accelerate agricultural land protection activity.
Document communications as needed to ensure clarity of, and changes in, program and policy direction over time.
Solicit input from team members, applicable AFT staff and partner organizations to maximize program success.
Track and report work progress to supervisor and partner organizations as required.

Benefits

Medical & Prescription Coverage
Dental Coverage
Vision Coverage
Company Paid Life Insurance & Long-Term Disability (LTD)
Voluntary Life Insurance
Flexible Spending Account (FSA) – Healthcare & Dependent Care
Health Savings Account (HSA)
401(k)
Sick Leave: Regular full-time employees accrue 3.5 hours per pay period (13 “sick days” per year).
Vacation Leave: Accrue 15 days during the first year increasing by one day per year to 20 days per year
Holidays: The Company observes eleven holidays during the year (all offices closed): plus, choice of 3 other floating holidays depending on hiring date