Senior Restoration Ecologist

Mass Audubon is seeking a Senior Restoration Ecologist in Cambridge, MA, to manage aquatic habitat restoration projects. The role involves project management, interpreting engineering plans, and collaborating with various stakeholders. Candidates should have experience in restoration projects, strong interpersonal skills, and a passion for ecosystems. Responsibilities include overseeing restoration initiatives, preparing project documents, and coordinating with the Director of Ecological Restoration and other conservation staff.
About Mass Audubon Mass Audubon is the largest nature-based conservation organization in New England. Founded in 1896 by two women who fought for the protection of birds, Mass Audubon carries on their legacy by focusing on the greatest challenges facing the environment today: the loss of biodiversity, inequitable access to nature, and climate change. With the help of our 160,000 members and supporters, we protect wildlife, conserve and restore resilient land, advocate for impactful environmental policies, offer nationally recognized education programs for adults and children, and provide endless opportunities to experience the outdoors at our wildlife sanctuaries.

Explore, find inspiration, and take . About This Position We are seeking an experienced professional to join our team and help advance aquatic habitat restoration projects and initiatives. The ideal candidate will have experienced other restoration projects (ideally from start to finish), have an established track record as a successful project manager, be able to interpret engineering plans and supporting documentation, understand environmental permitting, have strong inter-personal skills, and possess knowledge, curiosity, and passion about ecosystems and restoring them.

Working with the Director of Ecological Restoration and other conservation staff, the selected candidate will manage and collaborate on the assessment, design, permitting, and implementation of large river and wetland restoration projects. Applicants should be comfortable with leading teams and interacting with people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Application Instructions Please submit a resume and cover letter with your ADP application.

Only applications with these materials will be reviewed.

Responsibilities Manage ecological restoration projects (with a focus on freshwater ecosystems) including dam removals, cranberry bogs, and urban wetlands on land owned by Mass Audubon and on land owned by others

Coordinate closely with the Director of Ecological Restoration and others to develop and advance new ecological restoration projects and initiatives, with a focus on freshwater ecosystems

Collect, assemble, and succinctly summarize data to describe wetland restoration sites, watersheds, and regions for various projects and initiatives

Review engineering design plans and supporting documentation for wetland and river restoration projects including technical reports, model outputs, cost estimates, and technical specifications

Help visualize restoration designs and produce conceptual level plans and renderings using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and/or other design tools

Prepare written project summaries and updates, detailed budgets, schedules, grant applications, and other documents to advance projects from conception to completion

Develop and manage scopes of work, requests for proposals, and contracts for consultant technical services

Organize meetings, prepare agendas, manage teams, and work directly with a range of people and organizations including consultants, and partners including local, state, and federal agencies, watershed organizations, Tribes and Indigenous-led non-profits, farmers, academics, and others

Contribute questions and insights to our internal learning system to improve ecological restoration practice and shared knowledge over time

Make public presentations and lead site tours

Qualifications

At Mass Audubon, our highest priority is finding the best candidate for the job. Research has shown that people of color and women are less likely to apply for jobs if they don't believe they meet every one of the qualifications described in a job description. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't believe you meet every one of our described qualifications or you have a less traditional background.

We are looking for applicants with the following qualifications:

Strong love of Nature and interest in collaborating with people to help ecosystems recover and thrive

Degree (advanced preferred) in ecology, hydrology, geomorphology, engineering, botany, soil science, landscape design, or another field related to understanding complex and dynamic ecosystems

At least five years of professional experience in ecological restoration or related conservation fields

Ability to review and comment on design plans, technical reports, technical specifications, and costs estimates

Awareness of the dynamic context shaping ecological restoration work in Massachusetts today, including organizations, policies, funding, emerging methods, and supporting science

Experience using geographic information systems (GIS; ArcGIS); ability to work with landscape design software and/or AutoCAD is helpful but not required

Comfort working with Microsoft Office products (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Teams including meeting virtually

Experience with local, state, and federal permitting for ecological restoration projects

Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills

Ability to…