The North America (NA) Agroforestry Program Manager position will develop and implement strategies on behalf of the NA Agriculture Program and the NA Science Team to accelerate the widespread, market-driven adoption of agroforestry in the U.S. This position will manage a newly-awarded $60M USDA Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities grant (“Expanding Agroforestry Production & Markets for Producer Profitability and Climate Stabilization”) designed to promote regenerative agroforestry practices by incentivizing farmers, developing markets, conducting Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV), and otherwise creating the enabling conditions for the rapid growth of agroforestry practices. We define agroforestry broadly to include silvopasture, alley cropping, and orchards. Leveraging existing North American Agriculture Program strategies and partnerships, the Program Manager will ensure the success of the project by developing and implementing strategies to serve and diversify the partners, funders, agencies, and other priority audiences needed to scale agroforestry in the United States. The Program Manager will oversee the main components of the project, including the Farmer Incentive Payments program, the agroforestry product label initiative, contract and sub-award management, and federal compliance and reporting.

This position often serves as the principal contact to government agencies, other conservation organizations, foundations, corporations, and the academic community. The Program Manager will engage the agricultural community across the supply chain to advance agroforestry; negotiate complex and innovative solutions with government agencies and private sector partners; and identify and cultivate fundraising opportunities to bring additional resources to the NA Agriculture Program team, as well as to aligned and contributing TNC business units and partners. The Program Manager will increase and enhance the role of TNC as a major partner in the agroforestry industry – supporting and developing TNC’s strategic, scientific, and technical capacity to achieve impact. Location of this position is flexible within the continental United States, with Minneapolis, Minnesota being a preferred location. Listed below are major roles expected of this position.

 Serve as collaborator with external partners:

• Organize, collaborate with, and coordinate regional partners for execution of grant deliverables, including communicating information to stakeholders; aligning strategies, processes and tools; and seeking solutions and conducting corrective actions as necessary (e.g., nursery bottlenecks, payment processing and marketing support, etc.).
• Seek additional public and private funding opportunities for continued support of the effort.
• Manage and organize routine engagement and collaboration with partners, with a minimum of quarterly group update calls.
• Coordinate with other partners to ensure standardization and utilization of partnership procedures.

Expand and diversify outreach:

• Cultivate strategic participation with a diverse array of farmers, landowners, conservation groups, professional associations, civic organizations, industries, businesses, local governments, and other priority entities – with a particular focus on expanding the audience of historically underserved farmers.
• Collaborate and coordinate in the creation and implementation of outreach and education events on demonstration farms with regional partners and activities that engage TNC membership, volunteers, and donors.

Inspire partners and target audiences:

• Collaborate and coordinate in the creation and implementation of products and materials for agroforestry education and outreach efforts.
• Coordinate with strategic partners to create and implement collaborative endeavors that promote the scaling of agroforestry in the United States.
• Coordinate with Government Affairs staff on opportunities to engage and educate decision makers on agroforestry efforts and policy opportunities.

Provide internal and external management and coordination:

• Develop and maintain consistent coordination and collaboration with multiple TNC business units and with existing strategies and programs advancing regenerative agriculture in crop systems and grazing lands.
• Ensure tracking and reporting of MRV activities, deliverables, invoicing, logistics, and other metrics.
• Develop routine reports and updates for internal and external audiences, partners, funders, and others.
• Coordinate and collaborate on the creation and refining reporting and technical support tools to document and facilitate the work of the grant program (including establishing standard cost-share eligibility requirements and prioritization ranking tools to be used by partners).