Land Protection GIS Coordinator

Salary range: $50,000-$55,000 + benefits 

Location: Salt Lake City, UT Office

Reports to: Executive Director

Status: Full Time Exempt/Salaried position

Deadline: Open until filled.

Join Utah Open Lands and help protect the lands we all love. As the premier statewide homegrown land trust in Utah, we work every day to leave a legacy of open space, wildlife habitat, heritage, and recreation for future generations.

Who We Are:

Utah Open Lands is dynamic and successful local land trust founded in 1990 with over 100 easement projects and over 60,000 acres of open space throughout the State of Utah. Utah Open Lands deploys various conservation tools including conservation easements, land acquisitions, habitat restoration, and support of local, state, federal conservation efforts throughout Utah to accomplish our mission.

Utah Open Lands is an equal opportunity employer and committed to building a diverse workforce. We are committed to equity as a core organizational value. Applicants should be able to demonstrate a commitment to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We encourage Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, LGBTQ+ people, and people from groups who are underrepresented in conservation spaces to apply for this opportunity.

Core Responsibilities:

Land Protection & Transactions

• Manage conservation easement projects from initial landowner inquiry through closing

• Negotiate complex land transactions with a balance of strategic vision and diplomacy

• Oversee all due diligence including legal review, appraisals, title review, and baseline documentation

• Develop and maintain project files in compliance with internal protocols and Land Trust Alliance (LTA) standards and practices

Mapping, Analysis, & Documentation

• Use ESRI products to create maps, manage geospatial data, support project evaluation, and catalog the ecological and productive health of potential and established projects

• Maintain and update conservation project datasets and GIS databases

• Produce high-quality maps and visualizations for analysis, outreach, and grant reporting

• Document the conservation values, ecological health, and management objectives of conservation projects in baseline documentation reports and management plans

Grants & Funding

• Identify and pursue public and private sources to fund transaction and due diligence costs for various conservation projects

• Write, submit, and manage grant applications

• Assist in developing budgets and funding strategies for land protection efforts

Team and Organizational Culture

As a staff member at Utah Open Lands you will be a core part of a collaborative team. You’ll contribute to projects outside of the specific expectations of your role, partner with staff and community members in strategic planning and outreach.  You’ll be expected to uphold Utah Open Lands’ mission, communicate its priorities, and promote equity, inclusion, and justice in all aspects of your work.

Who you are

The ideal candidate for this role will exhibit:

• Values-based leadership skills.

• High ethical standards.

• Cultural astuteness and responsiveness with a strong appreciation for and comprehension of cultural, racial, and personal diversities

• Strength in strategic thinking and operational delivery of strategic goals.

•  The ability to communicate with landowners, the public, committees, boards and media in person and in writing.

• The ability to prioritize projects and workflows to achieve the organization’s expressed goals

• An aptitude for building support and rapport with others, ability to work collaboratively.

• The ability to work independently and be accountable to deadlines while managing time effectively with minimal supervision.

• The ability to understand dependencies between your team’s work and the work of others.

Requisite Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (land conservation, natural resource management, environmental management or science, ecology, forestry) or equivalent experience

• Demonstrated proficiency in cartography, geographic data management, and spatial data analysis, particularly using ArcGIS Pro

• Experience working with raster and vector datasets in both desktop and cloud environments

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with an ability to convey technical information to diverse audiences

• Ability to collaborate and communicate clearly and respectfully with landowners, government agencies, and other stakeholders to achieve mutually beneficial conservation outcomes

• Ability to plan and complete solo fieldwork in large, remote, rugged environments without cell service, including navigating and documenting properties safely and efficiently

• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously

• Familiarity with land conservation principles, particularly conservation easements and working lands conservation

Desired

• FAA part 107 sUAV license and experience operating drones for mapping and monitoring purposes

• Experience with coding environments compatible with geographic information such as arcpy or javascript

• Experience managing drone data workflows, including orthorectification, photogrammetry, or structure-from-motion (SfM) techniques

• Field experience with ecological monitoring methods like vegetation transects, soil sampling, and wildlife surveys

• Familiarity with federal conservation programs such as NRCS ACEP-ALE and Farm Bill funding mechanisms

• Proficiency with GPS-enabled mobile data collection platforms (e.g. Survey123, Field Maps) and competence in integrating higher resolution equipment into data collection (GNSS devices)

• Experience developing baseline documentation reports, conservation easement maps, or stewardship monitoring materials

• Knowledge of remote sensing or LiDAR data processing

• Master's degree or advanced coursework in forestry, ecology, spatial data science, natural resource management, or other related field

This role is a full-time permanent position. This role will require the Land Protection Programs Specialist to manage their workload to accommodate the flexibility needed to work some evenings and weekends. The role will require travel at times across the Utah Open Lands service area, and the physical ability to traverse various terrain. This includes wetlands, metro-urban communities, rural landscapes, forests, and steep, uneven landscapes.

Salary and Benefits

Utah Open Lands offers a competitive salary, benefits package, and a supportive and positive work environment. The full salary range for this position is $50,000-$55,000 + benefits.

The Land Trust benefits package includes health insurance, generous paid vacation, holidays, and sick leave. We also offer a generous match (up to 6% of annual salary) to an individual 401(K)-retirement plan after two complete years of service. Employees are allowed to bring well-behaved dogs to work. Healthy and happy staff are an important element to our success, we also provide remote work options for a day a week.

Application Instructions

The position is open until filled. Applicants need to submit ALL of the following by email to be considered: 1) a cover letter, 2) resume, 3) list of three references (references will not be contacted unless you are selected for a final interview), 4) two to three examples of your cartographic work (pdf or storymap format preferred) with a brief description of the context and tools used, and 5) answers to the question below:

1. Why does conserving land, water, and nature in Utah matter to you?

2. Please describe your experience relevant to the position’s Core Responsibilities, specifically your experience with ESRI tools and field data collection.

3. Why are you interested in working for Utah Open Lands and where do you see yourself in 5 years.

Send ALL application materials to wood@UtahOpenLands.org with the subject line: ‘Land Protection Resource Technician’, other forms of submission will not be reviewed.