Fire Manager

JOB TITLE: Fire Manager

SUPERVISES: May supervise up to 1 staff member (TBD)

JOB TYPE: Hourly, non-exempt

LOCATION: This position is based in Upper Lake, CA in Lake County with field work within Lake County and surrounding areas. In person preferred, though hybrid work environment possible for the right candidate (minimum 2 days per week in-person).

SALARY: Salary commensurate with experience: $70,000 - $85,000 annually at 100% FTE. $33.65 - $40.86/hour. Flexible if part-time is desired, minimum of 24 hours/week required.

Benefits & Growth Opportunities:

• We offer a 401k to help you reach your financial goals, plus a $500 monthly health insurance reimbursement to keep you covered.
• Growth & Development: We believe in empowering our team. Get on-the-job training and development opportunities to excel in your career.
• Work-Life Balance: Recharge and refresh with 31 days of paid time off annually, including 12 holidays, 12 PTO days, and 5 sick leave days (eligible for regular, full-time employees).

ORGANIZATIONAL VISION

The Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance (TERA) is a cross-cultural, multi-organizational collaborative that works to revitalize ecology, economy, and culture through indigenous-led stewardship. The mission of TERA, founded in 2019, is to cultivate land stewardship, livelihood, and leadership skills that weave collaborative relationships between Tribal members and the community at large for the benefit of all lands and beings. Our program goals include:

• Strengthen ties to land and culture
• Connect tribal members with meaningful livelihoods and culturally relevant work in their ancestral territories
• Regenerate local ecology of the North Coast Ranges, and improve resilience to fire
• Build capacity for Native voices to play a central role in land stewardship

POSITION SUMMARY

The Fire Manager is an organized project manager and fire practitioner who thrives in carrying projects from planning to completion. The ideal candidate has strong grant and project management experience, knowledge of fire ecology of California coast range ecosystems, and significant experience in cultural burning, prescribed fire, and/or wildfire management. The Fire Manager will work closely and collaboratively with the Stewardship Director, Executive Director, TERA stewardship crew, training team, and partner organizations, to plan and implement ecocultural burns on Tribal, private, state, and federal lands in Lake and Mendocino Counties and provide ecocultural fire training to TERA staff, our Tribal partners, and the broader community. The position is estimated to be approximately 75% administrative work in the office, and 25% field work.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Grant Management

• Manage timeline, deliverables, budget, and reporting for TERA's fire-related grants
• Act as point person with grant funder for answering questions regarding grant progress
• Create and submit accurate and descriptive narrative and financial grant reports on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis

Fire Project Management

• Collaborate with TERA staff, Tribes, private landowners, and agency partners to identify strategic burn units in Lake and Mendocino Counties to support cultural resources, ecological health, and wildfire risk reduction
• Plan and conduct site visits with Tribal and agency partners, land owners/managers, and TERA team
• Create and/or contribute to burn unit, project, and contingency maps
• Manage CEQA and NEPA processes for burn units
• Write, contribute to, and review state and federal burn plans for TERA burns in collaboration with Stewardship Director
• Serve in a leadership role on Lake EcoCultural Cal-TREX Incident Management Team
• Organize and/or oversee all aspects of planning and implementing TERA burns, including permits, unit prep, coordinating with partners, scheduling burn dates, and providing guidance to TERA crew.
• Participate in TERA and Lake Cal-TREX ecocultural burns in operational roles, including burn boss, firing lead, holding lead, and/or other leadership positions
• Collaborate with Training Director, other TERA staff, and partners to plan and implement ecocultural fire trainings
• Act as one of the lead instructors for TERA NWCG trainings and contribute to other TERA ecocultural stewardship and fire trainings as needed

TERA Crew Development

• Collaborate with other TERA staff to develop and implement trainings for TERA crew to support building fire-related skills and increasing fireline readiness and safety
• Support TERA crew members in building NWCG qualifications, including providing training and mentorship on task book and qualification management, coordinating with partners such as USFS and TNC on securing training assignments for crew members, and going out on assignments with TERA crew members in a leadership role

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in ecology, natural resources, forestry, or related field or equivalent experience
• Familiarity with the concept and application of Traditional Ecological Knowledge
• Experience working with Tribal nations and knowledgeable about contemporary challenges, concerns, and interests of Lake County Tribal community and ecology
• 6 + years experience as Project Manager implementing fire, fuels management and/or restoration projects
• 6 + years fireline experience in cultural fire, prescribed burning, and/or wildfire management
• Proficient mapping skills - preferably GIS and/or CalTopo
• 5 + years of grant management experience
• Proficiency and flexibility with office technology, specifically Google Drive, Mac and/or PC operating systems, smartphones, conference calls (Zoom), Word, and Excel
• NWCG qualification as a Single Resource Boss or higher
• Federal (RXB2) and/or state (CARX) burn boss qualification, or ability to obtain one or both of these qualifications within one year of beginning this position
• Able to work with diverse groups and build and maintain strong working relationships
• Able to develop and follow a prioritized plan of work, set and keep deadlines, and work on multiple projects concurrently
• Strong communication skills with the ability to listen well, and write and speak effectively
• Able to contribute to a high-functioning, collaborative team environment
• Vehicle and valid driver’s license

Native American Preference Applies: Preference given to qualified Native Americans pursuant to the Indian Self Determination and Education Act, public Law 93-638

READY TO APPLY? Please send your resume and cover letter via email with the subject line “Fire Manager” to jobs@tribalecorestoration.org and use the following naming conventions for your files:

“LastName, FirstName_FireManagerApp_FileType (Resume or CoverLetter)”

Applications reviewed on a rolling basis

For more information, email jobs@tribalecorestoration.org.