Director- Native Seed Program

Grassland loss is the single greatest conservation issue currently facing eastern North American biodiversity. Our precious Southern grasslands are nearly extinct and the species that depend on them are fading fast.

Many of our Southern grasslands that managed to persist through the past 200 years have disappeared in the past quarter-century. What will the next 25 years bring? As a conservation community we are only now realizing how extensive our grasslands used to be.

If we want to reverse the tide of grassland biodiversity loss, our response must be rapid as well as unparalleled in its magnitude. This is an immensely complex and ambitious challenge that will take some of the brightest and most creative minds in American conservation and philanthropy to solve. The Southeastern Grasslands Institute formed in 2017 to provide leadership in grassland biodiversity conservation across a 24-state region of the eastern U.S. Are you ready to join the SGI team?

Austin Peay State University's (APSU) Southeastern Grasslands Institute (SGI) invites applications for a Native Seed Program Director. This is a full-time, non tenure track position. The successful candidates primary role will be to oversee all operations of the Native Seed program, including grant writing; project planning, monitoring, and reporting; managing grant budgets; liaising with funding agencies, partners, and local stakeholders; identifying contractors and managing contracts; managing the Native Seed Program team; hiring staff; attending strategic meetings at local and national levels; assisting with the implementation of the National Seed Strategy in the Southeast U.S.; and broadly, coordinating the development of an infrastructure to improve native ecotype seed quality and quantity across the region.

The Director of the Native Seed Program will also oversee the Seeds of Success-Southeast program, in close collaboration with the Seeds of Success National Curator, which includes 10 southeastern U.S. states: AL, AR, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, and VA.

This position will entail a large amount of program development and management, partner cultivation, coalition building, fundraising, grant writing, and travel. This position will supervise a full-time Native Seed Program Manager, a part-time Communications Officer; a part-time SOS Collections Coordinator, and seasonal field technicians; and will work closely with other SGI team members (such as the Chief Conservation Officer, Chief of Staff, the Director of Stewardship, and the Volunteer Coordinator) and partner organizations.

All work will be coordinated closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters Office and the National Seeds of Success Curator. The Director will report to SGI's Chief Conservation Officer.

SGI, affiliated with the Center of Excellence for Field Biology at Austin Peay State University, is a dynamic organization where we celebrate, support and strive to promote diversity, equality and inclusion, and are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.