Statewide Cooperative Program Manager

Utah Division of Human Resource Management

$78K — $95K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5+ years in natural resources, preferably in forestry or wildfire sectors.
  • Strong understanding of Utah's political landscape and natural resource issues.
  • Proven experience in stakeholder coordination and collaboration.
  • Project management skills, including budgets and contracts management.
  • Ability to communicate complex issues clearly and effectively.
  • Passion for transforming government collaboration on resource challenges.

Responsibilities

  • Coordinate with various stakeholders on projects for wildfire mitigation and habitat restoration.
  • Identify and leverage funding for on-the-ground resource projects.
  • Prioritize projects based on defined success metrics.
  • Plan and facilitate workshops across the state to drive project objectives.
  • Serve as a liaison between Area Offices and external stakeholders.
  • Build and maintain relationships internally and externally.
  • Prepare and track an Annual Action Plan aligned with Cooperative Agreement goals.

Benefits

  • Flexible working environment focused on collaborative efforts.
  • Opportunity to influence state and federal cooperation for natural resource management.
  • Engagement with a diverse range of stakeholders, enhancing professional network.
  • Participation in initiatives that shape sustainable resource practices across Utah.
  • Access to workshops and training to enhance skills in project management and stakeholder engagement.
Full Job Description
Job Title: Statewide Cooperative Program Manager

FT / PT Status - Full-time

Salary - $37.60 - $45.91
Remote Work / In-Office - In-OfficeRecruiter -
Application Deadline - 8-9-26

Key Responsibilities
  • Coordinating with State, Federal, Local and other stakeholders to:
  • Identify projects that will benefit wildfire mitigation, habitat restoration, recreation, and other resource values.
  • Leverage funding and resources to accomplish on-the-ground work.
  • Prioritize projects that will meet agreed-upon success metrics.
  • Plan and facilitate state-wide workshops to accomplish the above efforts.
  • Act as a liaison between FFSL's six Area Offices and the State Office, as well as between FFSL and external stakeholders.
  • Building internal and external relationships.
  • Preparing an Annual Action Plan that outlines the goals, strategies, and opportunities that meet the intent of the Cooperative Agreement.
  • Tracking and reporting metrics from the Annual Action Plan.

Qualifications

Minimums
  • Knowledge of Utah's natural resources and political landscape, as well as an understanding of the importance of cross-jurisdictional work to accomplish meaningful projects.
  • 5+ years of experience in natural resources, with a preference for experience in forestry, wildfire, and/or the wood products industry.
  • Experience coordinating and collaborating with diverse stakeholders.
  • Experience managing projects; contracts, agreements, budgets, etc.
  • The skills to understand, distill, and communicate complex issues.
  • A desire to change the way the State, Local, and Federal Governments work together to address natural resource problems across the state.

Preferred
  • A Bachelor's Degree in Planning, Natural Resources, Public Administration, or a related field.
  • A Master's Degree in Planning, Natural Resources, Public Administration, or a related field is preferred.
  • An understanding of U.S. Forest Service agreements, contracting, and funding.
  • Experience forecasting and planning projects, budgets, and tracking progress.

Supplemental Information

This role focuses heavily on inner-agency coordination, cross-boundary project execution, and shared stewardship. The exact duties vary depending on whether the position is focused on field operations, fuels management, or administration. The key components of the role generally include the following:

A major piece of the FFSL/USFS agreement involves strengthening Good Neighbor Authority, co-managing wildfire risk, identifying shared opportunities around wildlife, grazing, water resources, recreation, and resource management.

This role functions as a collaborative partner representing state interests while adhering to federal standards.
Unified Planning: Bringing state data and regional priorities to the table during the early stages of USFS planning processes, rather than just reacting to federal decisions after they are made.

Stakeholder Engagement: Acting as a point of contact for private landowners, local fire wardens, county commissioners, and environmental groups to ensure local voices are integrated into broader federal forest strategies.

Federal-state partnerships are heavily tied to joint funding, a significant portion of the role involves compliance.

Tracking Commitments: Ensuring both the state and the federal agency are meeting their "Participation Commitments"

Compliance: Ensuring all field operations comply with necessary environmental standards (like NEPA or state regulations) while managing the budgets and deliverables of federal grants allocated to the state.

About the Role

Location - 1594 W North Temple, Salt Lake City
Background Check Required - No
Drug Test Required - No
Schedule Code - AX

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