careers at colorado open lands

Hiring Compensation Range: $70,000-$82,000 depending on skills and experience
Location: flexible
Status: Full-Time, Exempt
Reports To: Director of Conservation

Are you interested in being a conservation transaction generalist? Would you be excited to work on a portfolio of transactions across Colorado that involves shifting between an urban trail/open space conservation easement with a municipality, a ranch conservation easement funded by NRCS and the state, and a water rights protection project involving agricultural producers and collaborative water-sharing agreements?

Colorado Open Lands seeks an experienced conservation professional to manage and complete a variety of conservation transactions throughout Colorado. While our Senior Conservation Project Managers typically work within specific landscapes and lead project origination, community engagement, and transactional work, this position is focused primarily on conservation transaction implementation, including project fundraising.

Working closely with landscape-based conservation staff and other members of the Conservation team, the Statewide Conservation Project Manager will advance conservation opportunities that have already been identified through Colorado Open Lands’ strategic conservation efforts. While the position is largely transaction-focused, opportunities will be provided to visit project properties, meet with landowners and partners, and gain firsthand understanding of the landscapes and communities involved in each project.

This position will work across Colorado and across a diverse range of conservation initiatives, including conservation easements, fee acquisitions, recreation and public access projects with local government partners, agricultural land protection projects, water rights acquisitions, and innovative conservation projects involving collaborative water management arrangements. The ideal candidate enjoys solving complex conservation challenges and working across multiple project types, funding sources, and partner relationships.

Core Responsibilities

Transactional Implementation

• Advance projects from feasibility assessment through closing, including transaction structuring, fundraising, due diligence review, document preparation, negotiation, and project coordination.
• Work collaboratively with landscape-based conservation staff who provide local context, community relationships, landowner engagement, and project origination.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously across diverse geographies, conservation values, land ownership structures, and funding programs.
• Coordinate and critically review all due diligence materials, including title commitments, ownership reports, surveys, appraisals, environmental reports, water rights documentation, mineral ownership information, and baseline documentation.
• Work with the Director to evaluate water rights ownership and due diligence.
• Work with the Director and counsel to identify and address risks associated with severed mineral estates, reserved rights, title encumbrances, and other real property interests.

Funding and Financial Management

• Support funding strategies for conservation easement, fee acquisition, recreation, and water-related conservation projects.
• Prepare grant applications, funding proposals, reimbursement requests, and project budgets.
• Coordinate projects that may involve multiple public and private funding sources, including federal, state, local, philanthropic, and partner contributions.
• Work collaboratively with funders, agencies, philanthropic partners, consultants, and internal staff to secure funding necessary for project completion.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years of professional experience managing conservation, real estate, land acquisition, natural resource, or related transactions.
• Demonstrated experience completing conservation easement and/or fee acquisition projects.
• Experience with conservation project funding.
• Experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating conservation easement deeds, purchase agreements, option agreements, and related transaction documents.
• Strong understanding of conservation transaction due diligence, including title review, appraisals, surveys, and closing processes.
• Working knowledge of western water rights and mineral rights.
• Exceptional project management, organizational, analytical, and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Colorado conservation easement and fee acquisition projects.
• Experience with NRCS-ALE, Great Outdoors Colorado, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, local government open space programs, and/or other comparable conservation funding programs.
• Experience with water rights acquisitions, agricultural conservation projects, and familiarity with collaborative water-sharing agreements.
• Familiarity with Land Trust Alliance Standards and Practices and accreditation requirements.
• Ability to work comfortably across a wide variety of project types rather than specializing in a single conservation niche.

Other Requirements:

• Valid driver’s license.
• Physical demands may involve frequent sitting and standing, occasional bending, lifting up to 25lbs, and occasional driving.

 Compensation & Benefits

• Compensation: $70,000-82,000, commensurate with experience.
• Colorado Open Lands offers a competitive benefits package, including 401k plan with company match, health insurance (medical, dental, vision, and HSA), life and disability insurance, paid time off (sick leave, vacation, and holidays) and a collaborative, flexible work environment.
• Status: Full-time (exempt).
• Reports to: Director of Conservation
• Location: May be based in primary office (Lakewood, Colorado) or satellite office (Salida, Westcliffe, Alamosa, Gunnison) or more experienced candidates may work from a home office located in Colorado and within proximity to one of COL’s priority landscapes. Position will require occasional statewide travel and occasional travel to the Lakewood office.

Application Instructions:

Position open until filled. Interviews will begin mid-September.

Submit résumé and cover letter in one pdf addressed to Sarah Parmar, Director of Conservation, via email to [email protected], with the subject line “Statewide Conservation Project Manager”. Please refer any questions to this email address as well. No phone calls, please.

Position Summary:
Colorado’s San Luis Valley is undergoing one of the largest agricultural transitions in the West as groundwater conservation efforts retire irrigated farmland. Colorado Open Lands (COL) is partnering with landowners, agricultural producers, and conservation organizations to restore these landscapes through collaborative revegetation, habitat restoration, and adaptive management. This position offers an opportunity to help shape a growing restoration program that supports wildlife, groundwater conservation, resilient working lands, and thriving rural communities.

COL seeks a Dryland Restoration Program Manager to join our Stewardship and Restoration team. The Manager will help implement and expand COL’s dryland restoration program by coordinating restoration projects from planning through implementation and monitoring. This role will build partnerships with landowners and conservation organizations, manage grants and project budgets, coordinate contractors and technical partners, and support successful restoration outcomes across the San Luis Valley and Colorado.

Colorado Open Lands (COL) is a statewide 501(c)(3) nonprofit land trust and conservation organization dedicated to conserving Colorado’s open lands and natural heritage through innovative conservation strategies, collaborative partnerships, and strategic leadership. Since 1981, COL has helped protect more than 700,000 acres of native prairies, forests, wetlands, rangelands, and working lands across the state. Our team is driven by a shared passion for conservation, strong communication, trust, collaboration, and the belief that people are more than their work.

Responsibilities:

• Build trusted relationships with landowners, agricultural producers, funders, government agencies, scientists, contractors, and conservation partners to advance dryland restoration efforts.
• Coordinate dryland restoration projects from planning through implementation, monitoring, and adaptive management, including developing scopes of work, timelines, budgets, and deliverables.
• Support the design and implementation of restoration activities, including seeding, weed management, water management, habitat improvement, soil health practices, and long-term stewardship strategies.
• Lead robust fundraising efforts to achieve program goals by identifying new funding streams, writing competitive grant proposals, and cultivating strong relationships with funders to collaboratively establish project agreements, budgets, and deliverables.
• Manage grants, contracts, budgets, reporting requirements, and project deliverables to ensure successful completion of funded projects.
• Coordinate and oversee contractors, consultants, and technical specialists supporting restoration implementation and monitoring.
• Represent COL in the San Luis Valley and across Colorado as a point of contact for dryland restoration opportunities, partnerships, and community engagement.
• Participate in organizational communications, fundraising, outreach, and team activities that support COL’s mission and positive workplace culture.

 Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in restoration ecology, natural resource management, environmental science, agriculture, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and professional experience.
• At least three years of experience leading ecological restoration or natural resource management projects, including project planning, budgeting, grant management, contractor oversight, monitoring, and successful project delivery.
• Experience working collaboratively with agricultural producers, landowners, government agencies, scientists, contractors, and other conservation partners, preferably in Colorado or the western United States.
• Robust knowledge of western US plant communities, including plant identification and monitoring techniques, alongside a firm understanding of soil health principles and dryland restoration strategies.
• Proven success writing, managing, and reporting on grants from public and private funding sources.
• Strong organizational, project management, communication, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities independently and as part of a collaborative team.
• Ability and willingness to perform fieldwork in varied conditions.
• Proficiency with Windows and Microsoft Office Suite.
• A passion for ecological restoration, a collaborative mindset, and a commitment to building strong relationships with landowners and communities.

 Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in restoration ecology, natural resource management, environmental science, agriculture, or a related field.
• Familiarity with Western water rights, including groundwater management, irrigation systems, and water decrees.
• Experience with geospatial software, such as ArcGIS.
• Experience working with a land trust or other conservation-focused nonprofit or natural resource organization.

 Location and Travel Requirements:

• This position is based in Colorado Open Lands’ Alamosa office and requires regular travel throughout the San Luis Valley, with occasional statewide overnight travel.
• A valid driver’s license is required; access to a fleet vehicle is provided for work-related travel.
• Fieldwork in varied weather and terrain is required.

Compensation & Benefits:

• Compensation: $73,000 – 78,000, commensurate with experience.
• Benefits Package: Colorado Open Lands offers a competitive benefits package, including 401k plan with company match, health insurance (medical, dental, vision, and HSA), life and disability insurance, paid time off (sick leave, vacation, and holidays) and a collaborative, flexible work environment.
• Status: Full-time (exempt).
• Reports to: Senior Director of Stewardship and Strategic Initiatives, Cheryl Cufre

Application Instructions:

• Please send a résumé, cover letter, and three references to Cheryl Cufre, Senior Director of Stewardship and Strategic Initiatives at [email protected] with “Dryland Restoration Program Manager” in the subject line.
• Position is open until filled.

EEO Statement:

Colorado Open Lands provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, or other protected status. For information about Colorado Open Lands, please visit our website at www.coloradoopenlands.org.