Description
ABOUT CATSKILL MOUNTAINKEEPER
Catskill Mountainkeeper is a regional, non-profit environmental advocacy organization. Its mission is to protect the Catskill Park and Region by supporting policies and strategies that safeguard its natural resources and farmland, while promoting sustainable, resilient, and just communities.
Since its inception in 2006, Catskill Mountainkeeper has served as a fierce advocate of protecting the lands, water, and character of the Catskill Park and Region. The organization's track record includes helping to block the construction of multiple Las Vegas-style casinos in the heart of the Catskills, helping to ban fracking across New York State and along the Delaware River basin, and helping to secure critical state funds to support the integrity of the Park and its Catskill Forest Preserve.
With Catskill Mountainkeeper approaching its 20th anniversary in 2026, and as the region faces new threats and opportunities, the organization is now implementing a new strategic plan that encompasses three key priorities: (1) advancing a positive development vision for the Catskills that protects its natural resources while also ensuring economic vibrancy across the region; (2) accelerating clean energy and climate resilience, as well as stopping new fossil fuel infrastructure projects; and (3) promoting sustainable and climate-friendly farming.
To learn more about Catskill Mountainkeeper’s comprehensive programs, please visit www.catskillmountainkeper.org
Catskill Mountainkeeper is based in Livingston Manor, New York and operates under a hybrid work model. It has an annual operating budget of just over $1 million, a full-time staff of six and an additional seasonal staff of four and is aided by consultants as needed. The organization is governed by a 19-member Board of Directors.
THE POSITION
The Deputy Executive Director will work closely with the Executive Director and the staff, under the supervision and guidance of the Board, to help execute the day-to-day operations and strategic priorities of the organization. They will be a core member of the organization's leadership team, and it is expected that they will emerge as a major organizational ambassador in the state's environmental community.
DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ROLE
Reporting to the Executive Director and guided by the new strategic plan, the Deputy Executive Director will help oversee programs and advocacy that will continue to have historically significant impacts, fuel innovative thinking, and marshal the collective talent of a highly committed and engaged staff. The Deputy Executive Director will be a strong leader and manager, with a keen interest in building internal systems and practices that will help support a growing and dynamic team.
Taking the lead in operational oversight internally, the Deputy Executive Director will support the Executive Director in ensuring that Catskill Mountainkeeper remains fiscally and administratively sound and allocates resources strategically. Externally, the Deputy Executive Director will develop and implement advocacy campaigns, work closely with partners and coalition members, and represent Mountainkeeper before all relevant government entities. Working with the Executive Director and Director of Development, the Deputy Executive Director will also identify, attract, and inspire new funders and donors in support of Mountainkeeper’s strategic goals and emergent efforts.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Working in collaboration with the Executive Director, the Deputy will have the following responsibilities:
Program and Campaign Management:
Oversee Mountainkeeper’s program and advocacy work, including implementing the organization’s priority campaigns.
Decide how to allocate financial and staff resources to support program priorities and determine key program objectives and measures of success.
Engage and organize partners to build alignment and coordinate actions across campaigns.
Track and share information about the status and direction of multiple advocacy campaigns.
Build strong relationships with allies both within the organization’s coalitions and across the environmental movement.
Serve as an external representative and ambassador for Mountainkeeper.
Participate in direct advocacy efforts to further the organization’s campaigns.
Staff Management
Lead, motivate, and inspire a committed staff by encouraging innovative thinking and professional growth, recognizing positive contributions, and fostering communication and collaboration across departments.
Provide day-to-day management, including guiding work plans, lead staff and team check-ins, prepare budgets and financial reports, oversee communications and fundraising.
Develop inter-team communication and cohesion.
Ensure that communication flows easily among and between staff to advance the work.
Attract, develop, coach, and retain team members.
Champion equity, diversity, and inclusion inside the organization and more broadly in the community.
Fundraising
Work closely with the Development Director to expand fundraising activities to support existing programs and to grow Mountainkeeper by stewarding existing funder relationships and cultivating new ones.
Communicate with funders about Mountainkeeper’s ongoing work.
Build relationships with additional stakeholders, including government officials and NGOs.
QUALIFICATIONS
Relevant experience for this position can take many forms, and we strongly encourage applicants from a diversity of backgrounds and movement spaces to apply.
Strong alignment with Mountainkeeper’s values and mission, including a commitment to social, economic, racial, environmental, and climate justice.
A minimum of five years of relevant experience in planning and managing successful campaigns and in policy advocacy.
At least three years of experience managing a team and across teams, including managing full-time staff.
Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, and the ability to clearly communicate long-term vision and campaigns to partners, donors, funders, and other stakeholders.
Strong facilitation and/or advocacy training skills.
Ability to develop and maintain genuine working relationships of trust and solidarity partners from diverse racial, economic, and political backgrounds.
Ability to work collaboratively, including in moments of urgency.
Ability to independently manage projects from conception to completion.
Experience with fundraising, including individual donors, family foundations, and public agencies.
Experience with the New York State legislative cycle in Albany.
Proven record of organizing effective mobilizations, actions, and meetings with legislative, labor, issue, electoral, or other social justice campaigns.
Ability to juggle multiple, simultaneous projects with cross-cutting stakeholders and deadlines without sacrificing attention to detail.
Experience as a member of, or working with, communities impacted by climate change, racial injustice, and economic inequity.
Strong preference for upstate New York State residency.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
The successful candidate should be:
A deeply committed advocate for social justice.
A seasoned professional who is organized, strategic, financially aware, and politically astute, and able to develop and maintain on all fronts a sense of team spirit and common purpose.
An effective relationship builder internally and externally who is a true “people person.”
A strong, even-keeled, and self-motivated leader who is comfortable with opposing views
and able to build consensus and work collaboratively to maximize the contributions of internal and external stakeholders.
COMPENSATION
Catskill Mountainkeeper offers competitive salaries and excellent benefits based on a regional, nonprofit scale, as well as a supportive working environment. The Deputy Executive Director salary range is $95,000 to $105,000, based on skills and experience. This is an exempt salaried position.
Requirements
Relevant experience for this position can take many forms, and we strongly encourage applicants from a diversity of backgrounds and movement spaces to apply.
Strong alignment with Mountainkeeper’s values and mission, including a commitment to social, economic, racial, environmental, and climate justice.
A minimum of five years of relevant experience in planning and managing successful campaigns and in policy advocacy.
At least three years of experience managing a team and across teams, including managing full-time staff.
Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, and the ability to clearly communicate long-term vision and campaigns to partners, donors, funders, and other stakeholders.
Strong facilitation and/or advocacy training skills.
Ability to develop and maintain genuine working relationships of trust and solidarity partners from diverse racial, economic, and political backgrounds.
Ability to work collaboratively, including in moments of urgency.
Ability to independently manage projects from conception to completion.
Experience with fundraising, including individual donors, family foundations, and public agencies.
Experience with the New York State legislative cycle in Albany.
Proven record of organizing effective mobilizations, actions, and meetings with legislative, labor, issue, electoral, or other social justice campaigns.
Ability to juggle multiple, simultaneous projects with cross-cutting stakeholders and deadlines without sacrificing attention to detail.
Experience as a member of, or working with, communities impacted by climate change, racial injustice, and economic inequity.
Strong preference for upstate New York State residency.
