Program Specialist – Pan-Regional Collaborations

The IOOS Association is a nonprofit organization that supports the public-private partnership between NOAA’s U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (U.S. IOOS) program and the 11 nonfederal regional observing systems (Regional Associations) that implement the coastal and ocean observing activities. The IOOS Regional Associations form the membership of the IOOS Association, which facilitates collaboration across the regions, the broader ocean observing community, and ocean users around the nation. The IOOS Association also works to communicate the value of ocean observing as a tool to support everyday decisions and long-term prediction and planning, and to ensure equitable services are delivered.

The Program Specialist role is a newly created position in response to the receipt of a five-year subaward grant from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The Program Specialist will manage, monitor, track, and provide convening and collaboration support for an unprecedented collaboration across all 11 IOOS Regional Associations to build capacity for equitably delivering coastal observations and information services to support ecosystem change monitoring and place-based planning for inundation and coastal hazards. The Program Specialist will primarily support two multi-faceted, pan-regional projects:

• Ecosystem Change: This initiative re-envisions ecosystem change assessment by building national and pan-regional partnerships to deliver equitable ecosystem information services. Working in collaboration, the IOOS Regional Associations will collect and process ecosystem-scale information that enables decisions that protect the economy, safety, and livelihoods of communities and the nation. The resulting national ecosystem observing capacity will deliver regional information that is needed by federal, state, and Tribal agencies, local communities, and industries
• Water Levels, Waves and Webcams: This initiative will bring low-cost observing technologies to places where infrastructure is lacking to enable wider service to frontline communities to build resilience to coastal hazards and inundation. The IOOS Regional Associations will work with communities to establish coordinated and cost-efficient observing networks that meet their local needs for information and develop scalable guidance useful for national implementation and increasing coverage in existing federal networks of observations.

This is a 100% remote position that requires travel for workshops and/or other meetings 6-8 times per year.

Interviews for this position will be conducted on a rolling basis with a targeted start date no later than January 1, 2025.

Responsibilities

Convening and collaboration:

• Organize and hold regular calls for each project with external partners to discuss progress toward milestones and deliverables, address common challenges and opportunities, and identify actions needed to advance the project.
• Support the communities of practice and related working groups of the projects, including scheduling meetings and taking notes, facilitating review of documents and materials, and supporting cross-project/cross-CoP communication.
• Organize and hold in-person workshops (1-2 per year) to include working with project working groups or committees on workshop agenda, speakers, and supporting logistics and travel reimbursement.
• Support virtual workshops including setting up the meeting platform and taking notes.
• Develop tools or resources to support collaboration, such as to gather information about shared needs or identify common issues.
• Facilitate coordination and communication across the projects and with the IRA Coordination Team (representatives from IOOS Association, the prime awardee (MARACOOS: Mid-Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System), and the NOAA U.S. IOOS Program Office).
• Support environmental compliance and permitting as needed by gathering information needed from the Regional Associations for permit applications.
• Attend project-related and relevant meetings and report back information to broader project teams.
• Support outreach and engagement with potential new project partners.

Metrics and progress tracking:

• Develop and maintain a system to track progress on milestones and deliverables.
• Manage and monitor project action items arising from the regular calls and other convenings.
• Ensure project successes and potential issues or problems are brought to the attention of the IRA Coordination Team.

Reporting and communications:

• Work collaboratively with the Program Specialist–Equitable Service Delivery to collect and collate data and information needed for technical reporting to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and prepare technical reports for submission to NOAA.
• Lead coordination of information and respond to any other NOAA inquiries that may arise outside of technical reporting.
• Synthesize information on impact of project work to support strategic communications.
• Develop project outreach and communications materials for use by all RAs, including content for social media and the IOOS Association website.
• Attend conferences to present on or otherwise promote the IRA projects.

Organizational support:

• Support the Executive Director in reporting on IRA progress to the IOOS Association Board and other audiences.
• Support the planning for and attend the Fall and Spring IOOS Meetings – two in-person meetings per year that convene the Directors and Staff of the IOOS Association, Regional Associations, and the NOAA U.S. IOOS Program Office.

Experience and Qualifications:

We acknowledge that people bring all of themselves to their work, and your perspective, talents and skills may come from a wide range of work and life experiences. Your qualifications may include paid work, volunteer work, projects in a different field, or other experiences that have helped you build the competencies and knowledge needed to be successful in this role. We welcome and encourage diverse perspectives combined with a spirit of collaboration and community. We excitedly anticipate your application.

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution; plus a minimum of five years of relevant project coordination experience, or an advanced degree may be substituted for experience
• A background in environmental science is highly preferred
• Strong project management skills with demonstrated success organizing and managing workshops; Project management training or certification preferred, but not required
• Demonstrated ability navigating and bringing individuals with diversity of thought together to create and advance common goals
• Ability to work collegially within a small organization
• Self-motivated and driven to advance project goals and objectives
• Comfortable with virtual meeting platforms and remote work technologies
• Excellent customer service orientation
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated success of creating systems for keeping constituents well informed
• U.S. citizenship with access to a home office and reliable internet anywhere in the USA; Core working hours will be Eastern Time zone

Salary and Benefits

This is a full-time, exempt position that includes access to a benefits package including medical, dental and vision stipend; paid vacation, sick days, holidays, and birth/adoption leave; and Simple IRA retirement contribution. The salary for this position is $85,000.

Equal Opportunity Employer

IOOS Association provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.