CPW WILDLIFE MANAGER V / Native Plant Material Coordinator (Delta, CO)

State of Colorado; Colorado; On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical & Dental

Retirement plans (PERA)

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Wellness programs

FSAs

HSAs

Paid holidays & leave

Flexible/Remote work

Career advancement

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Job summary

Colorado Parks and Wildlife leads a statewide program to manage native plant materials across multiple ecoregions. You will guide policy, strategy, and inter‑agency collaboration to advance habitat conservation and biodiversity across Colorado.

As senior authority, you’ll drive program goals, monitor outcomes, and coordinate with federal partners, tribes, and state agencies. State residency is required at the time of application, and statewide travel is expected.

Qualifications

• Eight (8) years of relevant experience with native seed collection, cleaning and storage; native seed propagation; seed based habitat restoration techniques, or an occupation related to the work assigned to this position.
• Substitutions: additional education may substitute for degree on a year-for-year basis.
• Preferred qualifications include Colorado Parks and Wildlife experience, data management and analysis, and experience with ArcGIS and procurement processes.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the agency’s senior authority for ecoregional native plant material programs across Colorado Plateau, Wyoming Basin, Southern Rockies and Arizona/New Mexico Plateau.
• Coordinate with federal and state partners, tribes, and regional associations to align policy and program delivery.
• Develop statewide budgets, oversee procurement, and manage the Escalante Seed Storage Building operations.
• Lead monitoring, research, education, and outreach related to native plant materials and habitat restoration.

Job description

OPEN TO STATE OF COLORADO RESIDENTS ONLY

Consider joining the dedicated people of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. It’s our mission to manage and conserve Colorado’s natural resources for the benefit of people today – and tomorrow. That means we have to balance development with conservation so the state we all love provides similar opportunities for our children and their children.

We invite you to explore our website at https://dnr.colorado.gov/about-us to find out more about the work we do to manage Colorado’s natural resources for today – and tomorrow. The State of Colorado believes that equity, diversity, and inclusion drive our success, and we encourage candidates from all identities, backgrounds, and abilities to apply.

• Medical and Dental plans
• Strong, flexible retirement plans including PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan, plus pre-tax and Roth 401K and 457 plans
• Paid life insurance
• Short- and long-term disability coverage
• Employee Wellness programs
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Health Savings Accounts
• 11 paid holidays per year plus generous vacation and sick leave
• Flexible work schedule options and remote-work options
• Career advancement opportunities throughout the State system
• Some positions may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

COLORADO PARKS AND WILDLIFE

Our Mission is to perpetuate the wildlife resources of the state, to provide a quality state parks system, and to provide enjoyable and sustainable outdoor recreation opportunities that educate and inspire current and future generations to serve as active stewards of Colorado's natural resources.

The Habitat Conservation Team exists to develop, coordinate, and implement a statewide strategic landscape scale habitat conservation program for the conservation of wildlife populations and the ecological functions that sustain them. The team's primary responsibilities are focused on biological planning, conservation design, and delivery of habitat conservation through coordination of habitat treatments (e.g. enhancement, restoration), monitoring, research, and post-treat­ment evaluation.

This position serves as CPW’s senior authority on ecoregional plant material development, production, storage, utilization and multi-agency distribution. Recognized by senior and executive management, the position focuses on native plant material resources across the Colorado Plateau, Southern Rockies, Wyoming Basin and Arizona/New Mexico Plateau (USGS Level III Ecoregions). Responsibilities include formulating strategic program goals for CPW leadership and advising the CPW Commission, Director, Leadership Team, Terrestrial Branch Manager and Habitat Conservation Program Supervisor on native plant policy and vegetation practices. The position directs statewide operations, including increasing native plant material availability, supporting propagation/production efforts, managing Escalante SWA Seed Storage Building operations and implementing statewide strategies. As the agency’s senior authority, this role directly influences policy, conservation, planning, management and funding decisions across external state, federal and private organizations.

Specific job duties include but are not limited to:

Program Oversight & Strategy Implementation

Serve as the agency’s senior authority for the Colorado Plateau, Wyoming Basin, Southern Rockies and Arizona/New Mexico Plateau ecoregional native plant material programs. Integrate terrestrial, avian and pollinator habitat needs into broader ecosystem management frameworks. Develops ecoregional strategic goals, objectives, and statewide guidance on plant material development, inventory, data collection, monitoring and use. Coordinate directly with adjacent states, regional associations and national organizations regarding the US Department of Interior National Seed Strategy programs. Provide high-level policy recommendations to CPW leadership and federal agencies to standardize statewide policy direction around native plant materials.

Multi‑Level Coordination & Stakeholder Engagement

Serve as the primary Inter‑Agency Liaison to coordinate with federal partners (USFS, BLM, NPS and BOR), state agencies (DNR, CDOT, CSFS), and Tribal nations. Align native plant material utilization with land and water management policies, statewide wildfire resilience goals, and watershed health initiatives. Facilitate collaborative relationships with the agricultural community, commercial seed producers, county conservation districts, and private landowners to balance ecological function and biodiversity interests with private property rights. Represent CPW at state and regional levels as an ecoregional expert on strategic native plant material program issues. Act as the principal technical representative at multi‑agency and multi‑state forums to highlight CPW’s wildlife, ecological function, climate resiliency and biodiversity priorities. Establish memorandums of understanding and cooperative agreements with state and federal partners to effectively delivery programmatic goals across multiple jurisdictions and landownerships.

Fiscal Stewardship, Procurement and Facility Operations

Develop, track, and manage the annual statewide budget for Habitat Conservation ecoregional native plant material programs and Escalante Seed Storage Building operations. Ensure fiscal responsibility and the efficient allocation of available funds across the state to meet program strategic goals. Manage all aspects of Escalante Seed Storage Building operations, facility maintenance and warehouse equipment usage, including forklifts, commercial shipping tools and heavy machinery. Work closely with the procurement staff to purchase specialized goods and services. Oversee the bidding and execution of external personal service contracts for programmatic delivery. Identify and pursue diverse funding streams while managing the full lifecycle of grant funded projects from application to auditing compliance. Develop comprehensive work plans and establish annual targets for the Native Plant Material program.

Technical Support: Monitoring, Research, Data Management, Training, Outreach & Education

Collaborate with agency colleagues, academic institutions and external state and federal partners to peer‑review relevant research and management products. Coordinate with the Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program and regional states (Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico) to leverage expertise, accelerate commercial plant material production and provide technical assistance on novel native material establishment techniques. Serve as the agency’s subject matter expert for ecoregional native plant materials. Developing educational resources that translate complex ecological data into accessible information regarding native habitat and watershed restoration. Partner with CPW colleagues to design educational outreach programs for agency staff and external partners. Quantify the successful establishment rates of ecoregional native plant materials (including seed and root stock) and other commercially available plant materials.

Other Duties as Assigned

Performs other related duties as assigned to ensure the effective implementation of goals and objectives defined by the Habitat Conservation Team and the overall Division mission. Examples include but are not limited to: assist in agency-wide responses to wildfire restoration, representing Habitat Conservation Programs on internal and external committees, task forces, or professional societies (e.g., Society for Range Management/Ecological Restoration, WAFWA). Ensure completion of mandatory training, internal reporting, and other general administrative tasks required of a statewide coordinator.

Minimum Qualifications

Eight (8) years of relevant experience with native seed collection, cleaning and storage; native seed propagation; seed based habitat restoration techniques, or an occupation related to the work assigned to this position.

OR

A combination of related education in Natural Resources, Wildlife Management, Biology, Ecology, Environmental Science, Environmental Policy, Geography, Geology, Zoology/Animal Sciences, Botany, Horticulture, Agricultural Biology and/or relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned equal to eight (8) years.

Substitutions

• Additional appropriate education will substitute for the degree requirement on a year‑for‑year basis.

Preferred Qualifications

• Current or former State experience relevant to this position.
• Current or former Colorado Parks and Wildlife experience.
• Experience in data management and analysis.
• Experience with managing employees.
• Experience with ArcGIS and spatial analysis.
• Experience in the State of Colorado’s procurement process.
• Experience with native seed collection, cleaning and storage.
• Experience with native seed propagation.
• Experience with seed based habitat restoration techniques.
• Experience with ecological monitoring.

Required Competencies

• Current or former experience relevant to active habitat management, native seed project management and native seeding monitoring.
• Experience in budget management, budget tracking and reporting.
• Experience in data management and analysis.
• Strong background in Colorado flora.
• Professional level writing, research and communication development skills
• Experience working in a government role.
• High level of written and oral communications.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel and Google Suite

Conditions of Employment

• State of Colorado residency is required at the time of application.
• Must possess and maintain a valid state of Colorado driver license if operating a State vehicle, including CDL Class A endorsement.
• Statewide travel is required on an as needed basis.
• Former State employees who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination must disclose the information on the application and provide an explanation why the prior termination or resignation should not disqualify the applicant from the current position. (Please Note: Absent extraordinary circumstances, prior disciplinary termination or resignation in lieu of termination will disqualify the applicant from future State employment with DNR).
• Pursuant to the DNR-120 Fleet