Grassroots Engagement Coordinator – Wyss Fellowship

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Inc.; Missoula, Northern (MT, KY); Hybrid; USD 54,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) plan match

Generous leave package

Job summary

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Inc. seeks a Grassroots Engagement Coordinator as part of the Wyss Fellowship in Missoula, Montana.

The Fellow will build a centralized volunteer onboarding portal and translate field materials into accessible digital modules, working with chapter leaders and volunteers to advance conservation advocacy. The ideal candidate is creative, highly organized, and collaborative, with experience in grassroots organizing and volunteer engagement.

Qualifications

• Passion for conservation, public lands and waters, hunting, angling, and BHA’s mission.

Responsibilities

• Develop and manage a centralized volunteer onboarding portal with training materials for chapter leaders and volunteers.
• Translate and consolidate field manuals and best practices into clear digital modules.
• Identify training needs with field operations staff and chapter leaders.
• Participate in field operations across multiple chapters to test systems.
• Live-test and refine training tools for practicality and scalability.
• Support grassroots advocacy and habitat stewardship through volunteer tools.
• Collaborate with staff, volunteers, and partners to strengthen outreach.
• Monitor onboarding effectiveness and gather feedback for improvements.
• Develop volunteer incentives and recognition programs.
• Coordinate with communications and tech teams for portal integration.
• Document processes to ensure sustainability and scalability.

Skills

Grassroots organizing

Volunteer engagement

Operations processes

Project management

Interpersonal communication

Independent work

Travel willingness

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in education or related field

Tools

CRM systems

Online learning platforms

Job description

At Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA), we’re more than just a nonprofit — we’re a movement. As North America’s leading voice for our wild public lands, waters, and wildlife, we work every day to protect the places that feed our passion for hunting, fishing, and outdoor adventure.

We’re a tight-knit team of dedicated professionals — avid hunters, anglers, and public land users ourselves — who believe in the power of advocacy, education, and hands‑on stewardship to ensure these experiences endure for generations to come. Whether we’re testifying in the halls of Congress, rolling up our sleeves on a habitat project, or rallying grassroots voices in every corner of the continent, we take our mission seriously…and we have a lot of fun doing it.

If you’re ready to help protect access to the untamed spaces that offer challenge, solitude, and a connection to the human spirit, we’d love to hear from you.

Grassroots Engagement Coordinator – Wyss Fellowship

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) is a North American nonprofit organization with chapters throughout Canada and the United States. BHA seeks to ensure North America’s outdoor heritage of hunting and fishing in a natural setting through education and work on behalf of our wild public lands, waters, and wildlife.

BHA is a grassroots‑driven organization that believes conservation happens on two fronts: by speaking up for public lands and waters and by showing up to care for them firsthand. Through policy advocacy, grassroots organizing, and boots‑on‑the‑ground habitat stewardship, BHA works to ensure healthy habitats and abundant fish and wildlife populations for generations to come.

Description

The Grassroots Engagement Coordinator will serve as a Wyss Fellow and play a central role in strengthening BHA’s ability to train, support, and mobilize its volunteer network at scale. The Fellow will develop and manage a centralized volunteer onboarding and training portal, translating existing materials, institutional knowledge, and field operations processes into clear, accessible resources that equip chapter leaders and volunteers to effectively advance BHA’s conservation advocacy and habitat stewardship efforts.

The Fellow will work closely with BHA staff, chapter leaders, volunteers, and partner conservation organizations while gaining real‑world experience across multiple chapters and areas of field operations. Throughout the fellowship, the Fellow will participate in and live‑test current and emerging field operations systems, helping ensure that training materials and volunteer resources are practical, effective, and responsive to the needs of BHA’s grassroots network.

The ideal candidate is creative, highly organized, collaborative, and excited to build a durable system from the ground up. They should be comfortable working independently while collaborating across a distributed organization, building relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders, and translating complex information into clear and engaging training experiences. The successful candidate will represent BHA with integrity and champion its mission and values in all facets of their work.

Primary Responsibilities

Develop and manage a centralized volunteer onboarding and training portal that provides chapter leaders and volunteers with accessible training materials, resources, action opportunities, and field guidance.

Translate and consolidate existing field manuals, best practices, policies, and institutional knowledge into clear, user‑friendly digital training modules and volunteer‑facing resources.

Work closely with field operations staff and chapter leaders to identify training needs, develop new resources, and improve volunteer onboarding and engagement.

Participate directly in field operations across multiple BHA chapters to gain hands‑on experience and test the effectiveness of current and emerging systems.

Live‑test and refine training tools, volunteer resources, and field operations processes throughout the fellowship to ensure they are practical and responsive to real‑world needs.

Support grassroots advocacy, community organizing, and habitat stewardship by developing tools that help volunteers effectively engage in BHA’s mission.

Collaborate with BHA staff, volunteers, and partner conservation organizations to share ideas, build relationships, and strengthen grassroots conservation efforts.

Monitor volunteer engagement and onboarding effectiveness, gather feedback, and continuously improve training materials and systems.

Develop and incorporate volunteer incentives, recognition, and other creative engagement tools to strengthen participation and retention.

Work with BHA’s communications and technology teams to ensure the volunteer portal integrates effectively with the organization’s website and digital infrastructure.

Document and refine processes to ensure volunteer training and mobilization systems are sustainable, scalable, replicable, and require minimal long‑term staff oversight.

Provide administrative and operational support to the field operations team as needed.

Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

Passion for conservation, public lands and waters, hunting, angling, and BHA’s mission.

Demonstrated experience or strong interest in grassroots organizing, volunteer engagement, community outreach, conservation, or nonprofit program support.

Strong interest in operations processes is important. We seek a critical thinker who can assess needs and create real‑world solutions to address the needs.

Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build relationships across diverse communities and stakeholders.

Highly organized with strong project management skills and attention to detail.

Ability to work independently while coordinating across a distributed team.

Creativity and resourcefulness in developing engaging solutions to organizational challenges.

Ability and willingness to travel and participate in field operations, chapter activities, staff gatherings, and conservation events as needed.

A strong commitment to professional growth, collaboration, and hands‑on learning.

Ideal Qualifications

Experience in education and learning design such as developing training materials, educational resources, digital content, or user‑facing tools.

Experience with volunteer management, training, grassroots organizing, or community engagement.

Experience developing training materials, educational resources, digital content, or userfacing tools.

Familiarity with nonprofit operations, conservation organizations, or public lands and wildlife issues.

Experience with digital platforms, websites, CRM systems, project management tools, or online learning systems.

Experience working with volunteers, community leaders, and diverse stakeholder groups.

A hunter and/or angler is preferred.

Bachelor’s degree in education, natural resources, environmental studies, communications, public policy, community development, nonprofit management, or related field.

Must demonstrate the ability to work with and interact with sportsmen and women and have a general knowledge of conservation issues and the public lands and waters that support fish, wildlife, hunting, and fishing.

Must be innovative and a resourceful self‑starter who can work with minimal supervision.

Must conduct work with integrity, good humor, and a focus on developing partnerships, building trust, and strengthening professional relationships.

Must have excellent oral and written communication skills.

Starting Salary & Term

Salary: $60,000 annually.

The proposed salary is intended to attract and retain a highly qualified early‑career conservation professional and reflects the responsibilities and expectations of the Fellowship position. Given the high cost of living in Missoula, Montana, this salary provides a competitive and realistic level of compensation while remaining consistent with BHA’s internal compensation structure and the responsibilities of the Fellowship position.

Term: Two‑year Wyss Fellowship. January 2027 – December 2028.

Benefits: BHA offers a stimulating and collaborative work environment, health insurance, a 401(k) plan match, and a generous leave package, including annual time off for backcountry hunting and fishing. Backcountry Hunters & Anglers seeks to ensure North America’s outdoor heritage of hunting and fishing in a natural setting through education and work on behalf of wild public lands, waters, and wildlife.

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Inc. is an equal opportunity employer.