Director of Conservation and Stewardship

Job purpose

The Director of Conservation and Stewardship leads Illinois Corn’s water quality and sustainability initiatives by focusing on implementing the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy while meeting supply chain sustainability demands, such as 45Z.

Duties and responsibilities

• Serve as the IL Corn contact and subject matter expert for water quality, nutrient stewardship, conservation systems, crop insurance innovation, environmental policy, and climate-smart agriculture initiatives.
• Leads the education, outreach, and research initiatives to achieve the goals of the IL Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS) and broader state and national conservation priorities.
• Understand and communicate how on-farm conservation practices affect carbon intensity scores and eligibility/value within emerging carbon markets, including 45Z and a Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), etc.
• Develop and manage strategic projects, budgets, and public-private partnerships advancing nutrient efficiency, soil health, water quality improvement, climate resilience, and farmer adoption of conservation practices.
• Lead policy discussions and provide recommendations related to conservation implementation, environmental regulations, crop protection products, nutrient management, crop insurance, land use change, climate initiatives, and agricultural sustainability.
• Draft and contribute to formal comments, letters of support, position statements, and stakeholder recommendations related to pesticide regulation, conservation programs, nutrient stewardship, water quality, crop insurance innovation, and climate initiatives.
• Evaluate and advance policy and voluntary conservation approaches designed to drive systems-level change and improve adoption of conservation practices while maintaining farm profitability and managing risk.
• Explore opportunities within Farm Bill programs, crop insurance products, sustainability initiatives, market incentives, and public-private partnerships to encourage conservation adoption and improve environmental outcomes.
• Collaborate extensively with commodity organizations, conservation groups, universities, government agencies, researchers, agribusinesses, and policymakers to identify and advance strategic solutions related to nutrient loss, water quality, soil health, carbon intensity, and agricultural sustainability.
• Develop and oversee farmer-focused programs and incentive initiatives including cover crop programs, water monitoring campaigns, outreach efforts, and conservation implementation strategies.
• Represent Illinois agriculture at state, regional, and national meetings, technical committees, working groups, and advisory bodies related to conservation, environmental policy, nutrient stewardship, climate-smart agriculture, and sustainable agriculture systems.
• Build and leverage partnerships supporting conservation practice adoption, nutrient reduction efforts, climate-smart agriculture initiatives, clean energy opportunities, and farmer-centered sustainability programs.
• Support organizational communications and outreach through development of technical resources, digital content, policy updates, educational materials, and stakeholder engagement efforts.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in related field such as Agriculture, Ag Management, Agronomy, Water Quality, Soil Science required. Masters preferred.
• Five or more years of experience in agronomy related career OR farm or farm program management required
• CCA preferred
• Understanding of nitrogen application practices and hypoxia zone causes and concerns
• Understanding of legislative processes
• Proficient in Microsoft Office
• Excellent Communication and Presentation Skills
• Ability to plan collaboratively and execute independently