Top Land Executive jobs in the United States

About the Lincoln Institute

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a private operating foundation, envisions a world where prosperous cities and regions provide essential public goods and services through coordinated land use planning and public finance; where efficient and equitable allocation of limited land resources supports thriving communities; and where stewardship of land and water resources ensures a livable future. We organize our work around three areas where we believe effective land policy can have a positive impact. These impact areas are: Land and Water; Land and Fiscal Systems, and Land and Communities. We have locations in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Phoenix, Arizona; and Beijing, China, but our work has a global scope. We have several centers and initiatives that focus on land policy in key geographies (China, Latin America, Europe, Africa), as well specifics tools, topics and issues related to our three impact areas.

Position Overview

The Executive Director, Land and Communities (ED) position is a senior position within Programs at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy that leads and oversees key components of the Institute's vision and strategy for effecting positive change in communities and the environment through the application of cutting-edge land policies and land use management practices. Your strategy for Land and Communities defines the desired outcomes for this impact area and guides the development of original content. You will work closely with the Lincoln Institute's senior leadership to lead programmatic efforts and to identify new opportunities to advance the Institute's mission in support of prosperous, sustainable cities, regions, and communities. Further, the ED is responsible for programming resources, including fundraising efforts, in line with a strategy to contribute to tangible outcomes in diverse geographies. Programming will be evidence-based and generative of new research, knowledge, and practices, and it will also advance our presence and voice internationally on equitable and sustainable land and community outcomes.

The ED is responsible for overseeing and nurturing the development and dissemination of content and practices led and managed by members of the impact area's team, specifically staff at the director level. The ED represents the Institute in public and ensures that work is coordinated with and maximizes collaboration among the other impact areas and Centers within the Institute, especially cross-cutting initiatives on climate, housing, scenario planning, and tribal communities.

The Land and Communities Impact Area

The Land and Communities impact area advances the Lincoln Institute's body of knowledge and work that sits at the intersection of community well-being, sustainability, urban planning, spatial equity, and land policy. Within the Institute and in its Land and Communities impact area, community is broadly understood to include social, cultural or institutional dimensions of people living in the same locality or otherwise identified as a distinct segment of society. Further, the Institute is a thought leader and proponent of practices that focus on the ways that land policy - including the management of land and its uses - shape and are shaped by a community's human, economic, and natural resources.

The Executive Director will lead the development and management of the Lincoln Institute's strategy on Land and Communities by forging innovative approaches to land policy and community engagement practices in service of healthier, resilient, and more equitable communities. The ED will also strengthen our knowledge base on the relationship between land, ecosystems, and socioeconomic outcomes at different territorial scales, creating new streams of work to support diverse communities, and supporting the development of research tracks and "communities of practice" that further sharpen our understanding of the relationship between land and its thriving communities.

In recent years, we have substantially broadened and deepened our engagement with policymakers, practitioners and other stakeholders responding to urgent land policy issues from the local to global scales. Currently, the impact area includes two streams of work lead by staff at the director level that support policies and planning practices for equitable and sustainable development, spatial equity and poverty reduction, development without displacement, and community-lead climate mitigation and adaptation measures. These are work streams that see civic infrastructure, planning institutions, and community-led decisions as key for developing effective policies and securing optimal societal and environmental outcomes. These are work streams that also complement programs in the Institute's "Land and Water" and "Land and Fiscal Systems" impact area teams.

What You'll Do - Strategy Development

• Lead the development of the Land and Communities strategy, its long-term goals and mission statement in collaboration with the Directors and Associate Directors within the impact area.
• Set and enforce research priorities and standards of quality for research and the educational and technical assistance programs that rely on that research.
• Empower your teams within the impact area in the development and implementation of their respective strategies and proposals for external funding.
• Implement (Enforce, Urge) strategy development for Institute-wide initiatives and research themes in collaboration with other programmatic Executive Directors for issues such as climate adaptation, housing, and property rights.
• Collaborate with the Executive Director for Research on the coordination of research initiatives and outputs with curriculum development needs within Claremont Lincoln University and other educational institutions.
• Influence the design and implementation of research seminars and technical assistance initiatives.
• Lead budget development and resourcing for the impact area, including presentation to Lincoln Board of Directors, engagement of outside funders, etc.
• Establish and grow research, practitioner, and community-leader networks to advance the mid- and long-term objectives of your impact area.
• Develop a fundraising pipeline in collaboration with impact area teams and the Institute's Partnerships unit.

What You'll Do - Generate and Develop Knowledge

• Lead the process of identification and development of key concepts and issues underpinning the Institute's Land and Communities impact area in collaboration with impact area staff, and in consultation with the Institute's Chief Program Officer, and Executive Directors.
• Develop and/or manage initiatives to support the conceptualization, design, implementation, and assessment of new programs and projects within the Land and Communities impact area.
• Analyze and articulate emergent issues within the Land and Communities impact area.
• Translate the identification and analysis of emergent issues into mid and long-term programmatic objectives. (see "Strategy Development")
• Contribute content,ideas, and material that inform or align with the mission and identity of the Institute, including ways the Land and Communities impact area can complement other impact areas and Centers within the Institute.

What You'll Do - Manage and Implement Teams and Programs

• Empower and develop Directors and/or Associate Directors within your impact area.
• Develop the staffing and management plan for your impact area.
• Collaborate with team members and other staff on publications, communications, and events management needs.
• Oversee the impact area's reports to the Board of Directors and budgets.
• Contribute to (Support) the Institute's program assessment system and assist in the evaluation of the impact area's content, quality, and impact of its activities and outputs annually.
• Collaborate with Executive Directors to leverage programmatic opportunities across impact areas and centers.
• Lead and oversee annual measurement and evaluation of goals to increase overall impact.
• Collaborate with the communications team to inform and develop strategic communications within your impact area.
• Identify and monitor impact area employee gaps and recommend solutions by assessing current skills and capacities.
• Lead through example and coaching our organizational culture that is respectful, values-aligned, learning-focused, and promotes equity and opportunity for all.

• 15 years of relevant professional experience within the fields underpinning land and community-focused work.

• Doctorate degree preferred. Juris Doctorate or Graduate degree commensurate with experience and accomplishments considered.

• Expert-level subject matter expertise in theories and topics relevant to the Institute's impact area and related policy implementation.

• Demonstrated lived and practitioner experience to support the Institute's work and diverse forms of engagement with public sector employees, as well as civic and community leaders.

• Superior communication, leadership, and presentation skills to act as the public face of the Institute about topics relevant to their subject matter expertise.

• Demonstrated acumen and experience addressing strategic and operational issues when managing initiatives, complex projects, teams, and individuals.

• Demonstrated ability and interest in training policymakers, their advisors, and staff.

• Demonstrated ability and interest in initiating and negotiating collaborations with relevant institutions working on subject matter that falls within the Institute's impact area.

• Extensive record of accomplishment leading teams to successful completion of work.

• Excellent critical thinking/problem-solving skills and ability to develop creative approaches to complex issues.

• Professional demeanor with positive, collegial, and collaborative leadership skills for multidisciplinary programs.

• Task-oriented work ethic, responsiveness to deadlines, and a common-sense approach to moving projects and agendas forward.

• Demonstrated and well-respected integrity and sound judgment.

The salary is dependent on market range, level of education, and years of experience.

We support a culture of forthright feedback, initiative, cooperation and teamwork, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and accepting responsibility.

Benefits highlights include but are not limited to (a) 3x employer contribution towards retirement matching your employee contribution up to 15%, (b) health insurance, (c) dental insurance, (d) vision insurance, (e) 100% reimbursement of the health care deductible through a health reimbursement account, (f) short-term disability coverage, (g) long term disability coverage, (h) paid parental leave, (i) voluntary insurances such as accident insurance, (j) health care flexible spending, (k) dependent care flexible spending, (l) paid time off for holidays, vacation, personal, sick, bereavement, and jury duty, (m) office closure between December 24 - Jan 1 each calendar year, (n) flexible schedule and option for a compressed 4 day workweek, (o) tuition and staff development reimbursement, (p) pet insurance, and (q) Employee Assistance Program.

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is dedicated to an inclusive work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Individuals seeking employment at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy are considered without regards to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), ancestry, citizenship status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital or domestic/civil partnership status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Lincoln Institute of Land Policy will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is a Non-Smoking organization. Smoking and the use of tobacco products are always prohibited on all property, owned, leased, or under the control of Lincoln Institute of Land Policy at all times, including, but not limited to indoor and outdoor grounds, walkways and sidewalks, parking lots, company vehicles, and private vehicles parked on Lincoln Institute of Land Policy property.