Colorado River Basin Senior Manager

This is a remote position which can be based in Colorado or Utah. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission as WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position.

About the Program: Cities4Forests and the Natural Infrastructure Initiative are cross-cutting efforts that span WRI's Land, Water, and Cities programs. Cities4Forests is a global alliance of more than 90 cities, committed to advancing nature-based solutions (NBS) and Green-Gray Infrastructure (GGI) to protect and restore ecosystems, enhance community resilience, strengthen natural systems, and support climate goals.

In the United States, the program works through the U.S. Forests and Water Program, partnering with public and private stakeholders to increase investment in NBS across landscapes. This work delivers outcomes such as improved water security, wildfire risk reduction, infrastructure resilience, and workforce development. A longstanding partnership with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Blue Forest has been central to this effort.

Since 2015, the program has catalyzed $115M+ to restore and protect 320,000+ acres across public and private lands. The team comprises experts in conservation, finance, management, forestry, hydrology, and geospatial analysis. Currently, the team manages 20+ projects in 14 states, engaging utilities, land managers, corporations, communities, Tribal Nations, investors, and governments.

Examples of financial mechanisms used to increase forest and watershed resilience include:

• Forest Resilience Bonds (California and other states)

• Certified Green Bonds (Arkansas)

• Resilience Funds (Utah)

• State Revolving Funds (Wyoming)

• Corporate Water Stewardship initiatives in water-stressed regions

Additional information on the U.S. project portfolio can be found here.

Internationally, Cities4Forests supports cities across various regions. These regions include Sub-Saharan Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Europe, India, Indonesia, and China. We provide support through the Green-Gray Infrastructure (GGI) Accelerator and similar efforts. These efforts help design and finance projects that improve climate resilience, bridge infrastructure gaps, and deliver green jobs and public health benefits.

Job Highlight:

The Cities4Forests (C4F) and Natural Infrastructure Initiative team is seeking a full-time Colorado River Basin Senior Manager. This Senior Manager will engage with various partners, including utilities, government agencies, land managers, tribal entities, corporations, and other key stakeholders. The goal is to advance an emerging forest and nature-based solutions project pipeline across the Upper Colorado River Basin. This will set the stage for additional funding and conservation finance transactions.

You will partner closely with Blue Forest. The partnership will involve evaluating and advancing project maturity. It will also lead and support analysis and engagement to further project readiness. Additionally, the role will explore the appropriateness of different financial mechanisms, including revolving loan funds and associated cash flows. You will also develop outreach and communication materials. Furthermore, it will help manage an emerging and growing geographic focus of the portfolio. The Senior Manager will co-lead utility engagement and project and portfolio management.

You will report to the Director and will collaborate across the US Cities4Forests team.

Responsibilities

1. Utility, Beneficiary, and Partner Engagement, Analysis and Project Development (~60%)

• Lead water and energy utility engagement to align risk reduction and infrastructure protection with forest and NBS project benefits.

• Lead corporate engagement connecting volumetric and water quality benefits delivered by projects with corporate watershed and replenishment targets.

• Work with land managers and conservation partners to understand and advance enabling conditions to move projects towards implementation.

• Oversee business case development to promote a compelling rationale for beneficiary contributions.

• Support the structuring and negotiation of funding agreements, repayment mechanisms, and performance-based contracts

• Develop strategies to move pilot projects to scale.

• Write memos and present findings to internal and external stakeholders

2. Program Management and Fundraising (~30%)

• Manage the portfolio with Blue Forest and other important partners

• Develop and deliver workplans for individual projects and the portfolio, including

• Ensure deliverables are of high quality and on track and adaptively manage

• Track progress and co-lead internal and external reporting

• Support the Director and senior leadership with proposal development and fundraising strategy implementation to support both project implementation and organizational budgets for the WRI-Blue Forest partnership

• Develop funding memoranda, pitch materials, and financial narratives for funders and investors

3. Communications (~10%)

• Produce external-facing materials (project and fundraising decks, project and portfolio summaries)

• Contribute to thought leadership on basin management, conservation finance, scaling approaches, and resilience investment models

• Represent WRI in meetings, workshops, and external convenings

• Contribute to WRI relevant outputs (briefs, blogs, tools, and presentations)

Required Qualifications

• Master's degree in forestry, hydrology, environmental science or management, business, economics, management, or related field

• 10+ years of relevant experience in NBS, forestry, climate resilience, water, or sustainable finance

• Background in utility and beneficiary engagement related to conservation, water, and/or disaster risk reduction.

• Experience or familiarity with the CO River Basin and ideally key stakeholders

• Experience managing projects and portfolios

• Willingness to travel approximately 25% of the time including trips across the Upper Colorado River Basin and Washington, D.C.

• Demonstrated fundraising success

• Experience helping develop project implementation budgeting.

• Strong communication skills both orally and in writing.

• Calm in fast-moving environments

• Creative, collaborative, and solutions-oriented

• Comfortable working in a remote-setting in close collaboration with the broader team and partners.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with project finance, infrastructure investing, or credit analysis

• Familiarity with municipal finance, water utilities, or ratepayer-backed financing models

• Experience with the deployment of capital or funding across public and/or private lands

• Experience working with institutional investors, asset managers, or development finance institutions

• Knowledge of environmental markets or ecosystem service valuation (water, carbon, resilience)

Potential Salary: US salary range is between $116,000 and 146,000. Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

How to Apply: Please submit a resume with a required cover letter by May 18, 2026. We may close for applications sooner if we receive a high volume of qualified applications.