Job Announcement: Project Manager, Liquid Assets Project

Job Announcement:

Project Manager, Liquid Assets Project

About the Liquid Assets Project

The Liquid Assets Project supports the development of impact-focused investment deals that are designed to help advance water sustainability across the American West. The project is advancing two types of investments that provide environmental, social and financial returns:

• Agricultural and Ranchland Investments, using land purchases or joint ventures to improve profitability of agricultural and ranching operations and generate marketable water; and
• Innovative Municipal Financing, designing green bonds, environmental impact bonds and joint benefits authority financing vehicles to finance green municipal water solutions.

The Liquid Assets Project team will originate, structure and diligence initial pipelines of deals for sustainable municipal and agricultural investments, and will raise investment capital for those deals. The Liquid Assets Project is a partnership between investment and water experts. Partners include Trout Unlimited, the impact investment firm Encourage Capital, the water law firm Culp & Kelly, and several consultants. The project’s fiscal sponsor is the Windward Fund. The Project emerged from the October 2015 report Liquid Assets: Investing for Impact in the Colorado River Basin, by Encourage Capital and Squire Patton Boggs.

Position Overview

The Liquid Assets Project is seeking a Project Manager to lead a multi-organizational effort to advance water sustainability through deployment of impact-focused private capital. The Project Manager will coordinate the work of a distributed team of partners, support fundraising efforts, and assist as needed in developing the two pipelines of deals. The Project Manager position is a full-time position that could be managed either through a contract or through employment at the Windward Fund. The Project Manager will report to a leadership committee composed of representatives of the project partners. This is currently a one-year position, with continuation dependent on funding. The location of the position is flexible.

Position Responsibilities

• Support work on the municipal and agricultural deal pipelines as directed by LAP team leaders.
• Keep apprised of developments in impact investing and municipal and agricultural water innovation and share developments with the team.
• Develop communications materials in consultation with LAP team members.
• Support development of grant fundraising strategy and oversee implementation tasks.
• Support development of investment fundraising strategy and oversee implementation tasks.
• Draft fundraising proposals and progress reports, with support from Windward Fund staff.
• Manage the project budget, sub-grants and contracts, in coordination with Windward Fund staff.
• Support the work of Trout Unlimited in managing their USDA Conservation Innovation Grant.
• Manage and coordinate the activities of LAP team partners in deal development and implementation.

Key Qualifications:

• Minimum of five years of professional experience in areas related to water and/or impact investing.
• Experience in municipal water management and green infrastructure desired.
• Strong organizational, analytical and strategic skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong professional and ethical standards.
• Comfort in working on new and untested strategies, and flexibility in adjusting work tasks as circumstances evolve.
• Must be self-motivated, possess a balance of personal confidence and humility, and enjoy having fun while working.

The Liquid Assets Project is a project of the Windward Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new and innovative public-interest projects and grant-making programs. The Windward Fund is committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential. The Windward Fund's work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of races, ethnicities, national origins, ages, sexual orientations, gender identities, beliefs, religions, faiths and ideologies, cultures, socio-economic backgrounds and levels of physical ability.

Contact Information

Margaret Bowman

Bowman Environmental Consulting

Margaret.bowman@live.com

202-258-7644