JOB TITLE: Marine Resources Education Program Manager, Greater Atlantic 

SUPERVISOR: Marine Resources Education Program (MREP) Director  

Pay Grade: 7 

Starting Salary Range: $65,000-$71,500

Overview: 

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) develops and delivers collaborative solutions to global ocean challenges. We are dedicated to the resilience of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem and the communities that depend on it. To learn more, visit gmri.org.

The Marine Resource Education Program (MREP) empowers fishermen and other fisheries stakeholders to effectively participate in federal fisheries science and management through workshops that engage(s) 20-30 fishermen participants with 10-15 fisheries researchers and managers in a neutral setting. We operate in NOAA’s Greater Atlantic (New England and Mid-Atlantic council regions), Southeast (South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico council regions), Caribbean, West Coast, Western Pacific, and North Pacific fishery regions, and conduct between 15-18 events annually. Foundationally a program developed in Maine by fishermen, for fishermen, MREP is committed to remaining regionally relevant through collaborative program development with regional leadership.

This MREP Program Manager will execute GMRI’s role in developing and running MREP workshops in one of the MREP regions (Greater Atlantic), and provide support to other national, regional, and topical programming, as needed. In addition, this position will initiate and contribute to initiatives that improve program goals, such as catalyzing alumni engagement in fisheries science and management and advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion at MREP workshops. 

The position is based at GMRI in Portland, Maine and requires frequent travel to the program regions, including an annual 5-6 day trip for a Greater Atlantic regional workshop, one shorter (1-2 day) trip to facilitate an annual in-person regional steering committee meeting, and occasional travel to other regional workshops (up to 3 workshops per year).

The MREP Program Manager will report to the MREP Director, and will work closely with the other MREP team members, GMRI’s other Community team programs, as well as a diverse group of fisheries industry partners throughout the regions MREP operates in. 

Responsibilities/Tasks:

1. Manage GMRI’s role in MREP in the Greater Atlantic - Facilitate delivery of MREP programs with support from MREP’s Director and Operations Managers, and in collaboration with regional steering committees, program principals, NOAA fisheries, and the regional Councils, plus other appropriate regulatory agencies and industry stakeholders. This entails planning, managing and delivering all aspects of the Greater Atlantic program:

     a. Coordinate and facilitate annual Greater Atlantic steering committee meetings (1 in-person and one virtual per year)

     b. Working with the regional steering committee’s planning team, plan, manage, and facilitate activity of regional program,            including a 5-day workshop:

          i. Agenda development,

          ii. Identification and invitation of speakers,

          iii. Development/refinement of hands-on educational activities/role play exercises, etc.,

          iv. Speaker preparation discussions,

          v. Recruitment and support of planning team to to review and accept participants,

          vi. Communicate with applicant pool about status, and;

          vii. Manage and document the process through salesforce.

     c. Manage complex collaborative oversight of program, including:

          i. Relationship building and maintenance of key leaders in MREP regions,

          ii. Facilitation of monthly planning team calls for collaborative curricula development and applicant review,

          iii. Track regional issues in fisheries science and management, where relevant to MREP development and delivery, and

          iv. Contribute to strategic direction of regional programs.

     d. Manage the operations for event logistics with as-needed oversight and support from MREPs National Operations Manager:

          i. Identify and secure meeting locations, hotels, meals, and transportation,

          ii. Production and delivery of meeting materials, and other hands-on educational activities

          iii. Ensure proper logistics of field trips, and;

          iv. Dissemination and collection of program evaluations from participants (workshops only).

          e. Delivery and events and post-event processing: 

          i. Facilitate logistics and support moderators at workshops.

          ii. Execute post-workshop activities, which includes invoicing, processing reimbursements for participants, organize and                     catalog program documents, photography, and historical documents, conducting a debrief with steering committee members, writing thank you letters, and inputting evaluations. 

2. Support development and delivery of MREP workshop in locations (TBD), but not manage them

     a. This position will also support program and operations in other regions and national initiatives when not in the Greater      Atlantic "peak season" to spread some of the workload and build redundancy.

     b. Occasional (1-2x/yr.) travel to other MREP regions in support of the MREP team 

3. Contribute to MREP metric tracking, in support of MREP Director:

     a. Collect/track MREP-related stories, particularly from alumni experience in research or management, 

     b. Track metrics in support of MREP impact analyses, 

     c. Prepare meeting reports and post-workshop communication. 

4. Initiate and contribute to program improvement projects, for instance: 

     a. Alumni engagement efforts and initiatives,

     b. Data management and metric tracking processes and systems,

     c. Presentation and activity improvement and/or development, 

     d. Initiatives to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion at MREP workshops and in MREP outreach. 

5. Participate in and contribute to broader Community Department meetings and activities as well as GMRI meetings and activities; and support other MREP and organizational needs as required. 

Required Qualifications:

GMRI is seeking a seasoned professional who is dedicated to MREP’s mission of building fishermen’s capacity to engage in fisheries science and management and to MREP’s core value of being industry-driven. The Program Manager must embrace wholeheartedly the central role the steering committees, planning teams, program principals, and moderators play in developing and implementing MREP and recognize GMRI’s role is supporting, not leading, that work. 

Skills:

• Highly organized: able to manage multiple tasks against multiple deadlines
• Strong communication: maintain close coordination with steering committee and planning team, as well as GMRI MREP and GMRI colleagues
• Understanding of federal fisheries management
• Understanding of fishing practices in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic US
• Experience working with members of the fishing industry
• Experience in event planning (logistics/coordination) and managing events
• Exceptional communication skills in all forms and contexts, verbal and written
• Advanced level of proficiency in Microsoft software (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) as well as the Google suite of tools
• Comfortable with electronic communication and social networking technology, such as Slack
• Maintain good humor, even when things go awry

Experience:

• 5+ years’ professional experience in fisheries, resource management, or related field
• Facilitating external partners
• Meeting facilitating and/or field tour development
• Experience with MREP a plus
• Project budget management

Diversity and Inclusion:

Gulf of Maine Research Institute has a long-standing policy and commitment to providing equal access and equal employment opportunities in all terms, conditions, processes, and benefits of employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran status. GMRI's employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran status.

Applicants and employees are encouraged to voluntarily self-identify their race/ethnicity, gender, disability status and veteran status to assist GMRI in fulfilling various data reporting requirements of the federal government. This self-identification is completely voluntary, will be kept confidential and separate from your application data, and used only to meet federal reporting requirements. Providing or declining to provide this information will not result in adverse action of any kind.

Salary and Benefits:

Gulf of Maine Research Institute offers a competitive salary and benefits package.

Application Instructions:

All applications must be accompanied by a cover letter and résumé. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the successful candidate has been selected. The deadline to submit applications is December 19th, 2024.