Southwest Prescribed Fire Manager

About this role

What We Can Achieve Together:

The Southwest Prescribed Fire Manager provides fire management leadership in Arizona and New Mexico by directly implementing priority prescribed fire, coordinating and enabling Conservancy fire capacity across programs and Business Units, and focusing prescribed and beneficial fire where it can most effectively advance dry forest restoration objectives. While dry forest landscapes represent a primary area of emphasis, the role also supports prescribed fire in other fire adapted ecosystems where The Nature Conservancy has a defined role, responsibility, or partnership.

This position is jointly supported by the Arizona and New Mexico Business Units and is designed to deliver high impact operational fire leadership while strengthening cooperative burning, workforce capacity, and cross-boundary implementation in support of priority restoration needs. The position works closely with Arizona and New Mexico forest management, forest leadership, and Stewardship Programs, as well as North America Fire, to ensure prescribed fire planning, implementation, and staffing are coordinated, strategically aligned, and focused on priority outcomes. The Fire Manager also coordinates with other TNC Business Unit Fire Managers to share best practices, align standards, and contribute to a cohesive and resilient fire management community within the Conservancy.

The position indirectly supervises the New Mexico Prescribed Fire Specialist and may supervise, advise, or mentor additional fire staff as programs and capacity are developed. The Fire Manager works closely with each Business Unit’s forest management, forest leadership, and Stewardship Programs to align prescribed fire programming with forest stewardship priorities, place-based management needs, conservation planning, and long-term landscape objectives.

A core component of this role is building and sustaining strong partnerships with public agencies, Tribal governments, NGOs, local fire departments, and private landowners to advance durable prescribed fire outcomes. The Fire Manager supports collaborative, codeveloped fire implementation approaches, including engagement with Tribal natural resource and fire programs, and works to respectfully support cultural burning and Indigenous fire stewardship practices where invited and appropriate. All such engagement is grounded in respect for Tribal sovereignty, local leadership, and place-based knowledge systems, with an emphasis on building trust and shared implementation capacity over time.

We're Looking for You:

The Southwest Prescribed Fire Manager leads by doing, serving in operational fire leadership roles and directly implementing prescribed fire across priority dry forest and other fire adapted landscapes in Arizona and New Mexico to maintain qualifications, model best practices, and advance conservation outcomes. The position provides fire management leadership for the Arizona and New Mexico Business Units, overseeing prescribed fire, wildfire response support, fire training, and fire personnel qualifications in accordance with The Nature Conservancy’s Fire Management Manual.

In this role, the Fire Manager reviews and approves fire management plans, prescribed burn plans, and contractor qualifications, mentors and designates Burn Bosses, and provides Ignition Authorizations for Conservancy prescribed burns. As a qualified Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Type 2 (RXB2), the Fire Manager plans, directs, and implements prescribed fire operations, including serving as Burn Boss when needed to meet program objectives and maintain qualifications. Fire operations may involve staff, partners, interns, and volunteers operating across a wide and varied geographic area, consistent with Conservancy and interagency standards.

The Fire Manager provides strategic advisement on the use, timing, scale, and location of prescribed and beneficial fire, integrating applied fire science, fire behavior and effects, landscape context, and conservation objectives to achieve ecological resilience and forest stewardship outcomes. The role participates as a key member of planning and leadership teams for Arizona and New Mexico programs, ensuring prescribed fire implementation is aligned with forest management priorities, conservation planning, and long-term landscape strategies.

The role facilitates Incident Command coordination for wildfire incidents in which The Nature Conservancy has an operational, ownership, or partnership role, working with Stewardship staff, responding agencies, and partners to support clear communication, defined roles, and alignment with safety, operational, and conservation objectives.

The Fire Manager provides strategic leadership for prescribed fire prioritization, working with Arizona and New Mexico leadership to identify priority landscapes, focal geographies, and implementation opportunities where prescribed and beneficial fire can deliver the greatest ecological, social, and organizational benefit. This strategic direction guides operational focus, partner engagement, and deployment of limited fire management capacity to achieve durable, landscape scale outcomes.

To advance this work, the Fire Manager builds and sustains partnerships with the U.S. Forest Service, Tribal governments, and other key fire management agencies and collaborative efforts including the Fire Learning Network (FLN) within TNC priority landscapes and implementation areas, ensuring prescribed fire activities are well coordinated, strategically aligned, and integrated into interagency planning and implementation. This includes supporting cooperative burning models, cross-boundary implementation, shared training efforts, and partner-led fire capacity. In collaboration with partners, the Fire Manager respectfully supports Tribal fire programs and Indigenous fire stewardship, including cultural burning practices where invited and appropriate, grounded in respect for Tribal sovereignty, Indigenous

Similar jobs

• Fire Project Manager — Johnson Controls · Louisville-Kentucky-United States of America
• Fire Project Manager — Johnson Controls · Brecksville-Ohio-United States of America
• Principal Fire Protection Engineer — SOLV Energy · Remote
• Fire & Life Safety Project Manager — Extra Space Storage · Salt Lake City, UT
• Fire Service Manager — Johnson Controls · Lenexa-Kansas-United States of America
• Senior Fire Protection Engineer — Disney · Anaheim, CA
• Mountain Pine Beetle Task Force Project Manager — Csusystem · Fort Collins, CO
• Fire Field Project Manager — Johnson Controls · New Castle-Delaware-United States of America