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Manager - Strategic Initiatives & Projects
Who We Are:
Trust for Public Land (TPL) is the leader of a movement to connect everyone in America to the outdoors. A national nonprofit, TPL partners with communities to create high-quality parks and protect public lands—especially in communities that need them most—to improve public health, create social cohesion, strengthen historic and cultural connection to place, and increase climate resilience. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 4 million acres of public land, created more than 5,500 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, generated over $112 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected nearly 10 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org.
Trust for Public Land’s Center for Community Impact advances the organization’s national leadership in creating equitable, healthy, resilient, and connected communities through parks, public lands, trails, and Community Schoolyards. The Center brings together strategy, research, technical assistance, policy, and field-based learning to help communities address barriers to outdoors access, quality, funding, stewardship, and long-term systems change. The Center works across teams and geographies to develop evidence-based tools, support local implementation, translate learning into scalable models, and advance policies and practices that expand access to the outdoors for all.
Position Summary:
Trust for Public Land is seeking a full-time Strategic Initiatives Manager. This role will support TPL work to advance systems-level change with communities across the country, as well as playing an essential role in advancing thought leadership and resources for priorities topics, such as those at the intersection of parks, housing, land use, and community development. This is a highly collaborative role that works across TPL teams and with external partners, helping translate ideas into actionable strategies that expand equitable access to parks and public space. The position contribute to high-impact work across these primary areas:
Essential Functions:
Advancing Community Development Focused Insights & Knowledge Products
Project Development, Scoping & Delivery
Strategic Initiatives, Learning & Operational Support
Other duties as assigned
Qualifications:
Compensation:
Trust for Public Land is a hybrid work environment, and this role will ideally be located near a Trust for Public Land office. As a full-time employee, you will be eligible for the Trust for Public Land’s comprehensive benefits program which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, vacation and sick pay plus holidays, a year end office closure, and a 403(b)-retirement plan, currently with up to a 7% company match. We offer competitive salaries commensurate with experience; the anticipated hiring range for this position is $72,301 to $85,000 per year.
Trust for Public Land’s active goal is to be an inclusive and equitable place to work and build community. As the organization actively works to eliminate racial and other disparities it welcomes candidates with diverse backgrounds and/or multicultural skillsets. We are open to the possibility that a great candidate for this job may not precisely meet all the above criteria; if you believe you are the right person for this job and can persuasively make that case, we encourage you to apply.
Trust for Public Land (TPL) is the leader of a movement to connect everyone in America to the outdoors. A national nonprofit, TPL partners with communities to create high-quality parks and protect public lands—especially in communities that need them most—to improve public health, create social cohesion, strengthen historic and cultural connection to place, and increase climate resilience. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 4 million acres of public land, created more than 5,500 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, generated over $112 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected nearly 10 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org.
Trust for Public Land’s Center for Community Impact advances the organization’s national leadership in creating equitable, healthy, resilient, and connected communities through parks, public lands, trails, and Community Schoolyards. The Center brings together strategy, research, technical assistance, policy, and field-based learning to help communities address barriers to outdoors access, quality, funding, stewardship, and long-term systems change. The Center works across teams and geographies to develop evidence-based tools, support local implementation, translate learning into scalable models, and advance policies and practices that expand access to the outdoors for all.
Position Summary:
Trust for Public Land is seeking a full-time Strategic Initiatives Manager. This role will support TPL work to advance systems-level change with communities across the country, as well as playing an essential role in advancing thought leadership and resources for priorities topics, such as those at the intersection of parks, housing, land use, and community development. This is a highly collaborative role that works across TPL teams and with external partners, helping translate ideas into actionable strategies that expand equitable access to parks and public space. The position contribute to high-impact work across these primary areas:
- Advancing research and thought leadership on priority themes
- Supporting business development and project delivery, including scoping and coordinating work across teams
- Contributing to major strategic initiatives that advance TPL’s national impact
Essential Functions:
Advancing Community Development Focused Insights & Knowledge Products
- Serve as a key point of contact and support for research, analysis, and knowledge development on priority topics, including the intersection of parks, public housing, community development, land use, and equitable park access.
- Working in coordination with relevant Lab, Hub, and program staff, conduct landscape scans, case studies, policy scans, interviews, and other analysis to inform TPL’s strategies, tools, and external thought leadership.
- Translate research and insights into accessible products for internal and external audiences, including briefs, presentations, memos, frameworks, guidance documents, case studies, and technical assistance resources.
- Support internal and external co-creation of findings by helping synthesize input from community partners, public agencies, housing authorities, field teams, and other collaborators.
- Contribute to the development of practical tools, recommendations, and guidance that help communities and partners advance equitable access to high-quality parks and public spaces.
Project Development, Scoping & Delivery
- Manage the development and/or implementation of projects and initiatives, including work related to parks, housing, climate, health, and funding, and other emerging strategic opportunities.
- Draft and coordinate concept memos, proposals, project briefs, workplans, scopes of work, timelines, deliverables, budgets, and related materials.
- Coordinate across internal teams (including research, GIS, advisory services, field teams, policy, communications) to clarify roles, align inputs, and support integrated project delivery.
- Support engagement and coordination with external collaborators, including public agencies, housing authorities, community organizations, funders, consultants, and other partners.
- Track project progress across multiple workstreams, monitor timelines and deliverables, organize project materials, and help ensure follow-through on next steps, decisions, and partner commitments.
Strategic Initiatives, Learning & Operational Support
- Support the AVP and Strategic Impact Team in advancing cross-initiative and enterprise-wide priorities connected to TPL’s Center for Community Impact.
- Provide coordination and operational support for strategic initiatives, convenings, pilots, partnerships, and cross-cutting efforts that test, refine, and scale promising approaches across teams and geographies.
- Support portfolio-level work, tracking, and reporting.
- Assist with preparing meeting materials, tracking priorities and follow-up items, supporting internal communications, maintaining shared planning tools, and advancing special projects that connect strategy, learning, and implementation.
Other duties as assigned
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree preferred; graduate-level training in urban planning, public policy, environmental studies, or a related field strongly preferred
- 3–5 years of relevant experience (e.g., planning, policy, research)
- Demonstrated interest in parks, public space, housing, land use, or community development
- Strong analytical and research skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information into clear insights
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Experience managing or coordinating projects across teams is a plus
- Familiarity with GIS, data analysis, or policy research tools is helpful but not required
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment
- Strong commitment to TPL’s shared values (Belonging, Creativity, Collaboration, Impact, and Hope) to effectively work across the organization.
Compensation:
Trust for Public Land is a hybrid work environment, and this role will ideally be located near a Trust for Public Land office. As a full-time employee, you will be eligible for the Trust for Public Land’s comprehensive benefits program which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, vacation and sick pay plus holidays, a year end office closure, and a 403(b)-retirement plan, currently with up to a 7% company match. We offer competitive salaries commensurate with experience; the anticipated hiring range for this position is $72,301 to $85,000 per year.
Trust for Public Land’s active goal is to be an inclusive and equitable place to work and build community. As the organization actively works to eliminate racial and other disparities it welcomes candidates with diverse backgrounds and/or multicultural skillsets. We are open to the possibility that a great candidate for this job may not precisely meet all the above criteria; if you believe you are the right person for this job and can persuasively make that case, we encourage you to apply.