Swimmable Charles Coordinator
Job Description

The Charles River Conservancy is a non-profit citizens advocacy group started in 2000 with the mission of making the Charles River Parklands more “active, attractive, and accessible to all.” As part of this mission, the Conservancy is leading the effort to bring public swimming back to the Charles River. Until the 1950’s, the Charles River was a place where many residents would gather on beaches or in public bathhouses to enjoy the simple pleasure of swimming in the river. In the mid-1950’s the river was recognized as being far too dirty for people to be swimming in and was closed to swimming—establishing the Charles’ reputation as “that dirty water” in the process. In 1995, the “Swimmable and Fishable Charles by 2005 Initiative” was established by EPA to clean up the Charles. Since then, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to clean up the river to the point where, according to the EPA, the river is now clean enough to swim in for the majority of days.

The Charles River Conservancy is looking to hire a Swimmable Charles Coordinator to manage this project. The successful candidate is a self-motivated individual who is a team player and is willing to dive into this complicated issue, which involves interaction with a number of agencies, non-profits, and other stakeholders. The position entails independent project management and reports directly to the President of the Conservancy.

Tasks include

• Organizing meetings of the Swimmable Charles Working Group.
• Staff the Charles River Commission as established by the legislature
• Working with students and architecture consultants on designing swimming structures for the Charles River
• Collaborating with the Charles River Swimming Club on yearly swim race and organize other events to promote the initiative.
• Reaching out to individuals and groups to help build support for the initiative.
• Maintaining and updating the Swimmable Charles Initiative website.
• Writing memos, press releases, and informative booklets and handouts on the Swimmable Charles Initiative.
• Writing grants to fund projects related to the Swimmable Charles Initiative.

Qualifications include:

• Bachelor’s Degree.
• At least two years full-time (or equivalent) experience in project management and outreach.
• Proven record of being able to work independently and in dynamic team environments, ability to prioritize tasks, mobilize the energy of all groups involved, accomplish an agreed upon work plan, and seize opportunities to make measurable progress on the goal.
• Excellent writing skills. Graphic skills would be great plus.
• Ability to use Microsoft office, Photoshop, In-design, and navigate in both a PC and Mac environment.
• Basic knowledge of HTML

Qualifications:

The Swimmable Charles Coordinator must possess exceptional writing and interpersonal skills. A portion of this job will be writing and developing different promotional pieces so some background in design is a plus. Experience in event organizing and fundraising would be an advantage. As the CRC is a small non-profit, the ability and willingness to occasionally help with other tasks such as large volunteer events is also a requirement. We are also looking for someone who is tech savvy and can help troubleshoot computer/network problems as they may arise in the daily workings of the Conservancy.

Interviews will take place January/February. The salary depends on relevant experience and is in the $35,000 to $40,000 range. Part-time is an option.

Interested applicants are asked to e-mail a cover letter and resume to the Conservancy, attention: Leigh Donovon, Office Manager, ljd@thecharles.org.

Please explore this website for more information about the Conservancy’s work.