FOREST DATA AND ANALYSIS UNIT LEADER - 67872

Executive Service

Who we are and what we do:

The Tennessee Division of Forestry (TDF) celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2014. One of the Divisions first missions was to plant trees on eroded and abandoned farmland in the western part of the state. Over the decades, TDF has grown to protect, conserve, and enhance Tennessee's 14 million acres of forestland through forest health protection, rural and urban forest management, wildfire and prescribed fire management, water quality protection, forest business services, state forest management and conservation education. Today, TDF employs over 400 personnel statewide and is well known as the wildfire and forest health experts. The Division resides within the Tennessee Department of Agriculture whose mission is to promote wise uses of Tennessee's agricultural and forest resources, to develop economic opportunities, and to ensure safe and dependable food, fuel, and fiber for all citizens.

How you make a difference in this role:

The Forest Data and Analysis Unit Leader provides vision, planning, administration, and supervision for the Divisions Forest data and analytical services programs. The position ensures that the unit is positioned to address current and future forest and business services information and resource analysis needs that help people make good decisions. This unit leader plays the key role for integrating the Divisions information resources; providing timely and accurate information about Tennessee's forest resources; supporting information acquisition needs; and implementing ways for users to have readily available access to forest resource data. This position works with the Department of Agricultures Business Development Division to support marketing of forestry and forest-based businesses. Additionally, this position has the primary role of providing and managing both tabular and spatial (GIS) information systems for the Division in coordination with the Department of Finance and Administration, Strategic Development Solutions Divisions systems.

Key Responsibilities:

• Actively develops and maintains working partnerships with other state and federal agencies, non-profit organizations, businesses and technology groups related to GIS and forest data resources.
• Serves as the Divisions Forest resources, forest utilization/marketing, data/information technology and business information chief on regional and statewide initiatives.
• Ensures the Divisions Forest and forest products information and analytical programs are relevant on a region-wide basis.
• Manages state and federal grants that fund the various programs within the unit.
• Actively seeks and secures additional funding and revenue.
• Provides monthly, quarterly and annual fiscal reports to the Assistant State Forester to aid in developing Division budgets.
• Develops annual Individual Performance Plans and conducts interim and annual reviews for full time personnel.
• Develops employees and provides guidance for professional growth.
• Supervises the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program and its staff.
• Provides guidance for the establishment and management of various seasonal strike teams

Minimum Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications: Education and Experience: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelors degree in Forestry, geographic information science or related field and experience equivalent to five years of professional forestry work, three of which must involve supervisory or program management experience. Substitution of Education for Experience: Additional qualifying graduate course work in forestry may substitute for the required experience, on a year for year basis, to a maximum of one year (e.g., 36 graduate quarter hours in forestry may substitute for one year of the required experience). Substitution of Experience for Education: None.

Pursuant to the State of Tennessee's Workplace Discrimination and Harassment policy, the State is firmly committed to the principle of fair and equal employment opportunities for its citizens and strives to protect the rights and opportunities of all people to seek, obtain, and hold employment without being subjected to illegal discrimination and harassment in the workplace. It is the State's policy to provide an environment free of discrimination and harassment of an individual because of that person's race, color, national origin, age (40 and over), sex, pregnancy, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status or any other category protected by state and/or federal civil rights laws.