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Position Announcements

Junior Facilitator
Location: Greater Phoenix Area

How to Connect with Us

Please reach out directly to Jessica Olson at jessica@swdresources.com for more information.

Southwest Decision Resources (SDR) is working with a growing number of partners on important collaborative efforts in central Arizona. As our work expands, we are seeking an outstanding facilitator to join our central Arizona team!

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About Southwest Decision Resources

Southwest Decision Resources (SDR) (www.swdresources.com) is a mission driven professional facilitation and collaboration organization based in Arizona. We are a dynamic group of 11 professional facilitators and mediators, in addition to interns and fellows, with teams in Tucson, Flagstaff, and Phoenix.  Our core mission is achieving broad and inclusive participation, higher quality outcomes, and more lasting solutions for ecosystems and communities of the Southwestern US.  

 

Our work focuses on natural resource management and community development settings. We work with communities, local government, state and federal agencies, Native Nations, universities, nongovernmental organizations, and numerous collaboratives and networks, to design, facilitate, and document more structured and inclusive planning and decision processes. These settings include landscape-scale conservation, watershed restoration, forest management, climate adaptation, outdoor recreation, urban planning, youth engagement, volunteerism, and other community issues. 

 

Our approach includes proactive, multi-party, cross-jurisdictional collaboration; designing and facilitating place-based collaboratives; mediating contentious natural resource management and community development disputes; organizational development and strategic planning; and mentoring and capacity building, among other related collaboration support. 

 

SDR’s expanding work in central Arizona includes several ongoing collaborative efforts in watershed enhancement, urban conservation, sustainable recreation, farmland and agricultural systems, and open space.

Position Responsibilities

Junior Facilitator

  • Supports assessment and design of collaborative efforts

    • Assists with situation assessments, including focus groups and interviews with diverse partners to identify challenges and opportunities for collaboration

    • Conducts qualitative data analysis to support project assessments

    • Works with SDR facilitators to design processes for effective collaboration

    • Assists with reports and other materials that summarize complex situations 

  • Assists in facilitating and documenting collaborative processes

    • Facilitates breakout groups at workshops and meetings 

    • Documents meetings and key actions

    • Coordinates meeting scheduling and other support needs

  • Utilizes tools and helps develop materials to improve collaboration, including websites, charters, action plans, best practice documents, contact lists, etc.

SDR Team Culture

  • We highly value our work in teams, which combines our complementary strengths and skills, improves our creativity, timeliness, effectiveness, and value to our project partners, and models the collaboration we espouse

  • Our team is organized and able to self-manage work on various concurrent projects, keep timelines, and be accountable and professional to each other and our partners 

  • We all work on all aspects of projects 

  • We are solutions and outcomes-oriented 

  • As “third-party” facilitators, we strive for objectivity and neutrality 

  • We are dedicated and passionate about this work, and equitable and inclusive processes 

  • We follow best practices of the field of facilitation and collaboration

Preferred Qualifications

Junior Facilitator

  • Undergraduate degree in natural resources, environmental science, public policy, or a related field

  • Experience in meeting documentation and report writing

  • Some exposure to collaborative conservation, mediation, and/or negotiation theory and/or practice

  • Skills creating and managing websites, databases, and/or GIS

  • Skilled communicator, both written and oral

  • Successful experience with self-directed work

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Location 

Must live in the greater Phoenix area. The SDR Central Arizona team is work-from-home, with most project meetings virtual and some in-person (within 30 minutes to 2 hours of Phoenix).

Compensation & Benefits

Southwest Decision Resources is a team of independent contractors. This is not a salaried position; compensation is competitive with industry standards, based on experience, and determined by billable project hours. Benefits are non-traditional: the SDR team members enjoy flexibility in scheduling, virtual office, a dynamic and supportive team, and building project portfolios. SDR’s rates and approach to compensation and benefits will be discussed at the first interview.

 

Preferred Start Date

We anticipate new facilitators would begin work with SDR within a couple months of expressing interest. Flexibility can be provided to the right candidate(s). 

 

How to Start

Please contact Jessica Olson at jessica@swdresources.com with any inquiries.

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