Executive Director

US Based

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🌳About the Organization

Adventure Scientists is a nonprofit organization on a mission to protect the planet by pairing scientists with individuals uniquely capable of gathering difficult-to-obtain data. Our team collaborates with scientists worldwide to solve pressing environmental challenges, from biodiversity to climate change.

We’ve partnered with organizations like National Geographic, the World Economic Forum, TED, the U.S. Forest Service, and Harvard Medical School, and our work has delivered outcomes such as:

  • Preventing illegal timber harvest
  • Restoring extirpated species to their native ranges
  • Building the world’s largest dataset on microplastics
  • Advancing identification of the genes responsible for antibiotic resistance

Every role here offers a chance to make an impact on a global scale!

🙋‍♀️ About the Role

Adventure Scientists is entering an exciting new chapter, and we are searching for a full-time Executive Director to guide us forward.

This is a rare opportunity to take a pioneering, Founder-led organization and shape it into a lasting, global force for conservation. Reporting to the Board of Directors and partnering closely with our visionary Founder/Executive Chairman, the Executive Director will:

  • Drive enterprise-wide strategy and execution to maximize conservation impact, visibility, and credibility
  • Build and lead a high-performing organization with the systems, culture, and talent required to deliver at scale
  • Ensure long-term sustainability through diversified revenue generation and careful fiscal management

If you are a dynamic, mission-driven leader with the vision, creativity, and operational acumen to take Adventure Scientists to new heights, we would love to hear from you!

đź’Ľ Responsibilities

Strategy & Execution

  • Partner with the Board and Founder/Executive Chairman to translate Board-approved vision and directional intent into executable organizational strategy.
  • Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and inclusiveness ****through clear priorities, decision-making, and strong execution
  • Prepare and present board reports, financial updates, and performance metrics.

Revenue Generation

  • Collaborate with the Founder on major gifts and institutional funding strategies.
  • Generate at least 25% of annual organizational revenue through development of new revenue streams as well as direct engagement with new leads: donors, partners, and grants (after a nine-month onboarding period).
  • Expand Adventure Scientists’ funding base to support growth and infrastructure.
  • Own overall organizational revenue performance and financial sustainability, including revenue mix, systems, staffing, and accountability, while partnering with the Founder on major gifts.

Organizational Leadership

  • Oversee and scale day-to-day operations with full executive authority over people, budgeting, and operational delivery.
  • Build and retain an exceptional team, supporting professional growth and accountability.
  • Serve as the organization’s cultural leader, ensuring alignment with values, mission, and performance expectations.
  • Serve as the primary decision-maker for organizational priorities, resource allocation, and impact delivery.

Founder & Board Partnership

  • Serve as a CEO-in-transition and peer partner to the Founder and the Board, exercising independent judgment and shared ownership of strategy and outcomes. Responsible for shaping and advancing board-level decisions, providing clear recommendations, and driving execution with accountability. Demonstrate the conviction and influence required to lead across stakeholders and align others behind decisions.

External Engagement & Mission Representation

  • Authentically engage volunteers, partners, and donors by building firsthand understanding of field conditions, participating in select field activities (e.g., expeditions or site visits), and using credible storytelling to represent the mission with authenticity and respect.

    🎯 Skills & Requirements 

    Mission Alignment & Lived Outdoors Connection

    • Strong alignment with Adventure Scientists’ mission and brand, with a genuine, lived connection to the outdoors and comfort engaging in field-based contexts.

    Team building, People Development, and Culture Leadership

    • Demonstrated ability to attract, develop, and retain high-performing distributed teams while engaging on strategic matters with the Founder in-person. Experience leading across nonprofit and for-profit environments is preferred.

    Organizational & Systems Leadership

    • Track record of leading an organization with direct accountability for enterprise-level decisions, tradeoffs, and outcomes for approximately 30-100 staff , including the structure, systems, and leadership capacity required. Proven experience implementing and leading within an operating system (e.g., EOS, OKRs, OGTMs, or similar), with the ability to adapt frameworks to organizational context.

    Financial Leadership

    • Strong P&L and budget management experience, including forecasting, compliance, and audits.

    Strategic Execution & Accountability

    • Ownership mindset with a strong bias toward action and results. Proven ability to set clear goals, take accountability for outcomes, use metrics to drive performance, and follow through to completion.

    Revenue Generation & Growth

    • Ability to generate and grow revenue through a variety of pathways, including business development, earned revenue, partnerships, services, and/or philanthropic support.

    Directional Leadership

    • Ability to lead with conviction, clarity, and executive presence. Proven capacity to influence staff, donors, partners, and the Board and stand behind decisions.

    🌟 Our Ideal Candidate

    You are a chief executive who sets direction through execution, building clarity, systems, and accountability.

    You see the big picture, set the course, and then roll up your sleeves to make it real. In a small team, you thrive on being hands-on when needed, knowing that every contribution matters. You bring operational strength, clarity, and systems that empower people to do their best work.

    As a leader, you’re energized by others. Working within clearly defined roles alongside the Founder, you balance partnership and independence, bringing your own clear perspective.  You believe deeply in people and lead with authenticity, curiosity, and accountability.

    At your core, you’re connected to the planet. Conservation and the outdoors are part of how you live, not just what you do at work. Whether it’s hiking, skiing, climbing – you carry the spirit of adventure with you – and it infuses the way you lead 🌿

     

    🌎 Location

    Remote (with x1 week per month in Bozeman, Montana)

    This role is primarily remote, giving you the freedom to design your work days in the way that supports your best thinking, focus, and flow.

    At the same time, we believe certain moments of leadership are most powerful in person. The idea is to spend 1 week each month in Bozeman to collaborate closely with our Founder, align on strategy, and move big priorities forward together. These in person weeks are energizing, creative touchpoints, while the rest of the month offers full flexibility to work from wherever you thrive.

    đź’Ž Compensation

    $200,000/year plus benefits:

    • Employer-subsidized health insurance
    • Retirement plan with employer match
    • Generous PTO and paid parental leave
    • Professional development opportunities
    • Sabbaticals for long-tenured staff
    • Access to discounted outdoor gear

    Adventure Scientists offers competitive compensation based on experience, with a commitment to supporting work-life balance, professional growth, and well-being.

    We offer non-negotiable salaries to ensure fairness, transparency, and equity for everyone in the hiring process. This approach allows us to uphold our commitment to pay consistency, eliminate bias in the hiring process, and create a culture of trust and clarity for all team members.

    🗓️ Hiring Process

    At Adventure Scientists, we believe in a transparent, enjoyable, and thorough hiring experience that ensures mutual alignment.

    1. Initial Conversation: Your first call will be with our Talent Partner to discuss your experience and fit with our mission.
    2. Collaboration Project: Next, we’ll invite you to work on a short project that reflects the type of work you’ll do, offering insights into our team-oriented approach.
    3. Meet the Founder: The next step includes a conversation with the Founder, allowing you to learn more about the role and the team you may join.
    4. Committee Syncs: Conversations with members of our Board of Directors and the hiring committee to explore alignment with our strategy and governance.
    5. Team Connect: A discussion with Adventure Scientists’ internal team, giving you a chance to connect with potential colleagues and experience our collaborative culture.
    6. In-person Connection: An in-person meeting/hike/activity with our Founder, where you’ll experience the spirit that drives our mission.

    Throughout the process, we’ll keep you updated so you’ll always know what to expect. Typically, the entire hiring process spans 4 to 8 weeks.

    Adventure Scientists is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. We believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to achieving our mission. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and we’re committed to providing a fair and supportive hiring process for everyone. We consider all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, formal education, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or any other status. If you have any questions about the application process, please don’t hesitate to let us know – we’re here to help!

    🎓 How to Apply

    If you’re excited to lead an adventurous, mission-driven team into our next chapter, we’d love to hear from you!

    Please submit your application below – including a link to your LinkedIn, portfolio if you have one, and answer briefly (2-3 sentences) the application questions.

    ⚠️ Important Note:

    We take application authenticity seriously. All responses to application questions are reviewed for originality. Submissions that are AI-generated or copied, even if partially, are automatically rejected, regardless of your qualifications.

    Please take the time to craft thoughtful, personal answers that reflect your own voice and experiences.

    We’re excited to learn more about you and appreciate the time you take to share your story with us!

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    At Adventure Scientists, we collaborate closely and openly. To help us understand your project-management approach, and to give you space to showcase the work you’re most proud of, we invite you to share a few examples below.

    1. Please attach a screenshot (or multiple in a single file) of a project you are most proud of that you've built yourself.

    2. Please attach one project plan or roadmap you personally created (and loved).
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    You may blur certain information. Attaching artefacts of your previous work is crucial to the way we work and will make your application stand out!
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    You may blur certain information. Attaching artefacts of your previous work is crucial to the way we work and will make your application stand out!
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    U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Information (Completion is Voluntary)

    Individuals seeking employment at Adventure Scientists are considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, age, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, or veteran status. You are being given the opportunity to provide the following information in order to help us comply with federal and state Equal Employment Opportunity record keeping, reporting, and other legal requirements.

    Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.
     
    For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to a self-identification survey. Completion of this form is entirely voluntary and will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

    As set forth in Adventure Scientists Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

    Race & Ethnicity Definitions

    If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

    A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

    A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

    An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

    An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.





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