"Virginia Program Specialist, Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture"

Job Description

The Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture is a coalition of organizations, led by Virginia Tech, which is implementing an $80 million funded by the United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS). This project is implemented across four states - Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Virginia - and features payments to farmers to adopt conservation agriculture practices. Farmer enrollment is managed by implementing partner organizations in each of the four states and several non-implementing partners support the program in various ways. Virginia Tech faculty are conducting a rigorous research agenda to evaluate the efficacy of implementation. Under the pilot program, Virginia Tech and its partners are helping producers in the four states prove the value of paying farmers and ranchers $100 per acre or animal unit for stewardship practices that deliver public value through carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas reduction, improved soil health, water quality, water conservation, and other environmental services. We aim to create a scalable model for incentivizing and rewarding farmers for adopting conservation practices. More information on the program can be found at this link: https://www.allianceforcsa.org

The Virginia Program Specialist will support the 2026 state-wide application of the Alliance in Virginia and the livestock subpilot in Virginia. The Virginia Program Specialist will report to the Project Director.

The base location for this position is Blacksburg, VA. Travel to Blacksburg, across the state of Virginia, and project-wide out-of-state meetings will be required. The remote location must be within Virginia.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in agronomy, soil science, crop science, environmental science, or closely related field
• Demonstrated knowledge of USDA-NRCS conservation practices
• Demonstrated knowledge of crop and/or animal agriculture
• Demonstrated knowledge of farming and farm management practices
• Strong technology and general computer skills
• Experience in Microsoft 365 including Outlook, Word, Excel, SharePoint, and Teams
• Experience with Google Drive and Documents
• Must be able to independently set priorities, manage multiple tasks, and meet deadlines
• Attention to accuracy and detail
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Experience with aggregating, curating and reporting data

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with online applicant systems or database management
• Virtual and in-person training development and delivery experience
• Master's degree in agronomy, forages, soil science, crop science, environmental science, animal science, or closely related area
• Demonstrated knowledge of climate-smart agricultural practices and commodities, GHG mitigation and related environmental benefits of agriculture, and private markets in agriculture
• Demonstrated knowledge of field operations and management and resulting impact on GHG emissions and related environmental benefits and detriments
• Demonstrated experience working with COMET-Farm, COMET-Planner, and Fieldprint Platform

Overtime Status

Exempt: Not eligible for overtime

Appointment Type

Restricted

Salary Information

$65,000 - $67,500

Hours per week

40

Review Date

March 20, 2026

Additional Information

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.