Citizens’ Committee to Save Our Canyons (SOC) is hiring an Executive Director to join its team. The Executive Director is the operational leader of the organization and plays a pivotal role in implementing the organization’s mission to protect the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch.

Responsibilities

• Act as the public face of the organization in the media and within the community.
• Direct and manage the organization’s media and public relations efforts.
• Initiate and maintain partnerships with a variety of individuals and organizations, including federal, state, and local governments, other environmental advocacy organizations and non-profits, community leaders, and other groups.
• Supervise and provide guidance to staff and interns.
• Assist the organization’s Development Director in fundraising efforts.
• Develop policy strategies in coordination with staff, the Board of Directors, members, volunteers, and community leaders.
• Consult with and report to the Board of Directors regarding the organization’s operations, including strategic direction, priorities, policy positions, fundraising, finances, staffing, and allocation of resources.
• Cultivate and sustain relationships with donors and organizational sponsors.
• Manage the organization’s finances, including the development and maintenance of budgets and the monitoring of revenue and expenditures.
• Participate in Board meetings and board committee meetings.
• Monitor organizational adherence to the strategic plan, mission, goals, and vision.
• Manage all daily activities of the organization.
• Attend events sponsored by or related to Save Our Canyons.

Desired Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
• Leadership and/or management experience, ideally gained working at an environmental advocacy organization or other non-profit.
• At least three years of prior experience in policy and/or fundraising work preferred.
• Demonstrated competence at public speaking, strategic messaging, and developing relationships with our audiences, including everyone from grassroots supporters to volunteers, legislators, donors, community members, etc.
• A passion for SOC’s mission, vision, and values.
• Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Background knowledge of the Wasatch and major issues impacting the Wasatch.

Position, Pay and Benefits

• This is a full-time, salaried role that requires hybrid in-person attendance. The successful candidate will be required to come into the office as-needed.
• The salary range for this position is $80,000-110,000 annually and will be commensurate with experience.
• SOC also offers health insurance benefits, a flexible schedule, and a generous vacation policy.

How to Apply

To apply, please submit a CV/resume and a cover letter, combined in a single PDF, to . In your cover letter, please address: (1) why you are passionate about SOC’s mission; and (2) aspects of your professional background that demonstrate your ability to lead an environmental advocacy organization like SOC.

Preference will be given to candidates who apply by March 21, 2025. After that, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Statement on Equal Employment Opportunity

SOC is committed to diversity in its workforce and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  SOC will consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, or any other legally protected class.

I was the lucky kid who grew up with the Wasatch Front as my backyard playground. It is a privilege to have such easy access to so many trails, rivers, lakes, and canyons as a child (and now an adult), and for that, I am humbled and grateful. Like so many others from the area, these mountains have played a vital role in shaping me and my family’s lives, and I believe they have the power to do the same for many generations to come, so long as they are protected and cared for responsibly. As a lifelong Salt Lake County community member, outdoor enthusiast, and business owner, I unequivocally oppose the proposal of Gondola B due to the variety of threats it poses to the greater good of our community.

I remember hiking to Lisa Falls with my grandma and cousins when I was small. She would pack us drawstring bags full of granola bars, fruit snacks, a water bottle, and an extra pair of socks. My grandma had a way of making everything magical and full of adventure! We hiked the root-ridden trail practicing careful foot placement so we wouldn’t trip and wake the sleeping mountain giant. We looked for tadpoles in the pools and listened quietly to hear the sounds of nature we couldn’t hear otherwise. And boy did we have fun!

The outings with my grandma are my first recollection of ever learning about stewardship. We packed out what we packed in; we took time to appreciate the majesty of our surroundings; we understood that nature is a gift, and to leave no trace. These simple lessons I learned as a child span the boundaries of adolescence in a profound way. What I have come to know now is, nature is not ours to claim. Anyone who has spent more than an hour unplugged and beyond the sight of the city should know this, too. Rather, we have the opportunity, and responsibility, to be stewards of it. An 8-mile mechanical footprint from a gondola system in Little Cottonwood Canyon is not steward-friendly. The “World’s Longest Gondola” seems more like a publicity gimmick than anything else, and it is very disappointing.

UDOT is proposing Gondola B as the preferred method to “substantially improve roadway safety, reliability, and mobility on S.R. 210 from Fort Union Boulevard through the Town of Alta for all users on S.R. 210.” The identified need is “to reduce 30% of the vehicles in peak hours in order to reduce travel times, congestion, and queuing on the current road.”

However, it appears that many of the reasons to explain this method of choice are spoken in tones of ideal scenarios. For example, the total cost of constructing the project is budgeted at $550 million. But what happens when the market turns like it did in 2020-2022 and the cost of materials sky-rocket? Or the cost of labor? Or Supply-Chain issues perpetuate? Will citizens be taxed more to cover the costs, or will the project be abandoned as an open wound? I have worked for the past several years at a local real estate development company, and not one of our projects has ever finished on time and on budget to our original projection. It is simply the nature of construction to have change orders, schedule delays, and other contingencies.

Another example of UDOT having a dangerously idealistic analysis is that they say “the gondola can operate independently of S.R. 210, avoiding delays related to adverse weather”, including avalanches. There are 64 slide paths in Little Cottonwood Canyon, and a proposed 22 towers and 2 angle stations crossing those paths throughout the canyon. It takes just one structure to be damaged for the gondola to not be operational. Then it is likely to take several days to clear the avalanche, repair the damage, and get the system back up and running again. Of the 50 peak days the gondola is supposed to serve, it is highly unrealistic to expect that it would be operating all of those days.

I speak for the community at Outdoor Thrift when I say that we unequivocally oppose the Gondola B proposal. We urge UDOT to prioritize stewardship over industrialism in the approach to finding solutions to the traffic issues in Little Cottonwood Canyon. We believe that through education, tolling, rideshare programs, parking reservations, micro-transit, incentives, and traction requirements, we can avoid the need to undergo such a catastrophic project as Gondola B. 

We stand with Save Our Canyons and the 80% of Utah voters who oppose the plans to spend $600M of tax-payers money to construct the invasive machinery. We will also be standing with them as we oppose further taxation for maintenance, repair, and gimmicky marketing operations. Part of our mission at Outdoor Thrift is to help make the outdoors more accessible to people. The Gondola could not be farther from that as it only serves ski resort users, paying customers, and a handful of dignitaries who are sure to be invited to experience the luxurious new toy.

Eventually, I want to be able to take my grandkids on hikes throughout Little Cottonwood Canyon and give them the same kind of experience I was given as a child. I fear that their stories will be far different than mine: navigating around cement blocks, staying out of the polluted water, and listening to the constant hum of machinery. 

We can and we must do better.

I call on all users of the canyon to take your stewardship seriously and maximize our opportunity to make a lasting change during UDOT’s phasing period. I also call on UDOT to stop idealizing the data and capitalize on the non-invasive structures already in place to resolve the issues. Have faith in our future, consider the lasting impacts of your choices, and enable us to be stewards to this land that we love: Little Cottonwood Canyon and beyond.