Soil Science Jobs in Silver Spring, MD (NOW HIRING)

Job purpose 

Reporting to the National Climate and Soil Health Director, the Senior Climate and Soil Health Scientist supports AFT’s Climate and Soil Health Program by advancing connectivity across research, science translation, partnerships, and implementation strategies that accelerate adoption of resilient soil health management systems. This includes a core focus on biochar integration, as well as other climate-beneficial approaches. The position supports AFT’s efforts to catalyze a new conventional agriculture: empowering farmers and ranchers across the nation’s diverse systems to achieve on-farm and societal benefits from systems that are soil health promoting, biodiverse, climate-neutral or better, resilient, equitable, and environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. 

Position summary 

As an integral member of the Climate and Soil Health Program, the Senior Climate and Soil Health Scientist leads research, technical program development, science translation, partnership building, training, fundraising, and implementation efforts that bridge research and practice. The position includes research responsibilities but is fundamentally a research-to-practice role focused on using science to foster adoption of resilient soil health management systems. The position helps identify and address barriers to adoption and persistence, develops tools and resources that support decision-making, and advances emerging opportunities in biochar, PFAS, climate resilience, and related soil health innovation. The position requires a combination of scientific leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, innovation, excellent communication, and ability to collaborate across disciplines, teams, and diverse stakeholders.  

Duties and responsibilities  

Overall 

The Climate and Soil Health Program is engaged across a growing portfolio of national and regional partnerships focused on advancing adoption of resilient soil health management systems. This role leads projects and workstreams that require collaborating across multiple federal, academic, non-profit, industry and other partners, and collaborates to develop new funded efforts that enable the translation from research to scientifically sound, economically viable, scalable implementation of soil health management systems, including biochar integration. A key priority focus area for this position is to strengthen AFT's leadership in addressing scientific, technical, economic, and implementation barriers that limit the sustainable production, integration, and scaling of biochar as a climate resilience and soil health management tool. 

Scientific leadership for soil health, biochar, and climate 

• Research: Lead applied research, literature review, technical review, data analysis, modeling, life cycle analysis, and impact-oriented programmatic design and implementation, and provide technical leadership for fundraising efforts relating to biochar and soil health. Collaborate across the team to compile, analyze, and publish project data and results. 

• Science Translation & Technical Resources: Lead and collaborate on science translation activities that integrate research findings, producer innovations, and demonstration results into transformative technical resources: decision support tools, guides, factsheets, manuals, peer-reviewed publications, curricula, trainings and educational resources that support successful adoption.  

• Networks & Adoption: Contribute to development and continuous improvement of producer, advisor, mentor, and peer-learning network functioning by integrating scientific findings and AFT’s social, economic, and environmental program evaluation results to strengthen future network outcomes.  

• Systems: Address adoption needs across soil health practices in annual and perennial, high disturbance, and other systems across varied agroecological zones, through AFT’s on-farm trials network, technical resources, and training programs. 

• Training: Contribute scientific leadership and subject-matter expertise to Advanced Soil Health Training, Growing with Biochar Training, peer learning networks, mentor programs, livestock and grazing training, and other capacity-building efforts designed to multiply adoption. 

• Evaluation: Collaborate on the design and implementation of impact measurement, evaluation, and learning systems that assess adoption, persistence, environmental, economic, and network outcomes.  

• Emerging opportunities: Provide scientific leadership for emerging priority areas including biochar, PFAS, climate resilience, soil health systems, ecosystem services, and other strategically relevant topics and entrepreneurial opportunities for AFT investment in partnership development, innovation, and scaling. 

• Fundraising: Support National Climate and Soil Health Director and team in fundraising efforts by developing compelling proposals and pitches and cultivating funder relationships. May serve as PI on future projects. 

Stakeholder and partnership management  

• Build, steward and leverage partnerships for future impact with producers, advisors, researchers, corporate partners, funders, and other stakeholders. 

• Co-develop applied research-to-implementation agendas to ensure scientific work addresses practical adoption barriers and market opportunities.  

• Lead collaborations with partners to develop transformative resources and programs nationwide.  

Thought leadership, training and outreach  

• Serve as an AFT representative and thought leader in meetings, workshops, conferences and other external events reaching diverse audiences, advancing national visibility and engagement around biochar, soil health, climate resilience, and related topics. 

• Help design, refine, deliver, and scale evidence-based curricula and learning pathways, including trainings and associated peer learning networks. 

• Collaborate with AFT's Programs and Communications teams to communicate and elevate the visibility, impact, lessons learned, and thought leadership of AFT's Climate and Soil Health work through stakeholder engagement, presentations, publications, websites, blog posts, press releases, social media, and other communications channels. 

• Provide input and technical review for relevant policy recommendations, platforms, and communications.  

Programmatic and team management  

• Lead and manage teams of AFT staff and partners on assigned projects or workstreams. Collaborate across AFT, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), American Biochar Institute (ABI), federal, academic, non-profit, industry, corporate supply chain, and other partners. 

• Provide leadership and programmatic management for funded work, ensuring high quality deliverables, partner coordination, and progress and final funder reporting.  

• Support a strong team culture of shared learning, innovation and problem solving among AFT national and regional staff. 

This is not an all-inclusive list of job-related responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements, or working conditions. While this is intended to be a reflection of the current job, future fundraising will drive the direction of the program, and management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned.  

Required Qualifications 

Scientific experience and soil health and biochar expertise  

• Significant scientific, technical, and applied on-farm expertise in soil health, soil function, and interactions among production systems, soils, climatic conditions, and management, including adaptation of practices to site-specific conditions across diverse agricultural production systems. 

• Familiarity with soil systems modeling as well as with microbial, ecological, and other soil science processes. 

• Advanced understanding of soil health management systems implementation, biochar opportunities and challenges, and environmental co-benefits, climate interactions, and technical barriers for producer adoption and success.  

• Experience advancing soil health management systems through development and application of models, tools, and decision support resources and technical guidance that are based in research and producer experience. 

• Demonstrated success conducting independent research and executing complex technical tasks and quantitative analyses of complex agronomic or ecological datasets using R, SAS, or a comparable statistical programming language.  

• Proficient in literature review, synthesis of scientific information, and regular evaluation of emerging soil health research, technologies and producer innovations. 

• Strong written and verbal communication skills for inter-organizational and inter-disciplinary team collaboration on technical resources and publications for diverse audiences. 

• Demonstrated experience and success in grant writing and other forms of fundraising as well as achieving peer, leadership, or donor buy-in on critical projects. 

Stakeholder, and partnership management experience  

• Demonstrated success in developing partnerships with researchers, farmers and ranchers, advisors, non-profits, corporations, agricultural retailers and industry, and government agencies.   

• Dedicated to practicing, learning, and advancing efforts to expand access to resources and support among small, limited resource, beginning and other farmers who have faced barriers that may impact practice adoption. 

Training and outreach experience 

• Proficient trainer, facilitator, communicator, and public speaker to represent organization’s work.  

• Adept at developing educational materials and communicating complex scientific concepts related to soil health systems, resilience, and biochar integration to diverse audiences of producers, advisors, policymakers, and technical experts.   

Programmatic and team management experience 

• Ability to do high quality, independent work in a dynamic organization under time pressure. 

• Proven history overseeing research and/or project implementation and delivery on time and within budget, leveraging specialized knowledge to achieve goals. 

• High emotional intelligence and demonstrated ability to collaborate, motivate others, and achieve shared goals in remote and team-based environments.  

• Exceptional organizational and communication skills. 

• Commitment to shared learning, creativity, innovation and problem solving. 

Additional Desired Qualifications 

• Experience with and/or knowledge of markets for carbon sequestration or other environmental services. 

• Knowledge of NRCS and other current state and federal policies and programs related to agriculture, soil health, biochar, and climate mitigation and resilience. 

Education & Experience 

To qualify for the scientist position regardless of level, the incumbent must have:  

• Scientific and implementation leadership experience. 

• Degree in agronomy, soil science, agroecology, conservation, agricultural sciences, or related field and commensurate amount of experience in soil health and biochar management. 

• Masters degree and about 6 years of relevant work experience; OR 

• PhD degree and about 2 years of relevant work experience  

To qualify for the senior level the incumbent must have: 

• Significant, large scale, multi-regional or national scientific and implementation leadership experience, successful fundraising, agricultural production systems expertise. 

• Masters degree and about 10 years of work experience; OR 

• PhD degree and about 6 years of work experience 

Additional Considerations: 

• Qualifications for the position described are more important than level of educational degree attainment. 

This is a senior scientist role, with a salary range of $100-110k, for candidates who meet the qualifications above. If we don't find that exact fit, we're open to someone earlier in their career with strong potential to grow into it.  For a junior hire, the range would be $90-$99k

Working Conditions 

• This role involves some travel to meet with producers, agricultural services providers, research professionals, and other agricultural and conservation stakeholders in indoor and outdoor locations, including visiting a variety of agricultural operations.  

• Occasional evening or weekend work may be required to meet deadlines or attend events. 

Travel 

• Requires up to 15% travel, potentially including to national headquarters office in Washington, D.C., other regional offices, and elsewhere in the country. 

Degree of Supervision Received 

• Direction: The incumbent establishes methods and procedures for attaining specific goals and objectives, receives guidance in terms of broad goals and approaches, and on organizational policies, and then leads and receives input from the team. Initial outlines and final results of work are typically reviewed. Incumbent exercises wide latitude in determining research and technical objectives and approaches to critical assignments. 

Degree of Supervision Given 

This position has no management responsibility at this time but may have potential to evolve into a management position.

Compensation
American Farmland Trust offers excellent vacation, medical, ...