Project and Science Associate

Location: Remote; Mainland Western US required; California, Oregon, or Washington preferred
Reports to: Science Manager

Salary: $72k-$78k

Travel: Travel up to 25%-40% of the time, primarily within the Western U.S. 

Preferred Start Date: January 5, 2026

Employment Status: Full-time, non-exempt

Priority Application Deadline: October 24th, 2025

About Blue Forest

Blue Forest is a conservation finance nonprofit founded in 2015, focusing on advancing ecosystem restoration through scientific research, financial innovation, and collaborative partnerships. Since 2018, Blue Forest has managed investor capital through its flagship financial product, the Forest Resilience Bond (FRB), which deploys private capital to finance forest restoration projects to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. More recently, Blue Forest has also established Blue Forest Asset Management (BFAM), an investment management platform that connects investors to compelling, mission-aligned opportunities in a broader set of asset classes, including private equity and private credit investments, beyond FRB projects.

Blue Forest is made up of an interdisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, foresters, finance professionals, and communications professionals committed to the mission: “To accelerate ecological restoration through conservation finance, enabling climate resilience for ecosystems and communities.”

Employees at Blue Forest are:

• Committed to Continuous Learning

• Driven by Collaboration

• Thoughtful Innovators for Impact

• Grounded in Science

• Passionate about Restoring Earth’s Ecosystems

Position Summary

Project and Science Associates at Blue Forest play a critical role in advancing innovative conservation finance projects, often focused on wildfire resilience, watershed health, and community benefit. This role typically combines multiple workstreams, including coordinating and contributing to science efforts, communications, education and capacity building, partnerships, and stakeholder engagement. The Associate will support 2-4 projects concurrently, and over time, will develop a specialization (e.g., geographic, issue area, modeling, communications, etc.) that advances project development and science across the organization.

Position responsibilities include leading execution and day-to-day operations for individual projects, fostering and managing relationships with project partners, facilitating the advancement of beneficiary engagement, and partnering with Managers and Directors to support long-term project strategy and cross-functional coordination, ensuring progress across all workstreams and deliverables.

Associates play a key role on the project development and science teams by developing written materials, giving presentations, and developing relationships with partners in coordination with the rest of the project team and Blue Forest leadership. Associates also spend their time as the lead coordinator for special projects within other departments at Blue Forest. This Associate will play a key internal role in bridging the project development and science teams—identifying opportunities to streamline collaboration, improve workflows, and ensure scientific insights are effectively integrated into project design and delivery.

The ideal candidate will be comfortable working independently, facilitating collaborative discussions, managing complex relationships, and navigating ambiguity—while maintaining alignment with Blue Forest’s broader goals and mission.