The Walton Family Foundation Seeks
Environment Program Officer
The Walton Family Foundation is seeking a skilled, highly motivated and
entrepreneurial individual to join the foundation’s Environment Focus Area as
a Program Officer for the Gulf of Mexico Restoration.
Having invested more than $20 million in the Gulf of Mexico in recent years,
the foundation is an important donor to restore the environment and economy
of the Gulf states. This position will be part of a team of talented and
accomplished professionals dedicated to marine and freshwater conservation.
About the Walton Family Foundation
When Sam and Helen Walton launched their modest retail business in 1962,
one of their goals was to increase opportunity for and improve the lives of
others along the way. This guiding principle has played a major role in the
phenomenal growth of their small enterprise into a global retail leader. This
principle – to the benefit of deserving people and inspiring projects around the
world – also drives the philanthropic mission of the Walton Family Foundation.
The foundation has three focus areas: systemic K-12 education reform;
freshwater and marine conservation; and quality of life initiatives in its home
region of northwest Arkansas. During 2012, the foundation invested more than
$432 million in domestic and international projects that addressed significant
social and environmental issues. The foundation continues to implement and
expand grant making to fund a positive change in many diverse communities
and in the lives of the people who call them home.
Headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, with offices in Washington, D.C., and
Denver, Colorado, a staff/consultant base of approximately 45 conducts the
day-to-day operations.
Environment Focus Area
The Walton Family Foundation works to achieve lasting change by creating
new and unexpected partnerships among conservation, business, and
community interests to build durable solutions to big problems. The Gulf of
Mexico is one of the foundation’s key program regions where three streams of
grant making intersect: 1) work focused on ending overfishing; 2) RESTORE
Act implementation in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas; and 3) a
broad-based campaign to restore the Mississippi River Delta focused in
Louisiana.
The Role
The Program Officer would oversee the continued development and
implementation of the foundation’s Gulf of Mexico strategy in relation to
coastal restoration. Strategy development is particularly important in the area
of RESTORE Act implementation through which the foundation seeks to
prioritize and advance high quality restoration projects that also have
significant local economic benefits for the communities that were most
affected by the 2010 spill in the Gulf. This position would be located in either
Washington, D.C. or Bentonville, Arkansas and would report to Moira
Mcdonald, Senior Program Officer.
Responsibilities:
•Overseeing grant making in each state, including adjusting grants and overall
strategies to ensure program success and overseeing grant proposals,
internal grant documents, and progress reports;
•Working with coalitions of economic and environmental actors in each state,
advocating for an approach to restoration and seeking to maximize
environmental and economic benefits;
•Assisting grantees and consultants working to build and enhance the
connection between environmental and economic restoration of the Gulf;
•Conducting site visits to ongoing or potential project sites, and attending
public meetings related to the RESTORE Act;
•Overseeing consultants who assist state-level coalitions with
communications, facilitation and other issues;
•Working with grantees and other coalition members to hone approaches for
broadening the group of stakeholders engaged in Gulf restoration;
•Identifying potential new partnerships and opportunities, including identifying
other funding partners to engage in the region;
•Providing information and assistance as needed to foundation board
members; and
•Working with consultants and WFF evaluation staff to implement and refine
WFF monitoring and evaluation program.
Qualifications and Experience
The position calls for an understanding of issues related to the conservation of
marine and freshwater systems, as well as familiarity with the use of marketbased tools for conservation. The role requires self-direction and decisiveness
combined with flexibility and a capacity to give and receive feedback
graciously. The foundation seeks to recruit an individual with superior
interpersonal skills, a respectful attitude for the work of grantees, and a
demonstrated ability to work effectively as part of a team. The Program Officer
should ideally possess the following professional qualifications and personal
attributes:
•At least 5 years’ experience in natural resource management, policy, or
advocacy; ideally with experience in grant or project management and
evaluation.
•Graduate degree in a related field.
•Experience in the Gulf Coast region is a plus.
•Excellent written and oral communication skills.
•Proven organization and time management skills.
•Demonstrated capacity to work in independently and as part of a team.
•Intellectual agility and the ability to analyze, think critically, and understand
emerging issues that are directly relevant to programmatic funding areas.
•Unquestionable ethics and personal integrity.
•Willingness to travel.
Compensation and Benefits
The foundation offers an excellent benefits package and a competitive salary
that is commensurate with experience. Interested candidates should send a
cover letter and a resume to Moira Mcdonald
at Environment@wffmail.com byOctober 31, 2013.
Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must
be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this
job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with
disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the associate is regularly required to
stand, reach with hands and arms, and use hands to finger, handle or feel
objects and/or controls. The employee is required to sit, walk, talk and hear,
and move/carry files. The associate must occasionally lift and/or move up to
25 lbs.
Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color, and the
ability to adjust focus in order to handle extensive data collection, analysis and
summary reporting. Computer work will be a part of the daily workflow and
process.
Work Environment
The work environment characteristics for this job are typical for this type of
job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with
disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work
environment is reflective of a mid-sized office.
The Walton Family Foundation is an equal opportunity employer.