The Walton Family Foundation
Environment Program Officer
Job Description
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, working on riparian habitat issues in the Colorado River
basin. 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.
The Foundation is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, with offices in Washington, D.C., and Denver, Colorado. A
staff/consultant base of approximately 48 people conducts the day-to-day operations of the Foundation.
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 large environmental problems. The
Environment Program focuses on two core areas: (1) Freshwater Conservation, in which we work to sustain healthy
and resilient communities of both wildlife and people in the Colorado and Mississippi River Basins; and (2) Marine
Conservation, in which we support initiatives that create economic incentives for sustainable resource management
in some of the world’s most ecologically rich ocean areas, from Indonesia to Ecuador to the Gulf of Mexico. In 2012,
the Foundation invested over $91 million in its environment initiatives.
The Colorado River basin is one of the Foundation’s key freshwater initiative regions where two streams of grant
making intersect: (1) Protecting and restoring healthy river flows in priority geographies and making water policies
and practices more sustainable basin-wide; and (2) Removing invasive riparian plants and restoring native wildlife
habitat in priority geographies and improving riparian restoration practices basin-wide.
The Role
The Program Officer would oversee the continued development and implementation of the Foundation’s riparian
habitat objectives that seek to restore habitat in six priority Colorado River geographies through invasive plant
management. The Foundation invests in geographies where a multi-stakeholder working group has developed a
regional plan designed to restore riparian habitat and provide economic benefits for local communities. The
Foundation’s priority riparian habitat geographies currently are the Dolores River (CO, UT), Escalante River (UT),
Virgin River (AZ, UT, NV), Verde River (AZ), and Upper Gila River (AZ) watersheds and the Colorado River Delta
area (AZ, MX).
This position would be located in Denver, Colorado or within the Colorado River basin, and would report to Margaret
Bowman, Environmental Program Deputy Director.
Responsibilities:
Overseeing grant making in each priority geographic area, including adjusting grants and overall strategies to
ensure program success and overseeing grant proposals, internal grantmaking documents, and progress reports.
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Working with watershed partnerships to ensure ecologically effective implementation of a regional restoration
plan, and to expand participation in and financial support for the restoration partnerships.
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Assisting grantees and consultants working to build and enhance the connection between environmental and
economic restoration within each watershed.
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Conducting site visits to ongoing or potential project sites, and attending watershed partnership meetings.
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Identifying potential new partnerships and opportunities, including identifying other funding partners to engage in
the region.
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Assisting grantees in developing and implementing monitoring, maintenance, and funding strategies that lead to
the achievement of watershed partnership goals.
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Working with Foundation evaluation staff and consultants to implement and refine the Foundation’s monitoring
and evaluation program.
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Providing other information and assistance as needed to Foundation senior staff and board members.
Identifying critical riparian issues and/or stressors, and developing strategies for resolving them with grantees and
consultants.
Qualifications and Experience
The position calls for an understanding of issues related to the conservation of riparian systems. 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:
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At least seven years of work experience in natural resource management, policy, or advocacy; ideally with
experience in grant or project management and evaluation.
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Graduate degree in a related field.
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Unquestionable ethics and personal integrity.
Experience in the Colorado River basin is a plus.
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Proven organization and time management skills.
Demonstrated capacity to work 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.
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 environment@wffmail.com by February 1, 2014.
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.
A component of the this job will include site visits that may include hiking and/or rafting into back-country wilderness
type settings that could require some level of hiking, backpacking and/or overnight camping.
While performing the duties of this job, the Program Officer 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 Officer 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 office setting will depend on the
applicant’s location, which may be remote from other Foundation office locations.
The Walton Family Foundation is an equal opportunity employer.