Director, Strategic Initiatives - ESG

Trellis Group; Bentonville (AR); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Performance-based bonuses

Health benefits including medical, vision, and dental

401(k) and stock purchase options

Paid time off including parental and family care leave

Company discounts

Job summary

A leading retail corporation is seeking a Director of Strategic Initiatives to lead ESG strategy. Responsibilities include shaping disclosures, advising on shared value, leading projects for ESG performance enhancement, and engaging with external stakeholders. Candidates should have experience in sustainability programs and strong strategic thinking skills. Competitive pay and benefits are offered, including health coverage and various leaves.

Qualifications

• Experience in Walmart's ESG priority areas like zero waste and packaging optimization.
• Familiarity with major institutional investors' expectations on ESG practices.

Responsibilities

• Shape ESG disclosures for investor and thought leader audiences.
• Advise on Walmart’s shared value agenda and emerging frameworks.
• Lead special projects to enhance ESG performance.
• Engage and influence external stakeholders on performance.

Skills

Visionary thinking

Strategic and analytical framing

Leading through influence

Project management skills

Strong oral and written communication

Job description

About the Team

Walmart seeks to lead on Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) practices, disclosures, and outcomes, building a stronger and more resilient business, creating shared value, and fostering trust.

About the Position

The Director, Strategic Initiatives – ESG Strategy is responsible for leading Walmart’s ESG strategy across a subset of ESG priority issues, including advising colleagues on Walmart’s shared value agenda (for example, policies, practices and performance targets); developing Walmart’s foundational disclosures; assessing Walmart’s performance; and engaging external stakeholders to understand expectations, influence standards and ratings, and share Walmart performance. This position reports to the Senior Director, ESG Strategy. Top candidates will have experience in shared value; waste, circularity, and other Walmart priority ESG issues; be familiar with ESG reporting frameworks; and have experience engaging with institutional investors, thought leaders, and other internal/external stakeholders.

What you’ll do

• Shape disclosures and report on a defined issue portfolio for investor and thought leader audiences. Craft and produce strong ESG disclosures, adhering to existing and emerging regulatory reporting standards. Develop ESG messaging and work with other members of the ESG team, Investor Relations, and Corporate Communications on the strategy to reach target audiences, including through ESG reporting, direct investor and other stakeholder engagement, and other channels.
• Advise colleagues on Walmart’s shared value agenda. Stay updated on the latest developments in your issue portfolio (e.g., regulatory, legislative, competitor trends), and advise on Walmart’s aspirations, policies, practices, targets, key metrics and performance improvement initiatives to enhance performance and reputation. Take a global perspective on emerging frameworks, policies, and practices. Maintain a robust network of peers and collaborators internally and externally to bring leading insights to your work. Develop annual issue strategies for your portfolio; collaborate with subject matter teams to set annual strategy and reporting plans; regularly engage with subject matter teams to discuss progress and adjust accordingly.
• Lead special projects to enhance ESG performance. Coordinate cross‑functional, complex projects to achieve policy, practice, and disclosure outcomes and to enhance Walmart’s understanding of issues and risks in the issue portfolio. Activities could include deep research and benchmarking, development of breakthrough policies or practices, etc.
• Engage/influence external stakeholders. Participate in external events to highlight Walmart’s shared value strategy and best practices in your issue portfolio. Engage investors, NGOs, standard setters/raters, and depending on topic, suppliers, coalition leads etc. to obtain feedback on our ESG performance, shape industry standards, and influence external perception of our performance.

What you’ll bring

• Visionary thinking backed by strong strategic and analytical framing.
• Innovation solutions to complex problems.
• Strength in leading through influence and aligning various stakeholders, sometimes with diverging opinions.
• Collaborative mindset with strong project management skills wit
• The ability to pick up on new concepts quickly, synthesize information, and generate insights.
• Curiosity and engagement with AI tools to enhance research and benchmarking capabilities as well as drafting and refining written work product.
• Influencing perspectives through strong oral and written communication.
• Experience in and familiarity with one or more of Walmart’s ESG priority issue areas in zero waste, packaging optimization, public policy, etc.
• Familiarity with major institutional investors’ and other stakeholders’ expectations regarding ESG practices and disclosures.
• Experience working with retail operations, merchandising, sourcing, and/or experience in sustainability programs.

At Walmart, we offer competitive pay as well as performance‑based bonus awards and other great benefits for a happier mind, body, and wallet. Health benefits include medical, vision and dental coverage. Financial benefits include 401(k), stock purchase and company‑paid life insurance. Paid time off benefits include PTO (including sick leave), parental leave, family care leave, bereavement, jury duty, and voting. Other benefits include short‑term and long‑term disability, company discounts, Military Leave Pay, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, and more.

You will also receive PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes. The amount you receive depends on your job classification and length of employment. It will meet or exceed the requirements of paid sick leave laws, where applicable.