Director, Strategic Initiatives – ESG Strategy – Waste/Circularity
Walmart
Bentonville, Arkansas
Contract
Competitive
OfficeDirector
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.
The Director, Strategic Initiatives – ESG Strategy – Waste/Circularity leads the shared value strategy and disclosure approach for a defined issue portfolio: Waste (Circular Economy), Responsible Data and Technology, and Public Policy. This role is accountable for drafting and producing external disclosures and report content for these topics (e.g., ESG report sections, stakeholder- and investor-facing disclosures, and responses to common ESG questionnaires/ratings), ensuring alignment with evolving reporting frameworks and regulatory expectations; advising colleagues on Walmart’s shared value agenda (for example, policies, practices and performance targets); 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.
What you’ll do:
Shape disclosures and report content for the issue portfolio (primarily Waste/Circular Economy; also focusing on Responsible Use of Data and Technology Public Policy) 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:
Demonstrated expertise in waste/circularity and materials systems, and strong fluency or curiosity in either (a) responsible data/technology (e.g., digital trust, privacy, cybersecurity, responsible AI/automation) and/or (b) public policy engagement—with the ability to build depth across all three areas quickly.
Strong corporate disclosure and report-writing experience: translating technical inputs into clear, concise, decision-useful narratives for external audiences (investors, raters, policymakers, NGOs).
Working knowledge of leading ESG reporting frameworks and disclosure regimes and how they translate into internal information needs and review processes (e.g., SASB, GRI, IFRS/TCFD, TNFD, CDP).
Familiarity with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy approaches,
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 working with retail operations, merchandising, sourcing, and/or experience in sustainability programs.
The above information has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed in the role. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job. The full Job Description can be made available as part of the hiring process.
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Outlined below are the required minimum qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no minimum qualifications.
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Social Science, Communications, or related field and 5 years’ experience managing cross-functional projects for governmental or non-governmental organizations, consulting firms, or corporations OR 7 years’ experience managing cross-functional projects for governmental or non-governmental organizations, consulting firms, or corporations.Outlined below are the optional preferred qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no preferred qualifications.
Developing and managing project budgets for governmental or non-governmental organizations, consulting firms, or corporations, Managing project teams in a matrix environment, Managing strategic initiatives, Master's degree in International Business or related field