Position Detail - Sustainability Program Manager

Position Type: Staff Full-time

Hours per week: 37.5   

Weeks per year: 52 weeks

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 

Department Summary & Job Purpose:

The College’s Plan for Mount Holyoke 2023, identifies environmental sustainability as a strategic priority. In January 2018, the Board of Trustees of Mount Holyoke College endorsed the overarching goals of the College’s recent 2017 Sustainability Task Force recommendations, including the goal of becoming a carbon-neutral campus by 2037, it's bicentennial.

The College has defined a sustainability vision and approach to support the strategic priorities for Mount Holyoke College that is inclusive and progressive. To date, we have made significant progress towards these goals, including a move to transition from coal fire heating to ground source heat exchange, retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency, reducing single-use items in our dining facilities, and improving upon campus composting. Other priority areas for the college include climate justice, instilling sustainability as a core value across campus, and elevating the use of the Campus Living Laboratory. We see this position as an exciting opportunity for someone who wants to grow and evolve with the Miller Worley Center’s mission and the College’s next strategic plan.

Our approach to sustainability is integrative and interdisciplinary, and with its remarkable international and domestic diversity, strong liberal arts tradition, and physical setting, the College is an exceptional place for advancing environmental education and research. Our graduates are the next generation of leaders, who will create a more sustainable, just, and equitable future across the globe.

With an emphasized focus on community building and communication, the Sustainability Program Manager is located in the Miller Worley Center for the Environment (MWCE), and reports directly to the Leslie and Sarah Miller Director of the Miller Worley Center. The Sustainability Program Manager provides strategic direction to achieve the College’s multifaceted sustainability goals, continuing an era of leadership in sustainability. The Program Manager works closely across college divisions and among students, faculty, and staff to advance sustainability as a core value in all aspects of the campus including academic programs and research, campus planning and operations, and co-curricular student opportunities with both local and global lenses. The Program Manager collaborates closely with the Vice President for Finance and Administration and the Associate Vice President for Facilities Management in reviewing sustainability goals and reporting progress and making recommendations for strategic directions to the Officers at least annually and reporting to the Board at least every 5 years.

Core Job Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Work with division heads and directors and engage the community to develop and implement a dynamic sustainability program informed by the Sustainability Steering Committee, with short and long-range implementation strategies and programs
• Connect sustainability to campus diversity initiatives and promote environmental and social justice in all initiatives.
• Track the College’s progress toward established sustainability goals and make recommendations for revisions or additional goals, including campus policies and procedures, and present an annual progress report to the Officers in close collaboration with the VP for Finance and Administration and the Associate VP for Facilities Management.
• Facilitate sustainability initiatives by providing research, information, and assistance to campus departments, programs, and student organizations in program development and implementation.
• Prepare the College’s Sustainability Tracking and Assessment Rating Systems (STARS) information annually and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Provide information and develop education programs to advance sustainability as a core value across campus, including generating content for communications initiatives and managing the sustainability portions of the website, social media, and events.
• Support the academic and co-curricular programs of the College, including working with the Miller Worley Center team in coordinating curricular sustainability initiatives, educational programming, curricular opportunities, and campus operations.
• Support and foster student leadership and engagement as it relates to the environment, justice, and sustainability.
• Meet regularly with dining, facilities, and other sustainability partners on campus to facilitate and help implement sustainability initiatives.
• Assist the MWCE Director and Advancement staff in developing ideas and supporting materials to engage alumnae in sustainability fundraising.
• Represent the College on the South Hadley Sustainability and Energy Committee and more broadly at local, regional and national sustainability organizations.
• Network with peer institutions in order to understand the evolving best practices and look for opportunities for collaboration to forward common goals. 

Qualifications: 

• Understanding of a sustainability mission that seeks to center justice and inclusivity.
• Strong ability to work as part of a team as well as to work independently on a wide variety of projects, including an ability to prioritize and manage multiple concurrent projects.
• Exceptional oral and written communication capacities with experience communicating with multiple diverse audiences, including an ability to work via social media platforms.
• Strong human relations and interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to develop positive collaborative relationships and facilitate collaborative processes with on-campus and external audiences to achieve consensus outcomes.
• Experience developing long-term strategic initiatives and implementing, assessing, and engaging diverse communities in them.
• Demonstrated adaptability and initiative, including a willingness to seek and integrate information from multiple sources, respect differing positions, adapt to change, and take initiative to anticipate programmatic needs.
• Experience working with the Sustainability Tracking and Rating System (STARS)
• Experience working with Microsoft Office, Google suites, and multiple social media platforms.
• An awareness of and commitment to women’s education and leadership, including an ability to develop and promote inclusive programs that foster just, equitable, and sustainable communities.

Preferred Qualifications:

• B.S. or B.A. required (Masters preferred) and 3+ years of relevant experience
• Minimum 2 years’ experience managing sustainability programs, including communicating, developing and coordinating broadly defined sustainability initiatives in collaboration with all levels of the organization.
• Understanding of the role of DEI and justice in sustainability work

License/Certifications:

Compliance Requirements: Mount Holyoke College is committed to providing a safe and secure environment, supported by qualified employees that will allow all of its students, faculty, staff and those associated with them to successfully carry out the mission of the college. As a condition of employment, the College will conduct appropriate background checks for all new hires. Mount Holyoke has designated the Office of Human Resources as the office responsible for ensuring that background checks (CORI, SORI, Credit History, & Driver Credential) are completed and utilized in the hiring process and Five College Office of Compliance and Risk Management as the office responsible for facilitating background checks as articulated in this policy.

Physical Demands: The Program Manager will need to be physically active enough to implement physical sustainability initiatives across campus, which may include lifting and transporting heavy materials.

Working Conditions: This position will require collaboration and consistent communication among multiple constituents, including facilities management. It may include working with individuals and groups in outdoor settings and among major facility operations.  

Background Checks:

Mount Holyoke College is committed to providing a safe and secure environment, supported by qualified employees that will allow all of its students, faculty, staff and those associated with them to successfully carry out the mission of the college. As a condition of employment, the College will conduct appropriate background checks for all new hires. Mount Holyoke has designated the Office of Human Resources as the office responsible for ensuring that background checks (CORI, SORI, Credit History, & Driver Credential) are completed and utilized in the hiring process and Five College Office of Compliance and Risk Management as the office responsible for facilitating background checks as articulated in this policy.

Special Instructions for Applicants: 

Apply online; application materials must include:

1. A cover letter summarizing interests and qualifications
2. A complete resume or curriculum vitae
3. Contact information for 3 professional references

Mount Holyoke College is a women’s college that is gender diverse. The College is committed to providing equal access and opportunity in employment and education to all employees and students. In compliance with state and federal law, Mount Holyoke College does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, genetic information, sex, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, ancestry, veteran or military status, or any other legally protected status under federal, state or local law. The College does not discriminate on the basis of gender in the recruitment and admission of students to its graduate program.

Mount Holyoke College is an Equal Opportunity Employer.