Position: ASSOCIATE, PROGRAMS

Grade: 2

Salary Range: $48,717 – 54,807

*Senior Associate salary range: $57,852 – 60,897

About Delta

Delta Institute is a Midwest-focused, environmental nonprofit whose mission is to collaborate with communities to solve complex environmental challenges. Our work is organized into distinct initiatives that move our mission forward, clearly define our work, and articulate impact. The programs functional hive strives to successfully address the challenges and creatively assist in sustainable solutions. The program hive staff focuses on the implementation of projects in Delta’s three initiative areas: Resilient Agriculture, Nature-Based Climate Solutions, and Sustainability & Support Services.

To achieve our vision of a thriving region, we partner with communities, governmental organizations and agencies, businesses, nonprofits, and universities throughout the Great Lakes and Midwest. We are multi-disciplinary systems thinkers. We understand that the issues around food, water, air, energy, and waste are all connected. Further, we have multiple leadership-level projects that will be incepted in the year ahead. Now is an exciting time to join us, so that together we positively advance key outcomes in the Midwest.

At Delta we consider the follow seven characteristics core competencies. They define who we are as individuals and also our work as an organization:

• Adaptive
• Cooperative
• Equitable
• Passionate
• Pragmatic
• Transparent
• Tenacious

Functional Hive (Work Area) – Programs

Delta strives for a more resilient, equitable, and innovative Midwest through our three programmatic areas: Nature-Based Climate Solutions, Resilient Agriculture, and Sustainability and Support Services. We typically have between 20-30 active projects, with a total impact of 200+ projects (and counting!) in our organizational history. Delta also is operating as an EPA Region 5 EFC in Category 2: Regional Water Infrastructure—so that more communities have access to cleaner, healthier, and more equitable water resources.

To help manage and streamline all our amazing efforts, our work is organized into distinct initiatives that move our mission forward, clearly define our work, and articulate impact. The programs functional hive strives to successfully address the challenges and creatively assist in sustainable solutions.

Associate, Programs

Position Specifics

Delta Institute is seeking an energetic environmental professional to support our work our three programmatic areas: Nature-based Climate Solutions, Resilient Agriculture, and Sustainability and Support Services. An Associate should be a self-starter who enjoys working collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders while expanding their programmatic and technical skill set.

A Program Associate must be resourceful, independent, creative, and unflappable. An Associate must be comfortable supporting several projects at once and able to address day-to-day details.

To be successful in this role, an Associate needs:

• An appetite for number crunching, running quantification models and calculations, and generating data visualizations.
• Great communications skills, both written and verbal
• Great organizational and time management skills, with attention to details and deadlines
• Experience working proactively and collaboratively on a team where team members working styles can vary
• An enthusiasm and commitment to work that is always challenging and of vital importance

Responsibilities include:

Technical

• Applies specialized technical expertise to Delta project implementation and deliverables.
• Collect quantitative and qualitative data and translate information into meaningful, high-quality deliverables
• Calculate the environmental, economic, and community impact of Delta’s project work utilizing various models
• Run water quality, agriculture conservation, carbon sequestration, urban forestry, greenhouse gas, and other quantification/impact modeling
• Research and review data from industry and scientific reports
• Create and compile new data sources which may involve conducting surveys and phone calls
• Integrate knowledge of innovation from one strategic area or field of study with other strategic areas
• Create presentations and reports, as assigned
• Work collaboratively with technical and operational staff on Delta initiatives

Program Management

• Manage multiple tasks for a variety of projects, complete tasks on time and within the provided budget while maintaining Delta’s high standard for deliverables
• Implement projects and/or project tasks as part of a project team
• Participate productively in team planning and implementation meetings
• Provide technical skills to a variety of Delta programs and consulting projects
• Represent Delta at project and client meetings
• External communication and coordination with partners and clients
• Work as member of a team to conceive and develop proposals
• Participate in the fundraising process including active solicitation of funding for programmatic initiatives
• Possible project management, timeline, and budget creation

What you’ll have:

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s or technical degree in sustainability, environmental science, geography, agriculture, engineering, or related field or equivalent experience
• Master’s degree in related fields is desired, though not required
• At least 2-4 years of professional experience
• Ability to organize, analyze, quantify, and visualize data
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills and the ability to synthesize complex information and concisely translate it to a variety of stakeholders and audiences
• Ownership and accountability of assigned tasks
• Detail oriented approach with good organizational skills, be a self-starter, motivated and enjoy working in a team environment
• Proactive communication style, both internally and externally, especially with respect to timeline and budget
• Proficient in Microsoft Office programs required
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with exceptional attention to detail
• Be able to work in a fast-paced environment, manage multiple tasks and deadlines, and manage work in sometimes ambiguous situations

Physical Demands and Work Environment

• Continually required to sit
• Continually required to utilize hand and finger dexterity
• Continually required to climb, balance, bend, stoop, kneel or crawl
• Continually required to talk or hear
• While performing the duties of this job, the noise level in the work environment is usually moderate
• The employee must occasionally lift and /or move up to 10 pounds

Delta offers its employees a competitive salary with a robust benefits package that includes generous paid time off, 401k, and medical, dental & vision insurance.

Delta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We encourage you to learn more about us by visiting our programs and our Equity and Inclusion efforts.

Please email application packet (one PDF) that includes the following:

• cover letter 
• resume  

All as one PDF to: careers@delta-institute.org  

Subject line: Associate, Programs

Application submission due date: 8/9/24

No phone calls, please.

Delta Institute’s Strategic Initiatives Summary

Through our work, Delta Institute benefits more than five million Midwesterners by transitioning one million acres to conservation-focused practices, and by improving water quality and reducing flooding by capturing 100 million stormwater gallons. By 2025 we will achieve these goals through our agriculture, climate, water, and community development projects.

Delta currently organizes its work into three initiatives to meet our mission of collaborating with communities to solve complex environmental challenges:

Strategic Initiative: Nature-Based Climate Solutions

Impact Statement: By 2025, Delta will have assisted municipalities in integrating natural and green infrastructure – improving the environment, mitigating the impacts of climate change, and strengthening communities – reducing stormwater impacts by 100 million gallons and leveraging at least $100 million in investment.

Theory of Change: By standardizing green infrastructure, creating innovative financing mechanisms for municipalities, and using natural solutions to water management, Delta will help our community partners attain improved water quality, canopy cover, and address equity issues through the quality-of-life-improvements that healthier water and trees bring.

Goal 1: Increase adoption and integration of green infrastructure.

Objective 1: Create standards and educational products to increase efficiency and effectiveness of implementation activities; scale with dedicated marketing and communications.

Objective 2: Coordinate and scale implementation-focused projects across the region, with an emphasis on resource-limited communities.

Goal 2: Create an integrated administration program to scale up implementation of green infrastructure.

Objective 1: Expand and formalize Delta’s role in catalyzing and scaling up private investment and insurance markets to invest in GI.

Objective 2: Make it more streamlines for municipalities to access carbon and water markets.

Strategic Initiative: Resilient Agriculture

Impact Statement: By 2025, Delta will directly support 1,000 farmers as they transition to sustainable and regenerative practices, thus improving the environment, mitigating the impacts of climate change, and strengthening a farmer’s bottom line; 1M Midwestern acres will successfully transition.

Theory of Change: Delta is expanding conservation practices to farms—both independent and commodity—throughout the Midwest via practical, feasible implementation that are grounded in science and are proven to sequester carbon while mitigating financial risk to farmers.

Goal 1: Standardize soil health testing and increase its use as a metric for farm management

Objective 1: Create soil testing standard and integrate into normal farm planning.

Objective 2: Integrate soil health into rural land appraisal systems.

Objective 3: Integrate soil health as part of agricultural leases.

Goal 2: Create an integrated administration program to scale up implementation of conservation practices.

Objective 1: Take our watershed-based agricultural work and create a standard implementation methodology.

Objective 2: Formalize Delta’s role as a Greenhouse Gas market conduit.

Objective 3: Align and Leverage Agriculture Value Chain and Demand Channels.

Strategic Initiative: Sustainability and Support Services

Delta Institute prides itself on being responsive to the needs of its partners and responding to what they define as being the most important goal, activity, project, or taking a new approach to improving their local environmental and economic outcomes.

Our Sustainability and Support Services are designed to respond to invitations to participate in community-led plans, which include a wide array of sectors in which Delta Institute has sizable experience. We forecast that by 2025, Delta Institute will work with more than 250 partner communities while securing $40 million in external investment and creating 100 practical tools, resources, strategies, and municipal-, county-, and state-level plans.

Our partners span the public, nonprofit and for-profit sectors, and together we address core needs that span:

Resiliency and Community Planning

Agency Support and Capacity Assistance

Brownfields and Coal Plant Redevelopment

Deconstruction and Waste Reduction Business

Sustainability Planning & Certification Assistance

Where we work, and how we operate

Our work takes us to population centers like Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit; to mid-sized cities such as Gary and South Bend, Indiana; to Great Lakes coastal towns like Michigan City, Indiana and Muskegon, Michigan; and to rural communities and watersheds with tens of thousands of acres of farmland and waterways across our region. It’s quite likely that you—or someone you know—lives, works, or passes through a community that Delta Institute has helped since our founding in 1998. Delta Institute is proud to serve as the EPA’s Environmental Finance Center for Water Infrastructure for the next five years, which means that we may be supporting a community near you right now. We are a trusted 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid/GuideStar, a recognition received by fewer than 1% of all 1.5 million registered nonprofits in the United States.

Acting now is not only a pressing climate change issue, but also an issue of equity and environmental justice.