Operations Associate, Arctic Ocean Initiative

Gordon and Betty Moore established the foundation to create positive outcomes for future generations. Guided by this vision and the Statement of Founders' Intent , the foundation fosters path-breaking environmental conservation, scientific discovery, and preservation of the special character of the San Francisco Bay Area. We strive to make significant and durable impacts on the world.

Together, we work to honor the vision of our founders and serve as stewards of the resources they have entrusted to us. We establish specific strategies based on advice from experts, identify partners who share our goals and measure results along the way. We build relationships and fund work in areas where we hope to make significant impacts; and we know that working together expands our ability to drive meaningful change.

The Opportunity The foundation is seeking an Operations Associate to join the Arctic Ocean Initiative team within our Environmental Conservation Program. The Arctic Ocean Initiative is a 10-year, $270 million effort to help ensure that 30 percent of the Arctic Ocean is conserved through protected areas within effectively managed seascapes. Building on more than 20 years of marine conservation grantmaking, the initiative offers a unique opportunity to advance conservation at an ocean scale.

Operations Associates at the foundation provide operational and administrative support for program staff. In this role, you will support the Arctic Ocean Initiative across the full grant lifecycle, from development through management, by coordinating day-to-day operations, strengthening team processes, and supporting financial and grantmaking workflows. You will also contribute to budget management, monitoring and evaluation, and the team's strategic planning efforts.

This role suits a collaborative, detail-oriented professional who enjoys bringing structure to complex work, anticipating needs, and enabling others to do their best work. The position blends initiative operations, grantmaking support, financial coordination, project management, and process improvement to keep people, information, and priorities aligned as the initiative advances its conservation goals. The Operations Associate reports to the initiative's Program Director, with a dotted-line relationship to the Environmental Conservation Program Manager on operational and financial management.

The role also involves close collaboration with Arctic Ocean Initiative Program Officers and others across the Environmental Conservation Program and the foundation. This role is based in Palo Alto, California, at the foundation’s main office. We operate under a hybrid work model that combines flexibility with meaningful in-person collaboration.

Staff are required to work and reside within a reasonable driving distance of the Palo Alto office, and this role will work onsite in Palo Alto a minimum of four days each month. Additional on-site presence is required during the weeks of the May, August, and November board meetings and periodically throughout the year as business needs require.

What You’Ll Do

Initiative Team Operations Develop and implement processes, timelines, analyses, and templates to support and enhance initiative operations, in particular regard to grant submissions, internal deadlines, team deliverables, initiative spending, and management of active grants. Use good judgment, with understanding of context, to identify priorities and strengthen team operations.

Responsibilities

are clear, and deadlines are met. Facilitate team coordination, work plans, internal functional relationships, knowledge management, and tracking and accountability of action items.