Food Technology Director Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Description

At Walton Arts Center/Walmart AMP, we strive to be the place where a diverse mix of talented people want to come, to stay and do their best work. We pride ourselves on bringing the best Arts and Entertainment to our audiences in Northwest Arkansas, and we know our organization runs on the hard work and dedication of our passionate and creative employees.
Walton Arts Center and the Walmart AMP aspire to be welcoming spaces where people can be their authentic selves. To truly embody our mission, we recognize the importance of reflecting the diversity of our community on our stages, in our audiences and within our workforce, volunteers and Board.
Our organization is committed to creating a welcoming environment, guided by our core values: Relevance; Inclusivity; Sustainability; Excellence. Walton Arts Center/Walmart AMP is focused on promoting fairness and recognizes the value of diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. We believe these elements enhance the strength, creativity, and success of our team and the communities we serve.
Walton Arts Center Inc. operates two campuses: a 1,200-seat proscenium theatre and 269-seat black box in Fayetteville and an 11,000-capacity outdoor Amphitheatre known as the Walmart AMP in Rogers, AR. Walton Arts Center has been Arkansas’ premier performing arts center for over 30 years and Walmart AMP has consistently been one of Billboard's top-rated amphitheaters producing 30 plus concerts per season.
Located in the beautiful Ozark Mountains, NWA (as the locals refer to it) includes Benton, Washington, and Madison counties, with five hub cities: Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, Springdale and Siloam Springs. The economic opportunity is unparalleled, but so is the lifestyle — see: 400-plus miles of mountain biking trails and paved pathways, a thriving arts community complete with world-class performing arts center and museums, a legitimate beer and food scene, and live music to enjoy.?Best of all, it’s a place where everyone is welcome.

The Director of Technology Services provides strategic leadership for technology across Walton Arts Center and Walmart AMP, ensuring that technology investments, services, and partnerships support organizational priorities and effective business operations. The Director develops the organization’s technology roadmap, evaluates emerging opportunities and risks, manages key technology initiatives, and serves as the primary organizational relationship manager for third-party technology service providers.

Two significant areas of strategic focus for the position are data and artificial intelligence. The Director will lead efforts to improve the organization’s use of data, reporting, analytics, and business intelligence and will guide the thoughtful adoption of artificial intelligence tools that improve productivity, decision-making, patron engagement, and organizational effectiveness.

Much of the organization’s day-to-day technology and event support is delivered through third-party providers. The Director is accountable for establishing expectations, monitoring service quality and system reliability, managing vendor relationships and escalations, and ensuring that external providers effectively support the needs of Walton Arts Center and Walmart AMP.

The Director works closely with leaders and departments throughout the organization to identify business needs, evaluate technology solutions, manage risk, and promote successful adoption of new tools and processes. The ideal candidate combines strategic thinking with practical execution and is able to translate rapidly changing technology into useful, sustainable solutions for the organization.

Develop and maintain a practical multi-year technology roadmap aligned with organizational priorities. Translate business needs into clear technology priorities, investment recommendations, project sequencing, and measurable outcomes. Advise leadership on technology opportunities, risks, tradeoffs, and resource needs, and evaluate emerging technologies for practical organizational use.

Lead the organization’s development and use of data platforms, reporting tools, dashboards, and business intelligence capabilities. Coordinate efforts to integrate and make effective use of ticketing, fundraising, finance, marketing, patron, venue, and operational data. Establish expectations for data quality, ownership, governance, security, and accessibility, and partner with departments to expand data-informed decision-making.

Lead the organization’s thoughtful adoption of artificial intelligence and related emerging technologies. Identify and prioritize practical opportunities to use AI to improve productivity, analysis, patron engagement, content creation, administrative processes, and decision‑making. Partner with departments to evaluate and implement appropriate tools, establish standards for responsible use, address data security and privacy considerations, and build organizational capability through education, experimentation, and change management.

Provide organizational oversight of technology services delivered by managed service providers, consultants, and other third‑party partners. Establish service expectations and performance standards; monitor service quality, responsiveness, system reliability, and contractual commitments; manage vendor relationships and escalations; and hold providers accountable for results. Ensure technology providers understand the unique operating requirements of Walton Arts Center and Walmart AMP, including the need for reliable support of performances, concerts, and other high‑impact events. Review significant incidents and recurring issues and coordinate appropriate corrective action.

Establish and maintain appropriate technology, cybersecurity, data, and AI governance practices. Coordinate cybersecurity risk management, business continuity, incident preparedness, and recovery planning with internal stakeholders and external providers. Manage technology budgets, contracts, major projects, and lifecycle planning. Work across departments to understand business needs, evaluate solutions, support implementation, and promote effective adoption of technology and new ways of working.

• Develop and maintain a multi-year technology roadmap aligned with organizational strategy and available resources.
• Strengthen accountability and performance management for external technology service providers.
• Advance the organization’s data architecture, reporting, analytics, and business intelligence capabilities.
• Develop and implement an organizational AI strategy, including priority use cases, governance, security, employee education, and adoption
• Maintain appropriate cybersecurity, data privacy, business continuity, and technology risk practices.
• Improve organizational adoption and effective use of technology through strong business partnership and change management.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

• Seven or more years of progressively responsible experience in technology, including experience with technology strategy, operations, enterprise applications, data and analytics, project management, or related areas.
• Demonstrated experience managing managed-service providers, consultants, technology vendors, or other outsourced technology resources and holding them accountable for performance and results.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate technology from both a technical and business perspective and translate complex issues into clear recommendations and priorities.
• Experience with data platforms, reporting, analytics, business intelligence, or enterprise data initiatives.
• Experience evaluating, implementing, or supporting AI-enabled tools and practical AI use cases; deep AI engineering experience is not required.
• Working knowledge of cybersecurity, cloud services, Microsoft 365, enterprise applications, data privacy, and technology risk management.
• Strong communication, project leadership, and change-management skills, including the ability to help nontechnical users adopt new tools and processes
• Bachelor’s degree in information systems, computer science, business, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Experience in performing arts, live entertainment, sports, hospitality, nonprofit, retail, or another high-availability, customer-facing environment.
• Experience integrating ticketing, CRM, fundraising, finance, marketing, venue, and analytics platforms.
• Experience developing data governance, dashboards, reporting standards, or business intelligence capabilities across multiple departments
• Experience developing organizational guidelines, governance, training, or adoption programs for artificial intelligence or other emerging technologies.
• Relevant certifications or advanced education in cybersecurity, Microsoft technologies, cloud services, data platforms, project management, IT service management, artificial intelligence, or related disciplines.

• Strategic and forward-looking, while practical about organizational priorities, resources, risk, and readiness.
• A strong business partner who listens well, communicates clearly, and builds trust across technical and nontechnical teams.
• Skilled at leading through influence and coordinating internal staff, vendors, consultants, and department leaders.
• Curious and disciplined about emerging technology, with the judgment to distinguish useful innovation from technology for technology’s sake.
• Focused on measurable outcomes, responsible technology use, adoption, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• Ability to sit or stand for extended periods while working at a computer.
• Ability to lift and carry up to 50 pounds.
• Ability to communicate effectively in person, by telephone, and through virtual collaboration tools.
• Must be able to endure standing or walking for extended periods of time on various surfaces such as concrete, grass, and inclined surfaces.
• Must be able to endure outdoor elements including cold, heat, wind, and/or precipitation
• Must be able to work in large, crowded environments, with flashing lights, loud music and noises, pyrotechnics, and cannons as part of shows and events
• Ability to operate standard office equipment, computers, and mobile devices.
• Ability to work occasional evenings, weekends, and special events as business needs require.
• Must maintain regular and reliable attendance consistent with applicable laws and organizational expectations.

Work is primarily performed in a professional office environment with occasional travel between Walton Arts Center and Walmart AMP locations. Occasional attendance at performances, concerts, meetings, and special events may be required, including evenings and weekends.

Walton Arts Center and Walmart AMP are equal opportunity employers and are committed to building a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, organizational needs, and applicable law.