Sustainability Director

Day to day, you're leading the organization's sustainability function — overseeing ESG reporting, managing emissions reduction programs, engaging suppliers on sustainability requirements, and presenting to investors and board members. You're both internally facing (business unit engagement, operations changes) and externally facing (investor inquiries, disclosure frameworks, stakeholder communications).

The rhythm cycles between reporting seasons (annual ESG report prep, CDP submission, proxy advisory engagement), ongoing program work (Scope 3 supplier programs, energy efficiency projects, circular economy initiatives), and strategic development (setting targets, responding to regulatory developments, building the business case for sustainability investments).

The hard part is that sustainability spans the whole organization but rarely owns the operations it's trying to change. Getting procurement to prioritize supplier sustainability criteria, getting manufacturing to invest in efficiency, getting finance to allocate budget for renewable energy — all without a direct reporting line into those functions — requires a particular kind of organizational influence.