Sustainability Engineer

About Kearney

Kearney is a global management consulting firm with a long-standing reputation for solving complex, high-impact problems for the world's leading organizations. We work with clients across industries to drive transformation grounded in strategy, operations, engineering, and execution.

At Kearney, sustainability is not treated as a parallel or advisory-only functionit is increasingly embedded into core business decisions, product design, operations, and capital allocation. Our sustainability work is deeply analytical, commercially relevant, and tightly connected to how products and systems are actually built and scaled.

About the Product Excellence & Renewal Lab (PERLab)

The Product Excellence & Renewal Lab (PERLab) is Kearney's global engineering, analytics, and product-systems center of excellence, supporting client engagements worldwide through deep technical problem solving and model-driven decision making.

PERLab brings together engineering rigor, quantitative analytics, and product-level understanding to solve complex challenges across the full product lifecycle.

PERLab teams work across:

• Product architecture and system design, including BoM decomposition, material selection, and functional trade-offs
• Manufacturing and process engineering, covering process flows, yields, energy intensity, equipment utilization, and loss mechanisms
• Cost, performance, and scalability analysis, using bottom-up engineering and techno-economic models
• Embedded sustainability, where carbon, energy, and resource efficiency are analyzed directly within product and process design decisions

Within PERLab, sustainability is treated as an engineering variable, not a standalone reporting exercise. We focus on:

• Where and how emissions are physically generated across materials, processes, and operations
• Mass, energy, and material flows through products and manufacturing systems
• The impact of engineering choicesmaterials, processes, design parameters, and scaleon cost, performance, and carbon simultaneously

This approach enables PERLab to deliver actionable, implementation-ready insights, grounded in how products are actually designed, built, and scaled in real industrial environments.

Role Description

We are looking for a Sustainability Engineer to join PERLab's Bengaluru office, focused on GHG emissions, LCA, PCF, and product-system sustainability. This role requires 36 years of relevant, hands-on experience and is suited for engineers who are comfortable working with complex product systems, data-heavy models, and multiple concurrent projects in a consulting environment.

This role is designed for engineers who:

• Are comfortable working with complex product systems
• Can build bottom-up, assumption-driven models
• Enjoy handling large, imperfect datasets
• Thrive in fast-paced, multi-project consulting environments

You will work across multiple industries and technologies, often in parallel, and will be expected to grow quickly into a trusted technical expert for both internal teams and clients.

Key Responsibilities

Product & Process Sustainability Analysis

• Conduct Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies aligned with ISO 14040/44, ISO 14067, and GHG Protocol
• Develop end-to-end GHG models covering: Raw materials and upstream supply chains, Manufacturing and processing (energy, yields, losses), Logistics and distribution, Use-phase (where applicable), End-of-life scenarios
• Analyze product architectures, BoMs, and process flows to identify emissions drivers and optimization levers

Multi-Industry Exposure

You will work across multiple industries, including (but not limited to):

• Electronics & semiconductors
• Automotive & mobility
• Food & beverages
• Packaging systems
• Beauty & personal care products

Candidates are expected to be comfortable switching contexts and learning new product systems rapidly.

Data, Modeling & Tool Development

• Handle, clean, and structure large datasets from multiple sources (BoMs, supplier data, LCI databases, energy data, logistics data)
• Apply engineering judgment to resolve data gaps and inconsistencies
• Build and maintain Excel-based, Python-based, or hybrid models
• Develop and automate: PCF calculators, Scenario models, Internal tools and dashboards
• Continuously improve methodologies, assumptions, and model efficiency

Qualifications

• Engineering Background

  - Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering (Chemical, Mechanical, Industrial, Materials, Environmental, Energy, or related disciplines) with strong fundamentals in process and system-level thinking. 36 years of relevant experience in sustainability, PCF, LCA, GHG modeling, or product/process sustainability

• GHG, LCA & PCF Expertise

  - Solid understanding of GHG accounting (Scope 1, 2, and 3), Life Cycle Assessment methodologies, and Product Carbon Footprinting, including boundary definition, allocation logic, and methodological consistency.

• Product & Process Systems Understanding

  - Ability to analyze complex product systems using mass and energy balances, process yields, efficiencies, and loss mechanisms; experience working with BoMs, process flows, and manufacturing systems.

• ESG & Sustainability Framework Exposure -

  Practical experience working with corporate ESG and sustainability frameworks, including interpretation of disclosures, alignment of PCF/LCA outputs with ESG reporting, and understanding how technical sustainability analysis supports broader ESG and regulatory requirements.

• Data Handling & Analytics

  - Advanced proficiency in Excel, with strong skills in data cleaning, structuring, and validation, and experience working with large, incomplete, and heterogeneous datasets.

• Automation & Tool Development

  - Experience or strong interest in automation, scripting, or analytics tools (Python preferred), including development of internal calculators, dashboards, and repeatable modeling frameworks.

• Multi-Project Delivery & Consulting Mindset

  - Ability to manage multiple parallel workstreams in high-expectation, time-constrained environments, with strong ownership, prioritization, and delivery discipline.

What's In It for You

• Steep learning curve across products, industries, and technologies
• Exposure to top global clients and complex, real-world problems
• Opportunity to build tools, models, and methodologies used at scale
• Early and increasing client-facing exposure
• Strong career growth and progression opportunities
• Work in a team that values technical depth, ownership, and rigor
• Travel opportunities within India and internationally based on project needs

How to Apply

[HIDDEN TEXT]

Kindly include a brief note highlighting your relevant experience in PCF/LCA, product or process sustainability, and industries worked on.

Final Note

This is a high-bar, technical role intended for engineers who want to work deeply on how products and processes actually drive carbon emissions, not just report numbers.