Sustainability Specialist

Overview

We are seeking an experienced delivery leader for the Deputy Head of Sustainability business. This position reports directly to the Head of Sustainability, IoT DE, and holds responsibility for the\ overall delivery of Strategic Sourcing programs to our global clientele.

You will lead the end-to-end delivery of all sustainability programs for global clients across automotive, industrial machinery, utilities, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, semiconductors, retail, and other industries.

The role requires deep sustainability domain expertise combined with large-scale delivery management capabilities. You will ensure delivery excellence, client satisfaction, operational efficiency, standardization, and continuous capability development across a distributed delivery organization.

This role is critical in scaling our sustainability services, improving delivery margin, strengthening customer relationships, and developing technical and engineering talent in a rapidly evolving sustainability landscape.

• Key Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery for all sustainability engagements (ESG, decarbonization, carbon accounting, LCA, sustainable manufacturing, renewables, circularity, green supply chain, energy optimization, compliance reporting).
• Establish and maintain governance, quality systems, SOPs, and delivery frameworks.
• Lead multi-geography, multi-year delivery programs ensuring on-time, on-budget execution.
• Act as the senior delivery partner for CXO and sustainability leadership of global clients.
• Lead and scale teams of sustainability specialists, engineers, analysts, LCA experts, carbon accountants, and program managers.
• Develop capability-building plans, training frameworks, and career paths.
• Drive operational excellence through delivery automation, process standardization, and quality frameworks.
• Manage P&L responsibility for sustainability delivery, including margin improvement, utilization, and operational efficiency.

Key KPI’s

• Project Quality Score / Defect Rate – Low rework, high client QA scores.
• SLA Compliance across all customer programs
• Customer NPS / CSAT
• Number of escalations concerning delivery performance.
• Delivery Margin / Gross Margin Improvement – YoY margin uplift targets.
• Utilization / Productivity Metrics – Maintain optimal staffing mix.
• Delivery Accelerators / Reusable Assets Developed

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or master’s in engineering; MBA or equivalent postgraduate qualification.

Years of experience required for position: (For Grade Mapping)

• 12–15+ years in sustainability consulting, ESG, decarbonization, or environment-related programs.
• Experience delivering sustainability programs for global clients across industries (automotive, industrial, pharma, utilities, semiconductor, etc.).
• Strong understanding of: ESG frameworks (GRI, SASB, TCFD, CSRD, BRSR, CDP), Carbon accounting (Scope 1/2/3), GHG Protocol, LCA methodologies and sustainability product compliance, Energy transition, renewable integration, circularity, and resource efficiency.
• Good understanding manufacturing, eco-design, green supply chain & green operations.

Attributes

• Has led multi-year, multi-country sustainability programs.
• Experience running delivery teams of300+ people.
• Strong governance, SLA/KPI ownership, and client engagement management.
• Extensive experience collaborating with global clients, particularly those based in North America, Europe, or Japan
• Can build and run delivery frameworks, quality systems, and standardized processes.
• Strong project and program management skills.
• Experience with: Resource planning & forecasting, Budget, P&L, and margin management, Risk, compliance, and audit management, Operational dashboards and delivery metrics
• Exposure to multiple industries and sustainability.
• Can create reusable assets, frameworks, process checklists, and knowledge repositories.
• Strong stakeholder management capabilities, with confidence in engaging CXOs, engineering leaders, and product managers in client organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to attract, mentor, and retain to develop a strong sustainability talent pool.
• Adept at operating within a matrixed, global delivery environment.