Principal Advisory Consultant Sustainability

Science Group; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a dynamic consultant to lead innovative sustainability projects. This role involves managing key client relationships, delivering impactful advisory services, and driving business development efforts. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in consulting, particularly in sustainability, and possess excellent communication and project management skills. Join a collaborative team dedicated to making a difference in various sectors, from consumer goods to chemicals, while enjoying a competitive salary and benefits. This is a fantastic opportunity for those looking to advance their career in a fast-paced environment.

Benefits

Competitive Salary

Bespoke Training and Mentoring

Career Development Opportunities

Qualifications

• 5+ years of consulting experience with a track record in innovation strategy.
• Strong knowledge of sustainability in commercial contexts.

Responsibilities

• Lead and deliver advisory projects with actionable recommendations.
• Manage client relationships and ensure project profitability.

Skills

Consulting Experience

Sustainability Knowledge

Project Management

Communication Skills

Interpersonal Skills

Education

Master’s Degree in a Scientific Subject

PhD or Additional Business Qualifications

Job description

Who We Are

Sagentia Innovation provides independent advisory and leading-edge product development services to a broad range of companies from some of the world’s leading and best-known brands, to start-up disruptors. We operate projects ranging in scale from £10k to £10m and serve customers across the medical, industrial, chemicals and energy, defence, food and beverage, and consumer sectors. We are part of Science Group (AIM:SAG), which has more than ten offices globally, two UK-based dedicated R&D innovation centers and more than 500 employees.

What We Do

Recent examples of our advisory consultancy work:

• Foresight: What will be the future of circularity of plastics and how can R&D ensure they have the strategy for operating in the circular economy of the future?
• Strategy: How can systems change be achieved in complex multi-stakeholder systems with the intent of unlocking sustainability?
• Benchmarking: How does our client compare to its peers in its packaging strategy? Which companies are driving innovation in the field, and how are they doing it? How could gaps/weaknesses in our client’s strategy be addressed?
• Appraising alternative technologies: What are the most applicable carbon capture & utilisation technologies for use with a specific industrial process, also considering demand, location and transport and applicable business models?
  
  

Key Responsibilities

• Account management and business development
• Project delivery
• Client and team interaction
• Adherence to Group policies
• Account Management and business development
  
  

Strategic Accounts And New Business (1 Or 2 Accounts)

• Take responsibility for maintaining and growing the business relationship with selected Strategic Accounts
  
  

Business development for own and other accounts, leading or supporting as appropriate:

• Business development and marketing activities for the sustainability practice
• Work with account management to build rapport and promote our capabilities
• Build effective relationships with clients and help to identify their needs
• Account management/support and new business sales:
• Find and close project sales
• Meet client as senior representative of business and orchestrate sales activities
• Frame proposals and challenges project brief (up-sell)
• Recognise and understand commercial drivers of the client and how these may impact the business, developing long term relationships and repeat business with key clients
• Visit prospects for lead generation and to identify potential client needs
• Present full range of Group services and case studies and ‘intro’ to group companies
• Own and coordinate the writing and delivery of compelling sales material (e.g. discussion documents, proposals, case studies, capability decks)
• Understands division position in the market and can differentiate it from the competition
• Project delivery
  

Managing Advisory Projects As Follows

• Lead and deliver projects delivering business value to our clients.
• Effectively generate and communicate actionable recommendations and articulate key sustainability messages with clear strategic storytelling.
• Write engaging reports, drawing on expertise from across several internal and external Subject Matter Experts (SMEs).
• Manage multiple projects independently across different clients with minimal supervision to meet tight and very often concurring deadlines.
• Efficiently and effectively coordinate and manage project teams allocating tasks, providing guidance and direction and monitoring delivery of the different workstreams.
• Manage project plans, including project set up, monitoring actual vs forecast budget and Earned Value (EV), invoicing and project closure to ensure project profitability and highest level of customer satisfaction.
• Client and team interaction
• Recognise and understand the commercial, technical, and strategic factors and drivers affecting our clients and their potential impact on their current and future business.
• Develop long term relationships with clients becoming their trusted advisor.
• Confidently engage with a wide variety of client stakeholders at different levels from practitioner to C-Suite level executives leading and delivering meetings/facilitating workshops
• Clearly and articulately present project work at internal/external meetings
• Build effective working relationships with colleagues across Sagentia Innovation and its sister companies across the science group.
• Coach and mentor junior members of the team
• Adherence to Group policies and process
• Maintain complete client confidentiality.
• Ensure adherence to group project management practices, policies, and processes to ensure delivery of projects on time, budget and quality
  
  

Experience & Qualifications

• Minimum 5-year consulting experience with demonstrable track record selling and delivering innovation strategy applying sustainability in a business environment
• Strong knowledge of sustainability in a commercial context, particularly in the consumer, ingredients and chemicals sectors
• Master’s degree in a scientific subject (chemistry or life science preferred) and may also have a PhD or additional business qualifications.
• Able to understand client’s objectives to shape solutions
• Ability to explain ideas in a clearly and concisely, creating buy in to ideas and approaches
• Strong verbal and written communication, time management, and planning skills
• Experience of managing projects to tight timescales and budgets
• Strong interpersonal skills and attention to detail
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment leading multidisciplinary project team
  
  

Career development

We are committed to career development and make a focussed effort to offer bespoke training and mentoring to allow each individual to thrive within their environment and realise personal potential.

Benefits

We offer a competitive salary and benefits package.