Sustainability Manager

Smartsuite; Newport Beach (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Capitolis is seeking a Sustainability Manager to lead sustainability initiatives across operations, focusing on carbon reduction, energy, water and waste. You will coordinate owners in facilities, procurement and operations, track targets and feed verified results into ESG reporting.

This role reports to the ESG Program Director and collaborates with the ESG Analyst, Procurement Director and Facilities Director to drive on-time improvements and transparent external disclosures.

Qualifications

• Develop and manage sustainability initiatives and targets across operations.
• Coordinate initiative owners across facilities, procurement and operations.
• Track progress against carbon, energy, water and waste targets and engage suppliers.

Responsibilities

• Develop and manage sustainability initiatives and targets.
• Coordinate initiative owners across operations, facilities and procurement.
• Track progress against carbon, energy, water and waste targets.
• Engage suppliers on sustainability requirements.
• Feed initiative results into ESG reporting.
• Communicate sustainability progress internally and externally.

Skills

Sustainability strategy

Stakeholder coordination

ESG reporting

Data governance

Job description

SmartSuite for the Sustainability Manager

The Sustainability Manager runs sustainability initiatives and targets across operations: carbon reduction, energy, water, waste and supplier engagement. They coordinate initiative owners in facilities, procurement and operations, track progress against targets and feed verified results into ESG reporting.

Reports to:

ESG Program Director

What you own

The Sustainability Manager runs sustainability initiatives and targets across operations: carbon reduction, energy, water, waste and supplier engagement.

• Develop and manage sustainability initiatives and targets


• Coordinate initiative owners across operations, facilities and procurement


• Track progress against carbon, energy, water and waste targets


• Engage suppliers on sustainability requirements


• Feed initiative results into ESG reporting


• Communicate sustainability progress internally and externally

At a glance

The GRC processes this role owns, touches and depends on.

Owns

accountable for the process

Touches

contributes or approves

Depends on

consumes its output

How the GRC processes connect

Three lines of defence set the frame; the chain shows where each process hands off to the next. Colours follow the Sustainability Manager: navy is owned, blue is touched, grey is depended on.

1. First line The business and its control owners Run the processes, own the controls, fix the issues


2. Second line Risk, compliance and the domain programmes Set the frameworks, assess, monitor and advise


3. Third line Internal audit Independent assurance to the board and audit committee

Reporting lines

Who this role reports to, who reports to them, and the peers they work with most.

Reports to

ESG Program Director

Direct reports

Environmental Program Manager

Works closely with

ESG Analyst

Facilities Director

Procurement Director

How SmartSuite supports the Sustainability Manager

The Sustainability Manager owns the initiatives and targets behind carbon, energy, water and waste, answering to the ESG Program Director for progress that is owned and verifiable. SmartSuite links each initiative to the metric it moves and the owner who delivers it, so progress is tracked from the work rather than from the quarterly ask.

Run sustainability initiatives and targets across operations

Each carbon, energy, water or waste initiative runs as a structured workflow with an owner, milestones and the metric it is meant to shift, so progress against the target is read from the initiative rather than inferred at year end.

Emissions data collected without the chase

Recurring workflows and automated requests collect energy, fuel and waste data from facilities and operations on schedule, with calculations and evidence kept with their audit trail, so the GHG Protocol inventory is built from traceable inputs.

A stalled initiative visible before the target slips

Actions and gaps raised against an initiative are tracked to closure with owners and dates, with automated reminders doing the follow-up, so a stalled retrofit or a missed data return shows on your list before it shows in the target.

Coordinate facilities, procurement, environmental and the ESG Analyst

Scope 3 inputs from the supplier file

Supplier sustainability commitments and assessments are recorded against the vendor record the Procurement Director already uses, with questionnaires routed and evidence requested automatically, so engagement is a tracked cycle and Scope 3 inputs come from the supplier file.

Facilities projects feeding your targets

Environmental projects the Facilities Director and Environmental Program Manager run are tracked in the same initiative workflows, so an energy retrofit or a water reduction project reports its contribution to your target as it progresses, not after.

Metrics the ESG Analyst maps once

Initiative results and verified metrics feed the ESG Analyst's framework mapping to IFRS S2, ESRS E1 and CDP, so targets and transition plans are disclosed from the program data rather than restated for each framework.

Report progress to the ESG Program Director and externally

One picture for internal and external updates

Real-time dashboards show progress against carbon, energy, water and waste targets with trends and initiative status, shared with ESG reporting, so the ESG Program Director and you look at one picture and the external update draws on it.

Verified results, not restated ones

Metrics, evidence, calculations and approvals keep complete histories for internal or external audit, so a science-based target claim or an ISO 14001 review is backed by the data and the approver behind each figure.

Narratives drafted with the AI Assistant from the data

The AI Assistant in a SmartDoc field drafts the sustainability progress narrative, the internal summary or the disclosure text from the metrics and initiatives on file, so communicating progress internally and externally starts from the figures rather than a blank page.

ESG. Tracks initiatives, targets and progress with owners and milestones, linked to the metrics they move.

Third-party risk. Records supplier sustainability commitments and assessments against the vendor record.

Issues and actions. Tracks initiative actions and gaps to closure.

Reporting. Shows progress toward targets on dashboards shared with ESG reporting.

Products this role uses most

ESG & Sustainability Management

Track and report ESG performance with structured workflows, regulatory alignment, and real-time visibility into sustainability metrics and initiatives.

Environmental Health & Safety (EHS)

Manage incidents, inspections, and safety workflows in one platform with real-time visibility and structured processes to improve compliance and reduce risk.

Vendor & Supplier Management

Manage vendors and suppliers with structured workflows, performance tracking, and real-time visibility.

Issues Management

Track and remediate issues across audits, risk, and compliance with structured workflows, clear ownership, and real-time visibility into resolution status.

Industry reference

The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and Scope 3 Standard define how progress on carbon is measured; ISO 14001:2015 provides the environmental management system; the Science Based Targets initiative sets the target-setting method many companies commit to. ISSB IFRS S2 and the ESRS E1 standard under CSRD require targets and transition plans to be disclosed.

Sector specifics follow. Financial institutions set financed-emissions targets under PCAF and net-zero alliances; healthcare systems address Scope 1 to 3 emissions under national health-sector net-zero plans; public bodies follow government procurement and sustainability mandates; technology companies focus on renewable energy procurement and data-center efficiency.

Related roles

ESG Program Director

Explore Further

Guides and definitions from the GRC Knowledge Center and the What-is glossary, chosen for this role.

Frequently asked questions

The Sustainability Manager owns the initiatives and targets that move the organization's environmental footprint: carbon reduction, energy, water, waste and supplier engagement. They coordinate the initiative owners in facilities, procurement and operations, track progress against each target, engage suppliers on sustainability requirements, feed verified results into ESG reporting and communicate progress inside and outside the organization. With ISSB IFRS S2 and ESRS E1 requiring targets and transition plans to be disclosed, the targets have to be evidenced, not just stated.

ESG & Sustainability Management tracks initiatives, targets and progress with owners and milestones, linked to the metrics they move, so a lighting retrofit owned by the Facilities Director or a fleet change owned by operations is a tracked initiative with milestones and a line to the energy or Scope 1 metric it is meant to shift. The Sustainability Manager sees which initiatives are on track and which targets they serve, and can tell the difference between activity and progress.

Vendor & Supplier Management records supplier sustainability commitments and assessments against the vendor record, so a supplier's emissions commitment, its response to a sustainability assessment and the evidence it provided sit with the supplier rather than in the Sustainability Manager's inbox. The Procurement Director sees the same commitments when contracts come up for renewal, which is what gives supplier engagement teeth. Scope 3 work depends on that record being current.

Issues Management tracks initiative actions and gaps to closure, so when an initiative stalls, a site misses a milestone or an assessment finds a gap against a target, the action is assigned to an owner with a date and the Sustainability Manager follows it from one list. The Environmental Program Manager works the same records for the environmental compliance side, through Environmental Health & Safety (EHS). Closed actions are the trail that shows the program is managed, not just announced.

SmartSuite shows progress toward targets on dashboards shared with ESG reporting, so the Sustainability Manager's report to the ESG Program Director is the same dashboard the ESG Analyst draws on for disclosures: each target, the initiatives behind it and the progress to date. Verified results flow into ESG reporting from the initiative records rather than from a spreadsheet handed over at year end. External communications quote figures whose source is recorded.

The target list with baselines and dates, the initiatives already under way with their owners, the metrics currently measured and the suppliers the program engages. New customers can start with SmartSuite Onboarding, a guided four-week program around one or two priority workflows; the first workflow is initiative tracking against the targets. Measurement methods, such as the GHG Protocol for carbon, stay as they are; SmartSuite records the initiatives, actions and progress against the resulting figures. Supplier commitments are added as each supplier next responds, and the Facilities Director's sites usually come first.