Business Sustainability Manager

Forvis Mazars Group; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 800,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading consultancy in sustainability is seeking a Business Sustainability Manager in Cape Town. The role involves managing sustainability projects, ensuring ESG compliance, and developing strategies for clients. Candidates should have substantial sustainability report writing experience, excellent communication skills, and a relevant degree. This position is an opportunity to grow your career in a dynamic environment focused on sustainability initiatives.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 12 months managerial experience in a sustainability role.
• Experience in sustainability assurance and/or due diligence would be advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Manage sustainability projects and reporting engagements.
• Assist with the identification, measurement, management, and quantification of ESG risks.
• Deliver benchmarking studies, identifying industry’s best practices.

Skills

Sustainability reporting expertise

Project management skills

Excellent verbal and written communication

Education

University Degree in environment, social science or sustainability-related major

Job description

Overview

Job title: Business Sustainability Manager

Job Location: Western Cape, Cape Town

Deadline: September 30, 2025

Responsibilities

• To keep pace with Forvis Mazars’ international sustainability success, evolving regulation and market sentiment, Forvis Mazars Advisory (Pty) Ltd is looking for an experienced Sustainability Manager with a strong and proven record in Sustainability / ESG reporting to join our team.
• This role presents an excellent opportunity to grow your career whilst helping our clients navigate and positively contribute to the sustainability agenda by building the business, training the team, managing sustainability projects, and extending expertise to the broader offering.

ESG disclosures and reporting

• Performing gap analysis and assessing the impact on existing processes against regulatory standards and stakeholders’ expectations
• Assisting with data need identification and collection
• Implementing processes and controls required to produce reporting
• Involvement in external reporting writing

ESG regulations

• Advising clients on how to comply with ESG-related current or upcoming standards and regulations (including, but not limited to, IFRS S1 and S2, GRI and CSRD)
• Training various audiences on current or upcoming regulations and helping to design and implement frameworks and processes to ensure compliance with the regulations is achieved.
• Performing gap analyses on clients’ ESG compliance processes against regulations

ESG risk management framework

• Advising on how risk governance structure and risk management framework should be adapted to incorporate ESG risks.
• Implementing processes, controls, and systems to improve management of ESG (including climate) risks, comply with regulatory expectations, and align to industry best practices.
• Assisting with the identification, measurement, management, and quantification of ESG risks, in particular climate risks
• Developing climate change related and ESG metrics
• Assisting with climate stress tests and scenario analysis

ESG journey / strategy

• Delivering benchmarking studies, identifying industry’s best practices, conducting research
• Performing materiality assessments and stakeholders’ engagement studies
• Oversee any changes in regulation or practices that become necessary for them to maintain its ESG Strategy and suggest improvements when necessary.
• Developing and executing ESG / Sustainable finance KPIs and Goals
• Developing climate-neutral and net-zero strategies
• Creating and implementing ESG rating improvement programs
• Supporting Circular Economy initiatives
• Developing Sustainability Reporting and associated governance and production processes
• Aligning with reporting frameworks such as SASB, UN Global Compact, GRI, TCFD, CDP, etc.
• Develop training programs for employees to integrate ESG and Sustainable finance into their workflows.

ESG Research

• Staying up to date on ESG trends and developments and providing recommendations to the Sustainability teams at Forvis Mazars for enhancements in approaches
• Producing thought-leadership publications, providing insights on the regulatory horizon and market-wide developments

Minimum Requirements

Essential skills

• A minimum of 12 months managerial experience in a sustainability role.
• Managing sustainability strategy and reporting engagements.
• Proven track record and strong sustainability report writing expertise.
• Structuring, planning, and managing the execution of deliverables.
• Preparing, facilitating, documenting, and actively participating in meetings and workshops
• Experience in sustainability assurance and / or due diligence would be highly advantageous.

Desirable skills

• Practical experience in sustainability, climate change strategy development stakeholder engagement, and change management.
• Understanding of key sustainability frameworks – ISSB, GRI, IR and high-level knowledge of CSRD

Educational / Professional Qualifications

• 5 - 7 years of relevant sustainability consulting experience
• University Degree with a relevant environment, social science or sustainability-related major.

Personal Attributes

• A self-starter and motivated individual
• Project management and time management skills
• Emotional intelligence is key
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to discuss complex ideas, present innovative approaches to implementing project deliverables, and present in a coherent manner
• Prepare client proposals
• Mentor, coach, and develop more junior staff