Chief Sustainability Officer

EnableSA; Gqeberha; On-site; ZAR 800 000 - 1 200 000; Full time

Job summary

A non-profit organization in Gqeberha is seeking a Chief Sustainability Officer to provide executive leadership on sustainability initiatives. The role requires developing and maintaining sustainability policies, overseeing project management, and ensuring compliance with environmental standards. Ideal candidates should have a post-graduate degree in Environmental Science and extensive experience in senior management. This position will play a crucial role in achieving the organization's sustainability goals while innovatively addressing environmental challenges.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5-10 years of senior management experience with environmental and sustainability sciences.
• Experience in project management, including leading expert teams.
• Strong knowledge of Local and International Environmental standards.

Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain Sustainability policies and practices.
• Supervise employees working on sustainability projects.
• Develop and publish an annual Sustainability report.

Skills

Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Creative problem-solving and analytical skills

Thorough knowledge of sustainability practices

Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite

Excellent organizational skills

Education

Post-graduate degree in Environmental Science

Qualification in resource/sustainability economics

Job description

Port Elizabeth, South Africa | Posted on 10/23/2024

The primaryobjective of the CSO is to provide executiveleadership, advisory and strategic guidance in working towards the realizationof a Corporate Sustainability Strategy to the Company''s Board, CEO and EXMA.

Responsibilities

• Establish, implement andmaintain Sustainability policies, procedures, and practices;
• Create awareness onsustainability policies, procedures and practices to staff at all levels;
• Develop and implementSustainability long and short term strategies with clear and SMART targets toencourage best practices;
• Supervise employees orvolunteers working on sustainability projects;
• Play advisory role onsustainability to Executive Management and the Board;
• Research environmentalsustainability issues, concerns, or stakeholder interests;
• Develop methodologies toassess the viability or success of sustainability initiatives;
• Work with Marketing &Communications and participate in relevant external platforms on sustainabilityissues on behalf of the Company, playing an advocacy role to ensure the Company is wellposition in the market from a brand perspective
• Evaluate and approveproposals for sustainability projects, considering factors such as costeffectiveness, technical feasibility, and integration with other initiatives;
• Devise the best tools andsystems to monitor performance and to implement strategies;
• Assessing, analyzing, andcollating Sustainability performance data and reporting information to internalstaff, clients, and regulatory bodies;
• Integrate SustainabilityPrinciples and ISO 26000:2020 into all business processes;
• Conduct SustainabilityAssessments for all projects and ensure that the sustainability principles areincorporated accordingly;
• Develop and publish an annualSustainability report as per the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI);
• Ensure Compliance to allSustainability related commitments (Local, Provincial, National andInternational);
• Develop and Maintain a SustainabilityLegal Register to ensure compliance with legal requirements;
• Keeping up to date with relevantchanges in Sustainability, related legislations and initiatives includinginternational legislation where applicable;
• Managing Sustainabilitystrategy budgets;
• Acting as a champion orcheerleader for Sustainability issues within the Company;
• Develop breakthroughinnovations and projects to enhance the Company’s positive contribution tosustainability;
• Lead relevant research andinnovation initiatives.
• Oversee all the Company’s Safety, Health, Environmental & Quality functions, to ensure integrationinto all its activities and achieve high levels of compliance and standards including, gaining and retaining the relevant ISO certifications and / or otherrelevant performance standards.

Requirements

• Post-graduate degree in Environmental Science and Sustainability or other related feels including Earth/ Natural Sciences;
• A qualification inresource / sustainability economics will be an added advantage;
• Minimum 5-10 years of seniormanagement work experience with environmental and sustainability sciencescoupled with risk management of infrastructure / energy / industry;
• Experience in projectmanagement, including leading expert teams and working with senior stakeholders;
• Strong knowledge ofand experience working with Local and International Environmental standards andsystems.

Skills and Characteristics

• Excellentverbal and written communication skills.
• Superlative andcreative problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Thorough andcurrent knowledge of sustainability practices, and applicable laws andregulations.
• Ability toanalyze and understand research and to identify relevant and valuableinformation.
• Extremelyproficient with Microsoft Office Suite or related software.
• Excellentorganizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability tocreate, interpret, and execute a budget.
• Presentationskills required to deliver proposals to varying groups of individuals.