What do chief sustainability officers do?
Communicate and coordinate with management, shareholders, customers, and employees to address sustainability issues. Enact or oversee a corporate sustainability strategy.
This describes a U.S. occupation, not a live vacancy. Individual employers may use different titles and requirements.
Job titles to recognize in your search
O*NET reports these titles for this occupation. Compare the responsibilities in each posting before treating titles as equivalent.
- Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO)
- Corporate Sustainability Process Manager
- CSR and Sustainability VP (Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Vice President)
- Sustainability Chancellor
- Sustainability Chief
- Sustainability Director
- Sustainability Initiatives Vice President (Sustainability Initiatives VP)
- Sustainability Manager
Core tasks to compare with a job posting
- Monitor and evaluate effectiveness of sustainability programs.
- Develop or execute strategies to address issues such as energy use, resource conservation, recycling, pollution reduction, waste elimination, transportation, education, and building design.
- Develop, or oversee the development of, sustainability evaluation or monitoring systems.
- Supervise employees or volunteers working on sustainability projects.
- Develop sustainability reports, presentations, or proposals for supplier, employee, academia, media, government, public interest, or other groups.
- Develop, or oversee the development of, marketing or outreach media for sustainability projects or events.
- Identify and evaluate pilot projects or programs to enhance the sustainability research agenda.
- Create and maintain sustainability program documents, such as schedules and budgets.
- Formulate or implement sustainability campaign or marketing strategies.
- Research environmental sustainability issues, concerns, or stakeholder interests.
Prepare an application for this occupation
- Check the employer’s requirements, location, schedule and any licenses against your situation.
- Choose two or three tasks above that match the posting and your actual experience.
- Build a resume evidence worksheet using the skills and software relevant to that employer.
- Practice explaining your contribution, decisions and results before an interview.
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