Chief Sustainability Officers
O*NET files this work under Chief Sustainability Officers: people who communicate and coordinate with management, shareholders, customers, and employees to address sustainability issues. The skills rated most useful are writing, critical thinking, and speaking. Expect to monitor and evaluate effectiveness of sustainability programs. Its interest code is EIC. Enterprising leads at 6.7 out of 7, so expect leading, persuading and making business decisions, with Investigative next at 4.8. Getting in usually takes graduate school and often five years or more of related experience, a level O*NET calls extensive preparation. The job can ask you to develop or execute strategies to address issues such as energy use, resource conservation, recycling, pollution reduction, waste elimination, transportation, education, and building design. It tends to suit people who want leading, persuading and making business decisions, and it offers little for anyone seeking hands-on work with tools, machines or the physical world.
What they do
Communicate and coordinate with management, shareholders, customers, and employees to address sustainability issues. Enact or oversee a corporate sustainability strategy.
Main tasks
- 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.
Skills
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Complex Problem Solving
- Active Listening
Who this career fits
May suit you if
- You like taking the lead and making the call.
- You enjoy working out why something happens, not just what happened.
- You are prepared for graduate-level study and a long training path.
- You are comfortable relying on writing and critical thinking.
May not suit you if
- You would rather not persuade, sell or manage other people.
- You want to work with your hands for most of the day. Realistic rates 2.0 out of 7 here.
- You want to be working in the field within the next few years.
Interest profile
O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code EIC takes the three highest, and Enterprising comes first here.
Preparation
Extensive preparation. Many jobs here need graduate study, and people often spend five years or more building specialist experience.
Most-reported requirement in the O*NET survey: Master's Degree. This reflects what workers reported most often and is not a legal minimum. Licensing rules can differ by state or industry, so confirm what applies where you plan to work.
Also called
- Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO)
- Corporate Sustainability Process Manager
- CSR and Sustainability VP (Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Vice President)
- Sustainability Chancellor
- Sustainability Chief
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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.