Associate Director, Sustainability & Impact

As our Associate Director, Sustainability & Impact, you will be a key player in the strategy team, supporting and working collaboratively on day-to-day decision making with the Director of Sustainability & Impact.

You will be responsible for managing the delivery of services across the Sustainability & Impact offer, from conducting materiality assessments and developing sustainability strategies, to developing and delivering sustainability reports and communications campaigns. 

You will be a credible and organised individual with a keen eye for detail. You are a subject matter expert in Sustainability, including familiarity will all the major sustainability and ESG reporting frameworks, and confident with communicating at all levels within an organisation, including C-suite.

About Sustainability & Impact at Luminous

Luminous is a strategic communications agency based in London and working with clients around the world. We have been building the Sustainability & Impact (S&I) offer in recent years, moving from a solid base of reporting to an award-winning diversified suite of services, including materiality assessments, strategy development, internal engagement, and external campaigns.

We are now an established team of four with a growing pipeline and an enviable client list and expect to double revenue over the next couple of years. To support this growth we are seeking a strategic senior hire, in the role of Associate Director, Sustainability & Impact. 

Key Responsibilities

Consultancy and Subject Matter Expertise

You are an experienced consultant or advisor, leading on our most complex and challenging projects. You can confidently take the lead in client meetings, presenting, and getting buy-in from stakeholders. You show resilience and professionalism when handling difficult client scenarios.

• Advising on alignment with reporting frameworks such as GRI, ISSB, SASB, TCFD, and CSRD, providing advice and guidance as appropriate.
• Developing high quality sustainability reports, materiality assessments, sustainability and ESG strategies, and communications campaigns.
• Assessing and analysing key trends, strategies, and communications to provide insight to our clients and internal partners on key topics related to sustainability, such as climate change and diversity and inclusion.

Team and Program Management

You bring a commercial mindset to the team, using your skills to support improvements to our offer, liaising with other teams to enhance service and delivery. You are a supportive mentor and manager, helping team members grow their skills and improve their performance.

• Managing the day-to-day consultancy team and leading by example, supporting the team to stay within budget and time allocations, and raising potential overburn to the Director.
• Advising on and contributing to the development and evolution of the S&I offer.
• Sharing knowledge throughout the business and being seen as a go-to leader.
• Providing support to the Director Sustainability & Impact, attending key internal meetings in their absence and other duties were directed.

New Business and Marketing

You are an excellent communicator, skilled in identifying and working towards specific targets, and have excellent writing skills. You are confident with public speaking, comfortable with pitching and presenting to clients.

• Pitching, presenting to, and winning new clients
• Developing and implementing marketing collateral such as blogs and podcasts
• Developing and leading thought leadership research
• Identifying and leading on opportunities to cross-sell Luminous’ comprehensive offer

Skills, experience, attributes

• 8-12 years’ experience in sustainability, with at least 2 in a senior-level role
• Team or programme management experience
• In-depth knowledge of industry standards and frameworks such as the GRI Standards, SASB, TCFD, UNGC, and UN SDGs
• Experience delivering materiality assessments, sustainability strategies, and communications campaigns (internal or external)
• Proactive with meeting your targets, tracking budgets against project progress and delivery where required
• You are passionate about the work you do, taking immense pride in delivering work to a high standard and strive to give the best customer service
• You are positive, friendly and a team player who can help motivate colleagues and inspire others around you
• You have a can-do attitude with the ability to multi-task across different projects
• You can work both autonomously and as part of a team, being organised and possessing great attention to detail, to deliver the highest standards of output while working across multiple projects
• You are attentive and committed to clients’ needs, can be flexible in approach and always offer solutions to problems