A chief sustainability officer (CSO) is an executive responsible for overseeing an organization’s environmental strategy — everything the company does to protect its local and global environment. These strategies include everything from waste management to energy efficiency, allowing businesses to reduce their carbon footprint and foster environmental stewardship.
In modern business, where sustainability is sometimes deprioritized alongside priorities like sales and growth, CSOs have an important role in keeping environmental protection front and center. They build long-term sustainability strategies that align with company goals, often creating reports for internal stakeholders and the general public.
What Is a Chief Sustainability Officer?
A CSO manages sustainability priorities across a company. They review company goals and build sustainability initiatives that closely align. These sustainability initiatives can include prioritizing eco-friendly suppliers, encouraging company-wide recycling, and investing in water-saving technologies.
CSOs also manage the reporting side of sustainability. This means updating stakeholders and employees with details on sustainability campaigns. Their responsibilities can also include external reporting, where companies update the public on their progress toward sustainability goals.
Why Companies Are Hiring CSOs: The Rise of Sustainability as a Core Business Concern
Sustainability has become an increasingly popular priority in recent years, particularly in the world of business. As companies take greater accountability for their energy output, CSOs play an important role in managing corporate environmental programs.
After launching a sustainability initiative, CSOs track various data points that indicate results. They evaluate the performance of those campaigns to identify how well a company progresses toward its sustainability goals.
Reporting on those results is a large part of a CSO’s role. Sustainability reports update stakeholders on progress toward sustainability objectives. When those reports are made public through the press, social media, or a company’s website, they can also positively influence public perception.
Demand for top executives, including chief sustainability officers, is expected to increase by 3% through 2032, creating an estimated 311,600 new positions each year. The number of corporate sustainability officers tripled in 2021, largely due to the importance of educating employees and executives on various environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.
What Is a Chief Sustainability Officer’s Job Description?
A chief sustainability officer handles multiple leadership-level responsibilities within an organization. They might spend time building environmental protection strategies, reporting on results, and communicating with various internal team members.
Here are a few specific tasks a CSO handles:
- Developing sustainability policies: Building roadmaps that outline a company’s commitment toward sustainability and the steps necessary to fulfill that commitment.
- Managing budgets for these initiatives: Allocating financial resources between different sustainability projects according to need.
- Accommodating compliance regulations: Confirming that a company’s sustainability initiatives satisfy all state and federal legal requirements. This also helps reduce fines for pollution and other non-compliance penalties.
- Exploring new sustainability strategies: Researching new approaches to sustainability that allow companies to protect the environment and foster positive social reactions.
- Educating internal contributors: Raising internal awareness of sustainability initiatives and training staff about the individual ways they can support those initiatives.
Many CSOs also spend time creating, or at least informing, marketing assets focused on sustainability. They might draft content that helps promote a company’s sustainability practices to the public, or work with marketing managers to build those assets.
Chief Sustainability Officer Salary
As a corporate executive, a chief sustainability officer will typically earn a salary that reflects their years of leadership experience. Corporate executives earn an annual average salary between $80,000 and $239,200.
What Qualifications Should a Chief Sustainability Officer Have?
A chief sustainability officer often requires advanced education and several years of experience in a corporate advisory role. They depend on skills like leadership, strategic thinking, and problem-solving to handle their responsibilities.
One of the most important qualifications for a CSO is a deep understanding of sustainability. They must understand modern environmental issues, including the issues their employer is best qualified to help resolve. CSOs also need a working knowledge of sustainability practices like renewable energy, composting, and biodegradable packaging, and the options that might work best for their organization.
What Kind of Educational Background Does a CSO Need?
Many CSO positions require undergraduate and master’s degrees. Students can get their start by completing a bachelor’s program in business, environmental health, or a similar program that teaches skills in corporate operations and sustainability.
Aspiring CSOs often continue their educational journey by obtaining a master’s degree in global business administration (GBA). This program teaches skills in business leadership, data analysis, and international law, all useful once students assume a CSO role.
What Hard Skills Are Valuable for CSOs?
Chief sustainability officers rely on a variety of hard skills each day, including:
- Research: Exploring the latest environmental regulations, sustainability trends, and methods other organizations are using to give back to the environment.Â
- Data analysis: Studying data on a company’s carbon footprint, energy consumption, water usage, or other figures that indicate progress toward sustainability initiatives.
- Technical writing: Communicating a company’s sustainability practices in writing, and distributing that content on a corporate website, social media platform, digital press, or in print.
- Project management: Planning various sustainability initiatives and prioritizing time and resources between each.
These technical skills complement soft skills like time management, communication, and adaptability that most CSOs depend on.
Necessary Traits for a Good Chief Sustainability Officer
Certain qualities can also make you more effective in a CSO role. For example, active listening allows a CSO to fully focus on stakeholders as they discuss new ways to align sustainability goals with corporate revenue goals.
Here are a few more traits that make an effective chief sustainability officer:
- Communication: Clearly articulating goals, considering stakeholder recommendations, and reporting on sustainability initiatives in ways everyone can understand.
- Critical thinking: Evaluating environmental data and potential company initiatives, making informed decisions that improve business objectives, public perception, and overall sustainability.
- Creativity: Finding new ways to address sustainability issues, differentiating your company’s environmental efforts from others’.
- Organization: Simultaneously managing priorities like reporting, data tracking, and team leadership to complete projects and meet deadlines.
Chief sustainability officers need a genuine passion for the work they do. They must have a real drive to improve their environment, and to encourage their company toward practices that reduce its environmental impact.
How To Become a Chief Sustainability Officer
Becoming a chief sustainability officer involves a combination of education, skill, and experience in various leadership and sustainability-focused roles. The career path to a CSO isn’t always linear; related careers in international business, international relations, or similar fields can help provide some of the background experience you might need. Other CSOs have filled consulting roles, helping companies understand sustainability and prioritize initiatives that allow them to protect the environment.
Networking is a great way to earn an entry-level role in sustainability or advance your career toward leadership. Attend events, connect with other professionals, and volunteer at environmental events to connect with influencers in the space. This can help you get your start as an environmental analyst or sustainability coordinator, before working your way toward the CSO role you deserve.