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- Help your organisation manage its environmental impact by developing sustainable ways of operating
- Ideal role for someone who cares passionately about the environment
- You'll need analytical skills, excellent communication skills, and persistence
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Gather data on the organisation's environmental impact
- Analyse and present the data
- Formulate plans and policies for managing the impact and operating in sustainable ways
- Manage the delivery of these plans and policies
- Monitor performance against targets
- Engage staff in adopting the policies
- Develop sustainability projects
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
As a sustainability officer, you'll normally work for one organisation and you'll be responsible for evaluating the impact they are having on their environment and ensuring that they have policies, systems, and projects in place to ensure that they are making the best use of resources and can continue operating in the long term.
You'll likely to spend a lot of time carrying out environmental assessments and working on site.
You'll need
To work in this kind of role you'll need excellent environmental and sustainability knowledge, good project management and analytical skills, strong communication skills, and excellent influencing skills. This role would be ideal for someone who cares about the environment and wants to help organisations manage their impact on it.
Most sustainability officers will have a relevant qualification in a subject related to the environment, but you can also get into this kind of role by building up experience, or moving into this work from a related area.
You can study environment-related subjects at a wide range of universities - relevant degrees include environmental studies, environmental science, or sustainability - and this is a good way to gain the skills and knowledge you'll need for this role. You can also build up your experience by getting involved in environmental work through charities and other groups. Volunteering is an excellent way to build up networks and gain knowledge in the field.
CAREER PROSPECTS
There may be opportunities to work abroad, or to progress into roles such as environmental consultancy. You could manage larger projects and lead a team of junior staff.