Chief Sustainability Officer

Port Elizabeth, South Africa | Posted on 10/23/2024

The primaryobjective of the CSO is to provide executive leadership, advisory and strategic guidance in working towards the realization of a Corporate Sustainability Strategy to the Company''s Board, CEO and EXMA.

• Establish, implement and maintain Sustainability policies, procedures, and practices;
• Create awareness on sustainability policies, procedures and practices to staff at all levels;
• Develop and implement
  
  Sustainability long and short term strategies with clear and SMART targets to encourage best practices;
• Supervise employees orvolunteers working on sustainability projects;
• Play advisory role on sustainability to Executive Management and the Board;
• Research environmentalsustainability issues, concerns, or stakeholder interests;
• Develop methodologies toassess the viability or success of sustainability initiatives;
• Work with Marketing &Communications and participate in relevant external platforms on sustainability issues on behalf of the Company, playing an advocacy role to ensure the Company is wellposition in the market from a brand perspective
• Evaluate and approveproposals for sustainability projects, considering factors such as cost effectiveness, technical feasibility, and integration with other initiatives;
• Devise the best tools and systems to monitor performance and to implement strategies;
• Assessing, analyzing, andcollating Sustainability performance data and reporting information to internalstaff, clients, and regulatory bodies;
• Integrate Sustainability Principles and ISO 26000:2020 into all business processes;
• Conduct Sustainability Assessments for all projects and ensure that the sustainability principles areincorporated accordingly;
• Develop and publish an annual
  
  Sustainability report as per the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI);
• Ensure Compliance to all Sustainability related commitments (Local, Provincial, National and International);
• Develop and Maintain a Sustainability Legal Register to ensure compliance with legal requirements;
• Keeping up to date with relevantchanges in Sustainability, related legislations and initiatives including international legislation where applicable;
• Managing Sustainabilitystrategy budgets;
• Acting as a champion orcheerleader for Sustainability issues within the Company;
• Develop breakthroughinnovations and projects to enhance the Company’s positive contribution to sustainability;
• Lead relevant research and innovation initiatives.
• Oversee all the Company’s Safety, Health, Environmental & Quality functions, to ensure integrationinto all its activities and achieve high levels of compliance and standards including, gaining and retaining the relevant ISO certifications and / or other relevant performance standards.

• Post-graduate degree in Environmental Science and Sustainability or other related feels including Earth/ Natural Sciences;
• A qualification inresource / sustainability economics will be an added advantage;
• Minimum 5-10 years of senior management work experience with environmental and sustainability sciencescoupled with risk management of infrastructure / energy / industry;
• Experience in project management, including leading expert teams and working with senior stakeholders;
• Strong knowledge ofand experience working with Local and International Environmental standards and systems.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Superlative and creative problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Thorough and current knowledge of sustainability practices, and applicable laws and regulations.
• Ability toanalyze and understand research and to identify relevant and valuableinformation.
• Extremelyproficient with Microsoft Office Suite or related software.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability tocreate, interpret, and execute a budget.
• Presentationskills required to deliver proposals to varying groups of individuals.