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How much does a Head of Sustainability earn?

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Our aim when researching and producing the Environment and Sustainability Remuneration Report was to fill a gap in the market that we found to exist around robust remuneration data. Over the coming months we will be profiling each role contained within the report and you can read the full Executive Summary here. To enable us to produce the report we collected information from over 200 companies with 412 distinct data sets provided across eight different roles . This data has come from a variety of industries and locations, across both Australia and New Zealand.

Remuneration for a Head of Sustainability

For a Head of Sustainability, the survey showed that the average Total Remuneration (TR) paid at this level across Australia was $314,159, made up of an average Total Fixed Remuneration (TFR) of $253,890 and an average Short Term Incentive (STI) of 21% paid out of a possible 29.8%. Long Term Incentives were only offered to a small number of respondents surveyed at this level; however those offered were significant in value.

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Head of Sustainability – Gender

All other roles surveyed in the Sustainability sector had a higher ratio of females to males however the Head of Sustainability position was held by more males than females. The top 3 salaries at this level among those surveyed were female and, across all roles females are remunerated 2.3% higher than their male counterparts.

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Head of Sustainability – Location and Sector

With most major Head Office’s located in Sydney, salaries for Heads of Sustainability are significantly higher in New South Wales than in Victoria. At the top of the salary packages are those working in Mining and Metals, with Industrials and Materials the bottom of the range with below average remuneration.

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Head of Sustainability – ASX vs Non ASX Listed

ASX listed entities remunerate at a significantly higher level (+12%) than private or non-listed entities.

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What does this mean?

Even during times of COVID we are finding that the demand for highly skilled Heads of Sustainability is unwavering. Everyone was caught unaware with the outbreak of the pandemic however with the advent of Modern Slavery Legislation in Australia, and an increased focus from investors on Climate risk, there is no excuse for being unprepared in these areas.

The role of the Head of Sustainability has clearly evolved over the last decade with these individuals now accountable for sizable teams, budgets and with a direct line to the Executive and boardroom.

What does a Head of Sustainability do?

The Head of Sustainability is responsible for Sustainability Strategy, Risk, Governance, and Reporting, engaging at Board and C-level, as well as across the organisation, to ensure sustainability leadership and alignment of these areas to the overarching business strategy and direction

Required skills and experience

  • A university degree or equivalent is essential with post graduate studies desirable.
  • 10+ years of experience in a professional sustainability environment.
  • Progressive experience in Sustainability leadership roles.
  • Extensive knowledge of sustainability performance measures, global practices, and emerging issues.
  • Engagement with the investment community including ESG analysts, fund managers and institutional investors.
  • Management & leadership experience.
  • Ability to build personal and organisational credibility and build beneficial internal and external relationships

Beyond the Resume

To attract and retain a Head of Sustainability that can deliver the right outcome for your organisation you need to understand where you are in your journey. With increased scrutiny from government, investors, and employees you cannot pay lip service to these roles. The intensity of these roles has increased over the years; but fortunately, so has the capability of the individuals that are in them.

The area is evolving rapidly so how do you know who is capable, and who is not? It is still an emerging area and as the only recruitment firm to specialise in this area across Australia and New Zealand; we have the connections, and experience, to know what to look for so that the candidate you hire is the right person for your organisation.

The best and most reliable way to hire the talent you need is through a robust and high-quality network. A referral from a trusted source within your network is going to carry more weight than a myriad of qualifications and the most impressive work experience on paper. Through our years of experience of placing people into these roles, the very best Heads of Sustainability are those that have a deep understanding of the interconnections between business and sustainability. People like this often aren’t actively searching for roles, but given the right opportunity at a company that fits, can be motivated to move (if the conditions are right).

Talent Nation has been at the forefront of the Sustainability industry for 10 years. As Australia’s only specialist Environment & Sustainability recruitment agency, we have are passionate about connecting purpose-driven people with purpose roles and companies within Australia and New Zealand. This article provides information of a general nature across a number of sectors, however we are more than happy to give more specific advice relevant to individual or company circumstances. For a detailed discussion on how we can help, contact us on 03 9600 0115.

Celebrating 5 years of championing sustainability knowledge

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The Australian Supply Chain Sustainability School (the School) is celebrating its five-year anniversary and this milestone is an opportunity to reflect on how far not only the School has come, but also our industry.

School CEO, Hayley Jarick says that “organisations are leading the charge to a more socially, environmentally and economically sustainable future in the ‘decade of change’. And they know that the only way to make a difference is to act collectively and enable their partners to act.”

Sustainability knowledge has moved from being niche to an operational imperative and the School has come into its own and is well placed to meet growing industry demand. “There is a lot of opinion readily available and expert information is becoming harder and harder to decipher through the noise. The School cuts out the noise and provides our members a free learning platform about the topics that matter in our industry,” says Jarick.

Since the School launched in 2015, it has grown steadily from just 8 founding Partners, 200 Members and 10 learning modules. Now, the School boasts 30 Partners, 1,684 Member companies, 2,698 registered users and there have been over 4,300 learning resource views. In addition to these key growth areas, the School has succeeded in:

  1. Developing an online self-assessment tool for businesses to rate their knowledge and develop a custom sustainability learning program. 
  2. Making sustainability training accessible to regional Australia (anywhere with internet). 
  3. Created informative, relevant resources by industry for industry.  
  4. Meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #17: Partnerships grew from…
  5. Launching a new website, that meets digital best practice from its user experience to learning management system capabilities. 

Jarick is proud of the evolution of the School so far and says that “it’s been a privilege to be connected to the School since it launched five years ago, wearing a few different hats along the way. I am fortunate to be the latest in a line of leaders that have lifted the School up over this time.  I was excited to launch the new website last December with a stack of new functionality for Members and Partners but my proudest moment has been speaking with new Members after Partner supplier workshops and seeing so many new faces join the cohort of companies bettering the industry.” 

She continues, saying that becoming a Member “gives you the resources you need to better your company but organisations that are looking to lead the industry should become Partners. We have a range of Partner categories to suit all types of organisations and their needs.  Our Partners enjoy developing resources, events, workshops, personalised School landing pages, managing their priority supplier’s learning, managing project learning, attending exclusive events, as well as showcasing their successes through the School’s channels.”  

Laing O’Rourke can attest to the benefits of Partnering with the School, saying that “the School’s work to help upskill and support the supply chain on sustainability has made a real positive difference to our business and the industry. The resources and collaborative learning environment the School has set-up has and will continue to play an important role to promote and influence the right skills, services and products to match the sustainability needs on our projects.” 

The School has many long-standing supporters who have been pivotal to the School’s continued success such as Founding Partner, Downer Group. Ricky Bridge, Downer’s Group General Manager – Sustainability, Reporting and Data Analytics, says that this “milestone marks five remarkable years of being the ‘go to’ innovative online platform for our contractors and suppliers to engage in education and knowledge on sustainability related issues and better equip the supply chain for future success.” 

Robin Mellon, CEO of Better Sydney, reflected that “it’s been amazing to see the School’s trajectory over the past five years – three of which I spent as the School’s inaugural Chief Executive Officer – and how the team is working with more partners, more projects, more topics, more governments and not-for-profits, and more learning resources than ever before.” 

So, what is on the horizon for the sustainability industry and how will the School continue to adapt to the needs of the market? Jarick says that “a lot of people in the sustainability field come from an environmental perspective with a tremendous ability to influence people with a like-minded desire to take care of the planet. We are seeing a trend for broader social and economic sustainability to be incorporated into this mix which had brought with it challenges and benefits. 

For instance, people are taking on board the intent of the Modern Slavery Act and changing their management approach of those who don’t initially comply with sustainability goals. Instead of blacklisting and avoiding non-complying companies, now the trend is to use your position of influence to work with others towards compliance. This is transformational for the industry and means that many in the industry will need to learn or refresh their emotional intelligence and conflict management skills.” 

Jarick states that “the School is constantly evolving to changes and future needs. We are evolving the types of resources we have, to cater for changes in how people want to learn. We are adding new resources every month and reviewing old resources to ensure our catalogue only contains the best resources. We are also looking to expand the School in new markets, so watch this space.”   

For more information, please contact:  

Hayley Jarick, Chief Executive Officer
Supply Chain Sustainability School  
E: ceo@supplychainschool.org.au 

How much does a Sustainability Manager earn?

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Our aim when researching and producing the Environment and Sustainability Remuneration Report was to fill a gap in the market that we found to exist around robust remuneration data. Over the coming months we will be profiling each role contained within the report and you can read the full Executive Summary here. To enable us to produce the report we collected information from over 200 companies with 412 distinct data sets provided across eight different roles . This data has come from a variety of industries and locations, across both Australia and New Zealand.  

What should a Sustainability Manager job description look like?

Responsible for the development, management and implementation of an organisation’s sustainability strategy and agenda, a Sustainability Manager’s role is pivotal in understanding how an organisation has an impact on the world around them through business practice. This can be in terms of an organisation’s impact on the environment, resource consumption, supply chain practices, community engagement, employee engagement and the impact of their business practices or products and services in general.

The Sustainability Manager is also involved in technical support, education and business development, ensuring sustainability is integrated seamlessly into all elements. They play a crucial role in driving consistency and transparency, ensuring the organisation’s core sustainability commitments are maintained and ultimately exceeded.

What Skills Should Hiring Managers Look For?

Qualifications

  • A university degree or equivalent is essential with post graduate studies desirable.

Industry experience

  • 7-10+ years of experience in a professional sustainability environment.
  • Previous experience and active participation in various sustainability programs.
  • Experience managing projects in challenging and sometimes national or global scale environments
  • Management & leadership experience.

Skills and knowledge

  • A strong and up to date theoretical understanding of sustainability.
  • Strong data management, budgeting and sustainability reporting skills
  • Ability to build personal and organisational credibility and build beneficial internal and external relationships.
  • Ability to manage external contractors to meet deadlines and goals
  • Ambitious with a high level of energy and commitment
  • Decision maker and solutions oriented
  • Able to adapt quickly to changes
  • Excellent written, verbal communication and influencing skills
  • Sustainability reporting bodies and indexes

Remuneration for a Sustainability Manager

 After surveying over 200 companies, our research has shown that the average Total Remuneration (TR) package paid for an Environment Manager was $180,856, made up of an average Total Fixed Remuneration (TFR) of $163,526, and a Short-Term Incentive (STI) of 11.2% paid out from a possible 17.4% average potential bonus. A small proportion of respondents were eligible for Short Term Incentives; while Long Term Incentives are rare at this level.

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Sustainability Manager – Gender

Although the female to male ratio of respondents at a Sustainability Manager level was 2:1, males on average command slightly (2.8%) higher salaries than their female counterparts.

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Sustainability Manager – Location and Sector

Packages for Sustainability Managers in the Finance Sector (driven by those located in New South Wales) are on average significantly (19%) higher than other sectors, with Mining and Metals 3% above the average TR. All other sector’s packages are clustered closer together, with Real Estate paying slightly below the average salary followed by Industrials and Materials, then Consumer Discretionary and Staples. Government, Education and NFP’s paying 9.3% below the average.

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Sustainability Manager – ASX vs Non ASX Listed

ASX listed entities remunerate at a significantly higher level (+20%) than private or non-listed entities.

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What does this mean?

To attract a skilled and qualified Sustainability Manager, the package depends on the sector, but generally it should comprise a base salary in the ballpark of $180,856, with a short-term incentive of ~11.2% in place, the component paid dependent on business and individual performance.

Beyond the Resume

To attract and retain a Sustainability Manager who not only has the required skillset but also the passion for the role, it’s important to delve deeper than a CV. What you can learn about a candidate on paper, or even in an interview situation, is limited- often you don’t know who you’ve really hired and how they really fit until they’re a few weeks or months into the role.

The best and most reliable way to hire the talent you need is through a robust and high quality network. A referral from a trusted source within your network is going to carry more weight than a myriad of qualifications and the most impressive work experience on paper. In our experience, the very best Sustainability Managers are those who not only have the skills but have a passion and desire that the work they do truly makes the world around them a better place. This plays out not only in the workplace, but in their personal life and with every interaction they have. People like this often aren’t actively searching for roles, but given the right opportunity at a company that fits, can be motivated to move (if the conditions are right).

The team at Talent Nation has over 15 years’ experience in placing Sustainability Managers into organisations within Australian and New Zealand, and are happy to work with you to structure the right package to ensure you attract the people who will really drive your sustainability plans forward. We want to work with our clients to ensure you are having a positive impact on the world around you; to work towards a better future for all.

Talent Nation has recruited within the Sustainability industry for over 15 years. As one of Australia’s only specialised Environment & Sustainability recruitment agencies, we are passionate about connecting purpose-driven people with purpose roles and companies within Australia and New Zealand. This report provides information of a general nature across a number of sectors, however we are more than happy to give more specific advice relevant to individual or company circumstances. For a detailed discussion on how we can help, contact us on  +61 3 9600 0115.