Sustainability Manager

Guardian Jobs; London; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 50,000

Job description

Title: Sustainability Manager

Remuneration: £42,940

Hours: Full time. Some early morning, evening and weekend working required.

Location: Better Bankside, Bankside Space, 18 Great Guildford Street, London SE1 0FD

Contract: Permanent

Reporting to: Director of Place

Job Overview

Better Bankside is seeking a dynamic Sustainability Manager to support our ambition for Bankside to become one of London’s most sustainable neighbourhoods.

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to work with strategic partners and member businesses to shape and deliver a bold action plan for decarbonisation, climate mitigation and climate resilience, building on our track record of successful sustainability initiatives, including the Southwark Climate Collective.

Bankside is one of London’s most interesting places, layered in history and home to a diverse, connected and future-focused business community. Better Bankside leads the partnership of these businesses, delivering effective projects and services that benefit the whole Bankside neighbourhood.

Better Bankside is one of the UK’s longest established Business Improvement Districts and following a successful member ballot, is entering its fifth term. The Sustainability Manager will join at a pivotal moment: shaping and delivering the ‘Greener’ goals at the heart of our five-year plan.

Innovation, collaboration, and strong partnerships are central to Better Bankside’s success, and the Sustainability Manager will play a key role in a driven, goal-focused team, working alongside some of London's most influential stakeholders.

Main Responsibilities

• Evolving the Southwark Climate Collective to support Bankside SMEs in decarbonising their business and operations and achieving Net Zero. A key objective will be to collaborate with strategic partners to develop a scalable model for business Net Zero, focusing on energy, waste, freight, and supply chains.
• Design and deliver our next iteration of green logistics support for local businesses, focusing on deliveries consolidation and greener last mile. Primary aims are to improve air quality, pollution heavy traffic and reduce costs to businesses.
• Evolve our current waste and recycling support to local businesses and develop a platform for embedding a more sustainable Circular Economy.
• Support the Placemaking Manager in delivering a more climate resilient and biodiverse public realm in Bankside, using Urban Greening Factor and Biodiversity Net Gain measures.
• Identify and deliver targeted partnership-based training and awareness-raising campaigns to increase our members’ knowledge, skills and capacity around climate mitigation, resilience and achieving net zero or sustainable targets.
• Collaborate locally, regionally, and nationally to leverage skills, knowledge, and funding, ensuring we achieve our goals and influence long-term outcomes for our businesses.
• Work with Director of Place, our team, our board, and local stakeholders on the development of Better Bankside 2025-2030 Greener five-year strategic Goals (by July 2025).
• Manage Better Bankside’s bimonthly ‘Sustainability Theme Group’ ensuring goals, business plans and our delivered actions have members’ support and respond to their needs.
• Responsible for successful delivery of agreed sustainability programmes and projects in line with annual business planning and our five-year goals.
• Responsible for financial and commercial management and reporting (including external grant funding) of Better Bankside’s Sustainability workstream, ensuring programmes and projects are delivered within budget and any agreements or contracts are managed in accordance with Better Bankside governance and risk management.
• Responsible for managing existing/new strategic partnerships and relationships that support delivery of our sustainability programmes, projects and ‘greener goals’, e.g. BIDs, Southwark Council, GLA, technical consultants, skills providers, external funders, academic organisations and commercial operators.
• Support the Director of Place on applications for external funding to assist delivery of wider BB Sustainability or strategic goals.
• Working with Better Bankside’s Communications and Engagement team and external partners, plan and deliver awareness, knowledge, training, and skills development on key areas of sustainability such as waste and recycling, sustainable travel, business decarbonisation, energy use, climate mitigation and resilience to our business members.
• Working with Better Bankside’s Communications and Engagement team, produce regular communications and marketing of our sustainability action to our members and across wider social media and general media.
• Support the Executive Team in developing our data and insight capability.
• If required, manage day to day, external or temporary resources supporting delivery of BB Sustainability workstreams.
• Undertake any other reasonable service or project management-related duties, deemed to fit within the remit of the postholder.

Person Specification – Qualities and Attributes

We are looking for a passionate sustainability professional who is eager to take the next step in an ambitious career. Driven by a desire to help businesses take meaningful climate action, you will be a collaborator and problem-solver; a strategic thinker and confident communicator; keen to learn and willing to get stuck in.

You will thrive in a small, successful organisation with a reputation for innovation and the delivery of high quality, high impact projects.

Key Knowledge & Experience:

• Proven knowledge of core sustainability and climate policy, standards, and best practice at national, regional, and local levels.
• Proven capability of translating sustainability and climate policy, strategy and best practice into action and project delivery within the public and or private realm.
• Proven capability of successfully delivering climate mitigation or sustainability projects within a recognised project management framework or lifecycle – (for example APM, Prince 2).
• Proven capability in developing and maintaining reciprocal strategic partnerships and relationships with a diverse range of external stakeholders including funders.
• Some experience of working in partnership or engaging with businesses.
• Proven capability of working collaboratively with team members and or external stakeholders. Beneficial to have experience of co-design and co-delivery.
• Proven capability of effective communication and presentation skills with an ability to engage and/or influence stakeholders.
• Proven capability of applying for and managing external funding / grants at any scale.

About Better Bankside

Better Bankside was one of the first Business Improvement Districts (BID) in the UK, established in 2004.

We are a partnership of local businesses, working closely with other community stakeholders to co-create a programme of projects and services that benefits the whole Bankside neighborhood. Our core purpose is to support local businesses and make a positive impact in our community.

As a BID, we are funded by a mandatory levy on businesses within a defined boundary. BIDs are established through a ballot process, and every five years must return to their members to secure a majority vote in favor of their continuation. Our last ballot took place in November 2024, achieving overwhelming support from the business community, with 91% voting for another five years of Better Bankside.

Better Bankside is an organisation where you can make a real impact; and where you can expect to get involved in a wide-ranging programme of work. We are a small team of fifteen in the Bankside office, plus our wardens and street cleaning teams. The way that we work with our members through our governance structure provides an extended network of regular collaborators and contributors.

Our vision

Powered by the people of Bankside, Better Bankside will be an agent of change, leading innovative economic, environmental, and social action to advance one of the world’s great neighbourhoods, bringing benefits to business and Banksiders.

Our mission

We will improve everyone’s experience of the neighbourhood by co-creating our programme with Banksiders, responding inventively to urban challenges, and celebrating the differences that define Bankside as London’s Other Side.

Working arrangements

Better Bankside offers a flexible working policy. Core hours are 10am – 4pm, Monday to Friday, with the ability to flex two hours to suit personal needs. Some evening and weekend work will be required in accordance with the needs of the post. Due to the nature of our work it is expected that a minimum of three days per week will be based in the office with up to two days working from home.

How to apply

At Better Bankside, we celebrate diversity and promote equality and inclusion amongst our staff. We welcome applications from all, regardless of personal characteristics or background.

As part of our commitment to being a more inclusive and diverse organisation, we use the Applied platform to reduce bias in the recruitment process.