Location Worthing
Job-type Permanent
Salary £Competitive + Benefits
Reference BBBH12575_1614168990

Southern Water supply over 500 million litres of drinking water every day to more than two million customers across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Together with their customers and communities, Southern aims to provide sustainable, high-quality water and wastewater service that helps to create a resilient future for water in the South East.

Over the past 3 years Southern has fundamentally transformed the way it operates and has redefined its purpose and culture, with the relationship between sustainability and business being a central pillar of the organisation's agenda. Most recently, in 2020 Southern secured £825m in sustainable bonds in one of the biggest public market financing issues for the water sector following the company establishing an ESG framework.

Southern Water has partnered with Acre to appoint a Head of ESG, a newly created and pivotal role within the business. Bringing leading insight from sustainability sectors and investor communities, the Head of ESG will lead on the development of crucial KPIs and internal/external reporting to enable best practice and transparency on ESG performance.

You will also:

  • Develop and deliver the ESG strategy including benchmarking, providing insights and gap analysis

  • Participate in external ESG networks and benchmark initiatives as required and be accountable for undertaking external ESG assessments/submissions e.g. GRESB

  • Be responsible for supporting investment fund applications for ESG investment, including the ongoing performance monitoring and reporting

  • Ensure effective implementation of the group's ESG policies and standards

You will bring knowledge of the wider landscape and horizon scan for key changes and developments in the sustainability space to ensure that the ESG strategy and framework remain innovative, effective and fit for purpose.

To deliver success in this role, you will:

  • Be an excellent communicator, able to succinctly articulate complex issues to senior internal and external decision makers, and influence and enact change outside of direct areas of control

  • Bring experience of developing ESG strategy delivered at a Senior level, and demonstrate having taken personal responsibility for its delivery

  • Showcase a good understanding of ESG trends and their impacts upon infrastructure operators and infrastructure investments

  • Possess a demonstrable track record in delivering effective strategy through excellent management of cross functional teams

To enable Southern to deliver against an ambitious programme of work in the ESG space, you will be a natural influencer, able to deliver change through others and to affect and drive a culture synonymous with best practice ESG.

This position is accountable to Executive Leadership and is integral to Southern Water delivering on their ambition. You will be part of a highly valued and dynamic team, focused on driving sustainability, diversity and equity across the industry, and will be provided the autonomy and trust to deliver a market leading ESG strategy. For more information, contact Tanith Allen via tanith.allen@acre.com.