Photo: Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Job description
A typical project starts with setting sustainability goals in collaboration with other specialists, then tracking indicators like energy use, waste generation, and recycling rates against those targets. Specialists assess and propose new initiatives, weighing cost effectiveness and technical feasibility alongside how easily an organization will accept the change, then build reports and presentations to show leadership what's working. Because internal stakeholders don't always welcome proposed changes to established practices, part of the job involves managing pushback while continuing to revise policies and proposals as circumstances shift.
Pros
- High upside earning potential, with top pay reaching $150k
- Growing field addressing sustainability across many industries, faster than average projected growth (3%)
- Bachelor's-level entry point into mission-driven environmental and operational work
Cons
- Only modest projected job growth (3% over the next decade)
- Regularly deals with frustrated or upset stakeholders over proposed changes
- Success in reducing waste or emissions can be difficult to measure and prove quickly
A typical day
The morning starts in the utility data: pulling last month's energy numbers for six buildings and hunting for the anomaly -- one site's usage jumped 12 percent and nobody knows why yet. Late morning is a working session with facilities, walking a mechanical room to trace the spike to a scheduling error that's been running the HVAC all weekend. The afternoon goes to the annual sustainability report, where every claimed number needs a defensible source, followed by a pitch to the CFO framing a lighting retrofit in payback years, not ideals. The day closes prepping a waste-audit event that will get employees sorting trash and paying attention.
Tasks at the job
- Develop sustainability project goals, objectives, initiatives, or strategies in collaboration with other sustainability professionals.
- Monitor or track sustainability indicators, such as energy usage, natural resource usage, waste generation, and recycling.
- Assess or propose sustainability initiatives, considering factors such as cost effectiveness, technical feasibility, and acceptance.
- Provide technical or administrative support for sustainability programs or issues.
- Review and revise sustainability proposals or policies.
- Develop reports or presentations to communicate the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives.
Workplace & working conditions
Work happens indoors in a climate-controlled setting, and most of the day is spent sitting at a desk.
There's a regular, moderate amount of time pressure. You'll regularly deal with frustrated or upset people as part of the job.
Education necessary or common
Bachelor's degree
Common college majors
Licenses & certifications
- LEED Green Associate
- GRI or GHG Protocol training certificates
Career path
Related fields
Courses to take
- AP Environmental Science -- the field's knowledge base
- AP Statistics -- sustainability work is measurement work
- AP Economics -- business cases win budget, passion doesn't
- AP Chemistry -- energy, emissions, and materials literacy
- English or AP Language -- reports and persuasion
Clubs, activities & competitions
- Environmental club -- run a real audit of your school's energy or waste
- Student council -- practice moving an institution
- Science Olympiad -- environmental events
- Green schools or recycling program leadership
First steps you can take now
- Audit your home's energy use for a month and present the savings case to your family
- Lead a waste or energy audit project at school
- Take a free online course on corporate sustainability or GHG accounting basics
- Interview a sustainability manager at a local company or your school district
