Manager - Sustainability Assurance - Consulting Firm

Role will report to Sr. Manager

Summary of role purpose

To support our growing sustainability/ESG (- Environmental, Social and Governance- ) and non-financial information assurance business across Audit we have a fantastic opportunity for a Manager to join our team and assist in providing large corporate companies in different sectors, including those from the UK FTSE 100, with assurance over a wide variety of topics. These topics include Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, waste, water, community investment, sustainable supply chains, health and safety (H&S), diversity, gender pay gap, responsible investing and other non-financial information. Responsibility for managing these assurance engagements from within an exciting and newly formed Assurance hub with the opportunity to provide ESG reporting advice to non-audit clients.

Role Responsibilities :

- You will work with senior managers, directors and partners to deliver sustainability/ ESG assurance and reporting advice on specific clients. You will manage all aspects of the end to end engagement process including working to agree timetables, developing the scope of work and deliverables, developing appropriate work programmes, reviewing the testing and assurance fieldwork and draft reporting and being responsible for project management.

- Complete the first review of the documentation on the assurance file in line with quality standards and our internal Assurance Manual

- Manage and deliver engagements in line with the assurance standards ISAE 3000 and ISAE 3410 or equivalent.

- Draft final client reporting for review by the senior manager/director/partner

- Resolve day to day issues in delivering the overall assurance engagement

- Support the senior manager in engagement finances and budgeting

- Juggle multiple client requests when working on different sustainability/ ESG Assurance engagements

- Support in developing and improving the standardised Assurance work programmes

- Identifying, researching and helping to resolve complex sustainability/ ESG assurance issues

- Building relationships with the client staff and acting as an ambassador for the firm

- Lead and coach a team of juniors and Assistant Manager working on onshore audits

- Act as main point of contact by building strong relationships with onshore stakeholders

- Work with the senior management and key onshore contacts to develop business and grow the team by identifying and pursuing new assurance opportunities

- Track key metrics related to type of work performed, quality of deliverables and feedback from onshore

- Develop and deliver training sessions based on the themes identified from onshore feedback and quality reviews

- Work with L&D team to identify training needs

- Act as the Performance Manager and lead the career development of staff members

Job Requirements

Educational qualification and experience:

- Degree/ Diploma in Social Sciences with 5-6 years of relevant experience with a Big 4/ reputed firm

- Candidate with experience in sustainability/ climate/ environmental-related field, including experience of delivering sustainability assurance engagements for large audited entities (ideally FTSE 350 or equivalent) under ISAE 3000 and ISAE 3410

- Strong understanding of industry reporting frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, TCFD and the GHG Protocol

- IT literacy with sound knowledge and experience of Excel/ Word/ PowerPoint

Behavioural/team skills:

- An inquisitive mind and a strong passion for sustainability and ESG issues

- Willingness and demonstrated experience to quickly and effectively climb learning curves

- An ability to effectively communicate with a wide range of individuals both internally and externally

- Experience in managing and leading teams

- Strong analytical bent of mind and structured problem-solving approach

- Adaptability to operate in dynamic environment often accompanied by shifting priorities and stringent deadlines

- Ability to identify and resolve issues, or escalate as appropriate

- Drive, resilience and ability to thrive in a pressured environment

- Focus on delivering high-quality work whilst maintaining excellent attention to detail

- Strong project management techniques including decision-making ability, analytical skills, time management, organisation and evaluative skills