Careers · in-house roles · checked 30 September 2026
Sustainability manager jobs: the role behind the advert
Sustainability manager jobs are the in-house roles that keep a company’s energy, emissions and sustainability reporting running.
The government’s own description of the occupation, in the sustainability business specialist apprenticeship standard, lists sustainability manager among its typical job titles and sets out twenty duties.
This page reads the job from that standard, explains how official statistics classify it, and sets out what the evidence says about demand and pay.
The job
What a sustainability manager is hired to do
The apprenticeship standard describes the occupation as helping organisations build resilience on economically sound, socially responsible and environmentally driven principles.
It expects the role to reach across the whole organisation, with a high level of autonomy, sometimes leading a small team and sometimes working with no line reports at all.
The government’s careers profile for corporate responsibility and sustainability practitioners lists the same work in plainer terms: planning a strategy, persuading departments and partners, assessing the impact of projects, keeping up with legislation, managing a budget and writing communications.
In practice the technical core is the emissions inventory under the GHG Protocol, the figures for the SECR report and the data for ESOS.
Increasingly it also includes the data behind climate disclosures under UK SRS S1 and S2.
| Selected duties in the standard | Duty |
|---|---|
| Support legal sustainability compliance and embed a management-system approach | 1 |
| Set sustainability KPIs with the wider business | 2 |
| Manage environmental data and monitor own and suppliers’ performance | 4 |
| Advise on performance, impacts, business risk and response | 5 |
| Advise the organisation on reducing harmful emissions | 10 |
| Lead on business transparency in corporate reporting | 13 |
| Deliver projects such as carbon footprinting and impact assessments | 15 |
| Build business cases that show return on investment | 19 |
Classification
How the official statistics classify the job
The Office for National Statistics groups jobs in the Standard Occupational Classification 2020 by the skill level and content of the work.
Sustainability work sits in unit group 2152, Environment professionals, and the extended classification has a sub-group, 2152/05, for sustainability officers.
A job advertised as sustainability manager is coded by what it involves, so a role that is mainly running a function may be coded to a management group rather than to 2152.
The classification matters for pay comparisons and for visa sponsorship, because the Home Office sets Skilled Worker going rates by occupation code.
The code is 2152; 2142, one digit away, is graphic and multimedia designers.
SOC 2020 unit group 2152, Environment professionals
Titles the Home Office table names: energy managers; environmental and geo-environmental engineers; environmental consultants; environmental scientists; sustainability officers.
Going rate: £37,200 (£19.08 an hour), based on median ASHE data.
Sources: ONS SOC 2020 · Home Office
Demand
Where the jobs are, and whether they are growing
The ONS estimates of green jobs show UK green employment at 652,100 full-time equivalents in 2024, up 27.8% on 2015 but down 10,800 on 2023.
These are official statistics in development, and the 2024 figures are provisional.
In London, the Greater London Authority found green roles made up 6.5% of job adverts in the year to March 2026, up from 4.2% in 2019.
The dated driver of new reporting work is the FCA’s PS26/19: listed companies in five categories report against UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
The rules finalise the CP26/5 consultation, which had proposed making UK SRS S2 mandatory; the final rules did not.
ESOS adds its own peaks: the Phase 4 qualification date is 31 December 2026 and notification of compliance is due by 5 December 2027.
In ISEP’s 2025 survey head of sustainability was the most common job title, with sustainability manager among the others, and ISEP notes a growing number of specialist roles such as carbon accountants alongside the generalists.
Reading an advert
What employers ask for, and what to check
Employers write their own requirements, and the adverts vary widely because the job title does.
ISEP’s 2025 survey found only 19% of respondents’ organisations include sustainability and environmental knowledge as a standard criterion in job descriptions, so the technical asks are usually in the duties rather than the headline.
In the same survey 54% of respondents said the sustainability budget is owned by the function, and 32% said they have no dedicated sustainability budget at all.
SECR experience is portable because the test is fixed in law: a large unquoted company is in scope unless it meets two or more of the “not more than” conditions in ¶20B — £36 million turnover, £18 million balance sheet, 250 employees.
Emissions work rests on the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, and most employers expect familiarity with at least one of the platforms our carbon reporting software comparison covers.
Which regimes will I run: SECR, ESOS, UK SRS, the Companies Act climate duty?
Who owns the data: this role, finance, facilities or a platform?
Who do I report to, and does sustainability report to the board?
Is the budget owned by the function?
Pay
What is known about sustainability manager pay
No official statistic reports pay for the job title sustainability manager.
The nearest evidence is the IEMA 2022 survey of 1,190 UK members, which recorded sustainability or environmental manager as its own category and found an average of £54,601.
The going rate for SOC 2152, £37,200, covers every grade in the occupation and sits well below a manager’s pay.
Employer size moves pay most: ISEP’s 2025 report found large organisations pay on average £15,000 to £20,000 more than small ones.
The sustainability salary guide sets out every benchmark, and the grade averages that track experience.
| Evidence | Figure | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| IEMA 2022, sustainability or environmental manager | £54,601 | Members’ average in that role, “open code, not part of ONS categorisation” |
| Home Office going rate, SOC 2152 | £37,200 | Median across the whole occupation |
| ISEP 2025, large versus small organisations | £15,000–£20,000 | How much more a large employer pays on average |
Neighbouring titles
Sustainability, ESG or environmental manager: the overlap
| Title | Where the work usually centres | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Sustainability manager | Operations: energy, emissions, waste, suppliers, targets | This page |
| ESG manager | Disclosure, ratings and investor questions | ESG manager |
| Environmental manager | Permits, compliance and the environmental management system | ISO 14001 |
| Sustainability consultant | The same work across many clients | Consultant salary |
Careers profiles from Prospects and the Green Careers Hub, for the sustainability consultant and environmental sustainability consultant roles, describe the consultancy side of the same work.
Career path
Where a sustainability manager goes next
The usual ladder runs from sustainability manager to senior manager, then to head of sustainability or sustainability director, and for some to chief sustainability officer.
ISEP’s survey found head of sustainability the most common title in the profession, typically reached after 11 or more years.
Many managers come from consultancy; the UK sustainability consultancy guide describes the firms, and our guide to sustainability recruitment agencies explains how the specialist recruiters work.
Frequently asked
Sustainability manager jobs, answered
What does a sustainability manager do?
A sustainability manager runs a company’s sustainability programme day to day: the emissions inventory, the data behind SECR and ESOS, supplier engagement, the sustainability key performance indicators and the reporting to senior management.
The government’s level 7 apprenticeship standard for the occupation lists twenty duties, from supporting legal sustainability compliance and managing environmental data to leading on transparency in corporate reporting.
What is the classification category for a sustainability manager?
In the ONS Standard Occupational Classification 2020, sustainability work sits in unit group 2152, Environment professionals, whose extended classification has a sub-group 2152/05, Sustainability officers.
SOC groups jobs by the skill level and content of the work, so a job advertised as sustainability manager is coded according to what it involves; a role that is mainly managing a function may be coded to a management group instead.
The Home Office going rate for 2152 is £37,200.
What is the average sustainability manager salary in the UK?
No official statistic reports pay for the job title.
The nearest evidence is IEMA’s 2022 survey of 1,190 UK members, which found members in sustainability or environmental manager roles averaged £54,601.
The official figure for the wider occupation, the Home Office going rate for SOC 2152, is a £37,200 median across every grade.
ISEP’s 2025 report adds that large organisations pay on average £15,000 to £20,000 more than small ones.
What does the National Careers Service say about sustainability manager salary?
The National Careers Service’s closest profile is corporate responsibility and sustainability practitioner, which describes the work, the routes in and progression to more senior positions rather than publishing a survey of pay.
For pay, use the official and professional-body figures set out on our salary guide.
What qualifications do sustainability manager jobs ask for?
Employers set their own requirements.
The government careers profile lists degrees including environment and sustainability, energy and engineering, economics and business management, and apprenticeships at level 4 and level 7; ISEP membership and Chartered Environmentalist status are the recognised professional marks.
ISEP’s 2025 survey found only 19% of respondents’ organisations include sustainability and environmental knowledge as a standard criterion in job descriptions generally.
What is the difference between a sustainability manager and an ESG manager?
The titles overlap and employers use them loosely.
A sustainability manager’s work tends to centre on operations — energy, emissions, waste, suppliers — while an ESG manager’s tends to centre on disclosure, ratings and investor questions.
The duties in the advert matter more than the title.
Are sustainability manager jobs growing in the UK?
Over a decade, green employment has grown: ONS estimates 652,100 full-time equivalent green jobs in 2024, up 27.8% on 2015, though the figure fell by 10,800 between 2023 and 2024.
In London, the Greater London Authority found green roles were 6.5% of all job adverts between April 2025 and March 2026, up from 4.2% in 2019.
From 1 January 2027 listed companies report against UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis, which adds reporting work.
What comes after sustainability manager?
The usual next steps are senior sustainability manager, head of sustainability and sustainability director, and for some, chief sustainability officer.
In ISEP’s 2025 survey, head of sustainability is the most common job title, typically held after 11 or more years’ experience.
Sources
Primary sources
Every figure, date and status on this page traces to the instrument’s owner.
Secondary commentary is never the source for a number.
- Skills EnglandSustainability business specialist (integrated degree), ST0748 v1.1
The occupation summary, the twenty duties and the typical job titles, sustainability manager among them.
- National Careers ServiceCorporate responsibility and sustainability practitioner — job profile
Day-to-day tasks, entry routes and progression.
- Office for National StatisticsStandard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2020
Unit group 2152 Environment professionals and its sub-group 2152/05 Sustainability officers; how jobs are coded.
- Home OfficeImmigration Rules Appendix Skilled Occupations, Table 1
SOC 2152 going rate £37,200, based on median ASHE data.
- IEMA (now ISEP)State of the Profession Survey 2022 (PDF)
Members in sustainability or environmental manager roles averaged £54,601.
- Institute of Sustainability and Environmental ProfessionalsState of the Sustainability Profession 2025 (PDF)
Common job titles, remits, job descriptions and employer size.
- Office for National StatisticsEstimates of green jobs, UK: March 2026
652,100 full-time equivalents in 2024, down 10,800 on 2023.
- Greater London AuthorityGreen jobs and skills in London (May 2026)
Green roles as a share of all London job adverts.
- GHG ProtocolCorporate Standard
The inventory a sustainability manager usually owns.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410 Schedule 7 paragraph 20B (SECR)
The SECR test for an unquoted company.
- GOV.UK (Environment Agency)How to comply with ESOS Phase 4
Qualification date 31 December 2026; notification of compliance by 5 December 2027.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19: Aligning listed issuers' sustainability disclosures with international standards
Comply-or-explain UK SRS reporting for listed companies from 1 January 2027.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityCP26/5: sustainability disclosures — consultation
The consultation PS26/19 finalised.