Sustainability recruitment · process · checked 1 October 2026
How UK sustainability hiring works: seven steps and the law behind each
Hiring for a sustainability role follows ordinary UK employment law, with one difference: the brief has to name the reporting duties the job will carry.
This page walks through the seven steps in order, whoever runs the process, and names the provision that governs each.
It describes what the rules require; this site runs no recruitment service and has no process of its own to sell.
The steps
From brief to first day
Step through the seven stages.
Each names what to check, the provision behind it and whose duty it is.
The first step is the one most hires skip: write the brief around duties, not around a title and a salary range.
An employer in the FCA’s scope reports against UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis from 2027, as PS26/19 sets out, and a large employer reports energy and carbon under SECR every year.
Those duties, with their dates, tell a candidate what the job really is.
The second and third steps are general law: section 39 of the Equality Act 2010 covers the arrangements for deciding who to offer a job, and section 60 limits health questions before an offer.
If an agency is involved, regulation 14 of the Conduct Regulations 2003 requires an employment business to agree its terms with the work-seeker first.
The fourth step belongs to the employer alone: under section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 the penalty falls on the employer, and the GOV.UK guidance on right-to-work checks sets out the checks.
The last three steps turn the offer into a job: test claims against evidence, give the written particulars and write down who approves what.
Step 1 of 7
Write the brief around duties
What to check. List the regimes the employer is in (SECR, ESOS, UK SRS, CA 2006 climate disclosures) with their dates, not a title and a salary range.
The provision. SECR: SI 2008/410 Sch 7 Parts 7 and 7A. ESOS: SI 2014/1643 reg 4. UK SRS: FCA PS26/19.
Whose duty. The employer
A map of what the law and official guidance say, not legal advice. This site runs no recruitment service.
Whose duty
Who owes what
| Duty | Whose | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Advertise and select without discrimination | The employer, and any agency acting for it | Equality Act 2010 s.39(1), s.60 |
| Give an employment business’s terms before work-finding starts | The employment business | Conduct Regulations 2003 reg 14 |
| Charge a work-seeker a fee for finding work | Nobody: it is barred, with prescribed exceptions | Employment Agencies Act 1973 s.6 |
| Check the right to work, and keep the evidence | The employer | IANA 2006 s.15 |
| Give the written statement of particulars | The employer | Employment Rights Act 1996 s.1 |
| Approve and sign the directors’ report | The board; a director or the secretary signs | Companies Act 2006 s.419 |
| Sign off the ESOS assessment | Responsible officers | SI 2014/1643 reg 30 |
The split in the last two rows is the one most often blurred in adverts.
The board approves the directors’ report under section 419 of the Companies Act 2006, and ESOS is signed by responsible officers, so a manager can own the work and the evidence but not the sign-off.
A brief that says so protects both sides: the employer knows who must sign, and the candidate knows what they are accountable for.
Enforcement of agency standards sits with the Fair Work Agency, to which a candidate or employer can take a concern about an agency’s conduct.
Credentials and evidence
Test claims, not labels
No statute requires a qualification for these roles, so the useful test is what the candidate has actually done.
Has the candidate written an explain statement, built a greenhouse gas inventory that an auditor questioned, or prepared an ESOS submission?
Professional-body routes exist: ISEP publishes a sustainability skills map of competencies, and the Society for the Environment awards Chartered Environmentalist status.
Investment-side candidates may hold the CFA Institute’s Sustainable Investing Certificate, which is optional.
Where assurance is planned, ask whether the candidate has prepared for an engagement; the guide to sustainability assurance explains the options.
The inventory behind most roles follows the GHG Protocol, and the head of sustainability guide shows how to write the remit that holds it all together.
The Green Jobs Taskforce is sometimes cited as the source of a skills shortage; its work is historical and this page does not rely on it for any figure.
No UK rule requires sustainability disclosures to be assured.
A listed company states whether it obtained assurance and, if so, the provider, the disclosures covered and the standards used.
Sources: PS26/19 ¶2.45 · ISSA (UK) 5000
Status check
What is and is not required
Hiring is driven by dated duties, not by a general mandate.
UK SRS S1 and S2 were published by the Department for Business and Trade as voluntary standards, and the FCA’s final rules make them comply or explain for listed companies in scope, after consulting in CP26/5.
The UK SRS compliance guide, the S1 reference and the overview of S1 and S2 set out each limb.
For pay evidence see the salary guide; for what an agency may and may not claim, see agency or direct hire; and for how the senior titles differ, the chief sustainability officer recruitment and ESG reporting manager guides each take one angle.
The hub lists all twelve guides.
Frequently asked
How hiring works, answered
How does hiring for a sustainability role work in the UK?
There is no special statutory process for sustainability roles.
The general employment law applies: advertising and selection must not discriminate under the Equality Act 2010, the right to work must be checked before the person starts, and written particulars must be given under the Employment Rights Act 1996.
What is specific to these roles is the brief, which should list the reporting duties the employer is in.
How long does it take to hire a sustainability manager?
No official source publishes a time-to-hire figure for sustainability roles, so this page gives none.
Notice periods are set by each contract, and a candidate currently employed will usually be bound by theirs.
Who is responsible for right-to-work checks: the employer or the agency?
The employer.
The civil penalty under section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 falls on the employer who employs someone without permission to work, and the statutory excuse depends on the employer showing that the prescribed checks were completed.
An employer who relies on an agency should ask for the evidence.
What is the penalty for employing someone without the right to work?
GOV.UK states a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker for failing to carry out proper checks, and criminal penalties of up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine for employing someone the employer knew, or had reasonable cause to believe, did not have the right to work.
Can a recruitment agency charge a candidate a fee?
Not for finding or seeking work.
Section 6 of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 bars an employment agency from charging a work-seeker, with exceptions only where the Secretary of State prescribes, and a breach is an offence.
Regulation 14 of the Conduct Regulations 2003 also requires an employment business to obtain the work-seeker’s agreement to its terms before providing services.
Does a sustainability job advert have to state a salary?
No UK statute requires a salary in an advert.
An advert and the selection arrangements must not discriminate under section 39 of the Equality Act 2010, and an employer may not ask about a candidate’s health before making an offer except in cases the Act allows, under section 60.
Do sustainability roles need a professional qualification?
No UK statute requires one.
Employers may set their own requirements.
Professional-body routes run through ISEP membership grades and Chartered Environmentalist status, and ISEP publishes a skills map describing competencies for sustainability roles.
What should a job brief for a sustainability role contain?
The reporting duties the employer is in, with their dates: SECR in the directors’ report, ESOS Phase 4 (notification due 5 December 2027), and, for a listed company, UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis for periods from 1 January 2027.
It should also say who approves and signs each, because the law gives those approvals to directors.
Does UK SRS mean every company must hire a sustainability reporting specialist?
No. UK SRS S1 and S2 are voluntary standards, and the FCA’s final rules in PS26/19 apply comply or explain only to listed companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22.
No rule requires any employer to employ a sustainability specialist.
Is this site a recruitment agency I can use to find a job or a hire?
No. It is an independent reference with no recruitment service, clients or candidates.
It explains the rules so that an employer or a candidate can check what any process, run by anyone, should do.
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.
- legislation.gov.ukEquality Act 2010 s.39
Discrimination in recruitment and employment.
- legislation.gov.ukEquality Act 2010 s.60
Enquiries about disability and health before an offer.
- legislation.gov.ukEmployment Rights Act 1996 s.1
The written statement of particulars.
- legislation.gov.ukImmigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 s.15
The civil penalty for employing someone without permission to work, and the statutory excuse.
- GOV.UKCheck a job applicant’s right to work
The employer’s checks.
- GOV.UKPenalties for employing illegal workers
Civil penalty of up to £60,000 per worker; criminal penalties for knowing employment.
- legislation.gov.ukConduct Regulations 2003 reg 14
Agreement to terms with work-seekers before first providing services.
- legislation.gov.ukConduct Regulations 2003 reg 20
Steps to protect the work-seeker and the hirer.
- legislation.gov.ukEmployment Agencies Act 1973 s.6
No fee to a work-seeker for finding work, with prescribed exceptions.
- GOV.UK (business.gov.uk)Fair Work Agency
Launched 7 April 2026; enforces the regulation of employment agencies and businesses in England, Wales and Scotland.
- legislation.gov.ukCompanies Act 2006 s.419
Approval and signature of the directors’ report.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2014/1643 reg 30
Responsible officers and the sign-off.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19 (PDF): ¶¶2.45, 3.6, 3.12, 3.14, 3.20
Assurance statement, scope, reliefs and the explain statement.
- Department for Business and TradeUK Sustainability Reporting Standards: UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2
The standards, published 25 February 2026; voluntary for any UK entity not required by the FCA’s rules.
- ISEPSustainability Skills Map
The professional body’s competency map for sustainability roles.
- Society for the EnvironmentChartered Environmentalist
A professional-body credential, not a legal requirement.
- Financial Reporting CouncilISSA (UK) 5000
The FRC’s standard for sustainability assurance engagements, for voluntary use.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410 Sch 7 ¶20B
The SECR size test for unquoted companies: exempt if two or more “not more than” conditions are met.
- GOV.UKGreen Jobs Taskforce (closed; historical)
A government group that reported in 2021; cited as history, not current policy.