Sustainability Analyst

Have you dreamt of working with the world’s most ubiquitous tech company to shape its sustainability approach and communicate its progress? Perhaps you’re the right person to help develop the sustainability strategy of an apparel icon or a financial services leader?

We’re looking for an Analyst to support our market-leading sustainability consultancy and work on our sustainability strategy and reporting clients. This is a unique opportunity to help us achieve our vision to ‘create a world that believes in business’.

Analysts lift our understanding of the challenges our clients face from great to excellent. You will conduct primary research to identify insights, conduct in-depth reviews to present recommendations, shape clients’ content strategies, dive into strategy development, and ensure alignment to key reporting frameworks, such as ESRS, ISSB,UK SRS and GRI.

Responsibilities

Research

• You’ll work with clients and strategists to define the brief. A good brief brings clarity to the task, the client’s needs and helps to define the research criteria to cover.
• You’ll help define the scope of the project, including how the research will be conducted and which sources to use. It’s the Analyst’s responsibility to make sure the scope is neither too wide nor too narrow and to always work within the client’s budget and brief.
• You’ll lead primary research assignments using a variety of methods, including document analysis, online tools such as Factiva and Pulsar, surveys, case studies, focus groups and interviews (face-to-face, telephone and/or online) as well as conducting desk research when required.
• You will be AI confident and AI responsible, always adhering to RY’s AI policy, principles and usage practices e.g. human-led, always. In tandem, your knowledge of AI as both a channel and an audience will inform the value we create for and with our clients.

Insight

• An expert at analysing and interpreting data, you’ll identify patterns and unlock solutions. You’ll also advise how best to turn the research into useful insights that shape our direction and recommendations.
• You’ll deliver research findings in a format that best fits the task, generally either a written report or presentation, that are informative and with a clear link to the point of view, using RY templates and following our signature style.

Sustainability Reporting and Strategy

In the reporting space, this work will involve:

• Understanding reporting stakeholders and audiences, and shaping the report development accordingly.
• Helping to shape the channel and content strategy (on and offline), theme and messaging, and strategic direction of reporting projects.
• Shaping and reviewing report content and providing recommendations.
• Liaising with the copywriters and creative teams to bring the report to life.
• Making sure the report meets the requirements of the client’s chosen standards or frameworks, e.g. CSRD, GRI, UK SRS and ISSB.

• In the strategy space, this work will involve:
• Contributing to the development of meaningful double materiality assessments.
• Shaping and delivering stakeholder engagement as well as goal and target setting.
• Shaping sustainability strategies, including their identity and activation.

• In the communications space, this work will involve:
• Developing sustainability communications campaigns with topic deep-dives.
• Creating sustainability communications guidelines and toolkits.

• You’re an entrepreneurial sustainability professional that has been in a senior position for some time, either client-side on in a consulting capacity, with the gravitas and expertise to deliver. You’ve worked with a wide range of strategies, topics or clients of different sizes and across multiple sectors and geographies, at various stages of their sustainability journey. 
• You’re totally up to speed with the rapidly evolving landscape of sustainability and ESG frameworks, and have a solid working knowledge of ESRS and ISSB, with demonstrable experience applying these standards. You also know the more established sustainability and reporting standards and frameworks inside out, including GRI, the IIRC <IR> Framework and TCFD, plus ratings and indices. Ideally, you’re familiar with context-based strategic frameworks too, such as Future-Fit and the Sustainable Development Performance Indicators.
• You have bucketloads of experience advising on and developing sustainability (and ESG) reporting, from first timers to those leading the pack. You may also have experience inputting into annual reporting as well as delivering Double Materiality Assessments aligned with ESRS that have been successfully assured.
• You’re familiar with communications strategy and can unearth a brilliant audience insight and develop a solid strategy, acting as a springboard for the best creative ideas. You have experience working with creatives and designers to bring ideas and content to life, in service of audience-first reporting.
• You are both an effective line manager (this role will involve some line management responsibilities over time) and a strategic sparring partner with gravitas and authority as you consult with leaders both at RY and client-side daily.
• Commercially astute and with a ‘growth mindset’ you contribute to unlocking and designing for long term growth of our client relationships for commercial, reputational and impact value. 

This is a fantastic opportunity to be a part of our award-winning independent, creative agency, with limitless opportunities to work with some of the world’s most innovative and interesting companies.

At RY, you’ll enjoy a fun and inspirational place to work, alongside some of the brightest and best in the business, a competitive salary benchmarked against industry standards, a culture that nurtures learning and development and embraces the flexibility of working from home and days in the office.

If this sounds like the role you’ve been looking for, we’d love to hear from you.