Head of Sustainability and Climate

OneStop ESG; Birmingham, Telford, City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - GBP 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services firm in the UK is seeking an experienced professional to drive sustainability reporting and manage regulatory disclosures. The role involves collaboration with senior stakeholders and leading the development of a robust sustainability reporting strategy in finance. The ideal candidate will have strong technical knowledge in sustainability reporting and exceptional communication skills. This is a hybrid role with competitive benefits.

Benefits

Private medical cover

38 days annual leave

Excellent pension

Career breaks

Income protection

Volunteering days

Qualifications

• Experience with TCFD and other sustainability reporting standards.
• Strong analytical skills in a financial services context.
• Proven ability to manage senior stakeholders effectively.

Responsibilities

• Support Entity & Group Reporting LT in finance vision.
• Drive sustainability reporting strategy within finance.
• Lead ownership transfer of ESG disclosures.
• Manage senior stakeholders and governance reporting.
• Produce high-quality technical papers on sustainability.

Skills

Strong technical knowledge of sustainability reporting

Attention to detail

Ability to deliver under pressure

Exceptional verbal and written communication

Ability to influence senior stakeholders

Job description

Location: The role is hybrid, whereby the role holder can take advantage of the Group’s flexible working arrangements with a mix of working remotely, at home and working in an office environment. The teams are located in Birmingham, Edinburgh and Telford offices.

Flexible working: All of our roles are open to part-time, job-share and other types of flexibility. We will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process. You can read more about Phoenix Flex here.

Closing Date: 22 February 2026

Salary and benefits: £120,000 - £150,000 plus an indicative bonus range of 30- 60% private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, excellent pension, 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more

Who are we?

We want to be the best place that any of our 6,600 colleagues have ever worked.

We’re Phoenix Group, we’re a long-term savings and retirement business. We offer a range of products across our market-leading brands, Standard Life, SunLife, Phoenix Life and ReAssure. Around 1 in 5 people in the UK has a pension with us. We’re a FTSE 100 organisation that is tackling key issues such as transitioning our portfolio to net zero by 2050, and we’re not done yet.

The role

You will be responsible for supporting the Entity Reporting & Group Reporting LT to deliver the finance vision and successfully transition to a future state team which is efficient, structured, and accountable. You will work directly with the Director of Entity & Group Reporting to the finance strategy on sustainability reporting.

Key objectives for the individual in this role will be:

• Drive forward the development of the sustainability reporting strategy within finance and be a primary point of contact, providing SME advice and insight, and ensuring Finance is ready for emerging regulatory and internal sustainability reporting requirements.
• Lead in the transfer of ownership of regulatory-driven ESG disclosures within financial statements from the Group Sustainability Team, the supporting internal control environment, and oversight of ESG assurance.
• Drive, lead and shape the development of the finance sustainability TOM, Gap analysis & implementation plan for a sustainability control framework.
• Lead the provision of controlled sustainability reporting for entities in scope of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”) reporting requirements.
• Management of senior stakeholders to brief on pertinent matters related to the group's sustainability and climate reporting
• Entity board and other governance reporting
• Engagement with internal and external audit, and timely closure of management actions
• Drive the production of high quality BAU technical papers and local technical change for sustainability reporting
• Accountable for the control framework operating over the sustainability reporting, including controls assessment, risk management and reporting
• Ownership for change (including regulatory change) and local process improvements, ensuring change is understood, appropriately tested and implemented safely.
• Operational management of resources to ensure deliveries of the team are met.

What are we looking for?

• Strong technical knowledge of sustainability reporting requirements in a financial services context, under a range of mandatory and voluntary frameworks (such as TCFD), reporting standards (IFRS S1/S2) and other regulations including UK SRS , ISSB and IFRS S3/S4, and CSRD [1] and SDR.
• Attention to detail to help us ensure our data and reporting can be validated to the external market and both internal and external auditors.
• The ability to deliver in high pressure environment whilst maintaining quality, resilience, and outcome focus. Regularly working to defined and tight timescales whilst maintaining professional standards.
• Ability to influence and challenge thinking at a senior level faced with a range of conflicting priorities and opinions, using exceptional verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to anticipate challenges and issues across a 1 -3-year horizon for change, challenge and growth. Continually seeking to bring the 'outside in' and use external insight to shape the strategic and operational priorities, as well as the operating model of the business to build organisational excellence with industry leading standards.

We Want To Hire The Whole Version Of You.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience looks different from what we’ve advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we’d love to hear from you.

If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best.

We’re reviewing applications as they come in, so apply early to avoid missing out

Location Scotland, United Kingdom

Work Type Full Time

Experience Executive

Salary Salary not disclosed

Posted Today

Views 5

Applicants 0

Phoenix Group

Phoenix Group is the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business, serving over 6,600 employees and millions of policyholders through brands such as Standard Life, SunLife, Phoenix Life and ReAssure. As a FTSE 100 company, Phoenix plays a central role in the UK’s pensions ecosystem with roughly one in five people holding a pension product with the Group. Phoenix has committed to transitioning its investment portfolio to net zero by 2050, embedding sustainability, responsible investment principles and climate-related risk management across finance, governance and reporting. The organisation focuses on building a workplace where people can do the best work of their careers, underpinned by flexible working, long-term career development and a purpose-driven approach to sustainable retirement outcomes.

Join their mission to create a sustainable future.