Senior Sustainability Manager

Laing O'Rourke group; Glasgow; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading construction firm in Glasgow is seeking a Senior Sustainability Manager to oversee sustainability strategies for Scotland's first Net Zero hospital. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in sustainability leadership within construction, expertise in social value, and excellent stakeholder engagement skills. This role offers the opportunity to lead impactful sustainability efforts and create community benefits while ensuring compliance with environmental standards. Join a collaborative team dedicated to transformative infrastructure projects.

Benefits

Opportunity to influence sustainability strategy

Collaborative and engaged team

Impact on local community benefits

Qualifications

• Experience in sustainability leadership within a construction or infrastructure setting.
• Strong understanding of environmental sustainability, carbon management, and ESG reporting.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and strategic thinking skills.

Responsibilities

• Ensure community benefits and local employment are delivered.
• Maintain and improve Sustainability Delivery approach.
• Line manage and support a team of sustainability professionals.
• Represent sustainability at senior client meetings.
• Ensure compliance with environmental regulations.
• Provide sustainability guidance across teams.
• Manage public communication and community engagement.

Skills

Sustainability leadership

Environmental sustainability

Social Value expertise

Stakeholder engagement

ISO 14001 knowledge

Leadership skills

Education

Degree in a relevant discipline

Job description

Senior Sustainability Manager

Location: Glasgow City Centre (initially), transitioning to Airdrie.

Project: New University Hospital Monklands

Laing O’Rourke is committed to leading innovation and excellence in the construction industry, with sustainability at the heart of our transformation. As part of this vision, we are delivering Scotland's first Net Zero hospital, the Monklands Replacement Project, setting new standards in environmental and social sustainability.

We are seeking a Senior Sustainability Manager to oversee and drive the project's social value, environmental, and whole life carbon strategies. This role is a key driver in delivering Social Value outcomes, alongside leading on environmental protection and minimising construction embodied carbon emissions. You will work closely with project leadership, delivery teams, and the client to ensure ESG objectives are met while fostering innovation and engagement.

Key Responsibilities

• Social Value Leadership – Ensure community benefits, local employment, apprenticeships, local economy support and educational initiatives are successfully delivered, minimising contractual penalties and maximising social impact.
• Strategic Sustainability Planning – Maintain and improve the Sustainability Delivery approach, embedding environmental, carbon, and social value criteria into project decision‑making.
• Team Leadership & Pastoral Support – Line manage and support a team of sustainability professionals, including environmental, social value and carbon.
• Stakeholder & Client Engagement – Represent sustainability at client meetings, design consultant meetings, and project leadership forums, influencing decision‑making at a senior level.
• Regulatory & Environmental Oversight – Ensure compliance with environmental regulations, consenting (Scottish regulators), project sustainability assessment performance management, ecology management, and subcontractor engagement.
• Supporting Project Delivery – Provide sustainability guidance across the technical, procurement, and construction teams, ensuring sustainability is embedded into the project methodology.
• Community Engagement & Public Communication – Manage project sustainability assessment performance, public stakeholders, and regulatory bodies to ensure effective engagement and community involvement.

Key Skills & Experience

• Experience in sustainability leadership within a construction or infrastructure setting.
• Strong understanding of environmental sustainability, carbon management, and ESG reporting.
• Primary expertise in Social Value, with a strong track record in community benefits, apprenticeships, education initiatives, and local employment strategies.
• Experience managing stakeholder engagement, particularly with regulators, community groups, and subcontractors.
• Familiarity with ISO 14001, PAS 2080, and NHS Scotland's SHTN‑02‑01 (Sustainable Design & Construction Guide).
• Knowledge of BREEAM, Scottish environmental consenting, and ecology management is beneficial.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and strategic thinking skills to support a diverse team and engage with senior stakeholders.
• Degree qualified in a relevant discipline or equivalent experience.

Why Join Us?

• Lead Social Value and sustainability efforts on Scotland's first Net Zero hospital, delivering real environmental and community impact.
• Work with an engaged and receptive client, offering opportunities to bring fresh ideas and influence sustainability strategy.
• Be part of a collaborative and growing sustainability team, embedded within a wider construction team that actively prioritises sustainability.
• Unique opportunity to work on a hospital project with infrastructure‑level environmental and social challenges.
• Project with strong public investment, delivering long‑term benefits for a highly engaged, local community.

If you're a passionate sustainability professional looking to make a tangible impact on a landmark project, we'd love to hear from you.

About Us

Laing O'Rourke is an international engineering and construction company delivering state‑of‑the‑art infrastructure and building projects for clients in the UK, Middle East and Australia.

Certainty, reliability, quality – this is what our clients want. And at Laing O'Rourke, we have more than 150 years of experience delivering it. Laing O'Rourke's story is one of energy, passion, ambition, people and teamwork. We harness the power of our experience, stretching back over a century and a half to deliver certainty for our clients.

As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we would like to enable access to candidates with long term conditions and disabilities through the ‘Offer an interview scheme'. This supports applicants that meet the essential criteria by offering an interview for the advertised position. Please let us know if you would like to opt in to this scheme and let us know if you require any adjustments for the interview process.

We want to ensure our recruitment process is accessible to all. If you need the application form in an alternative format or you would like to know more about our recruitment process, please email [e-mail]