Management · Holland code EIC

Chief Sustainability Officers

Communicate and coordinate with management, shareholders, customers, and employees to address sustainability issues. Enact or oversee a corporate sustainability strategy.

Also called: Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), Sustainability Director, Sustainability Manager, Sustainable Design Director, Corporate Sustainability Process Manager, CSR and Sustainability VP (Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Vice President), Sustainability Chancellor, Sustainability Chief.

O*NET 11-1011.03

At a glance

US median annual pay: $213,990; Middle half earn $129,540 to $356,200. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Master's Degree; 74% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 5 of 5; Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Monitor and evaluate effectiveness of sustainability programs.
Develop or execute strategies to address issues such as energy use, resource conservation, recycling, pollution reduction, waste elimination, transportation, education, and building design.
Develop, or oversee the development of, sustainability evaluation or monitoring systems.
Supervise employees or volunteers working on sustainability projects.
Develop sustainability reports, presentations, or proposals for supplier, employee, academia, media, government, public interest, or other groups.
Develop, or oversee the development of, marketing or outreach media for sustainability projects or events.
Identify and evaluate pilot projects or programs to enhance the sustainability research agenda.
Create and maintain sustainability program documents, such as schedules and budgets.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Writing4.1 / 5
Critical Thinking4.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Active Learning3.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

English Language4.3 / 5
Administration and Management4.2 / 5
Law and Government3.7 / 5
Communications and Media3.6 / 5
Building and Construction3.5 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.4 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic17
Investigative63
Artistic25
Social43
Enterprising95
Conventional58

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

corporate social responsibility manager · DE Beauftragter für die soziale Verantwortung der Unternehmen/Beauftragte für die soziale Verantwortung der Unternehmen · FR responsable RSE - responsabilité sociale de l'entreprise
energy manager · DE Energiemanager/Energiemanagerin · FR directeur de l'efficacité énergétique/directrice de l'efficacité énergétique
environmental protection manager · DE Umweltschutzmanager/Umweltschutzmanagerin · FR directeur de la protection de l'environnement/directrice de la protection de l'environnement
environmental programme coordinator · DE Programmkoordinator Umwelt/Programmkoordinatorin Umwelt · FR coordonnateur de programmes environnementaux/coordonnatrice de programmes environnementaux
environmental scientist · DE Umweltwissenschaftler/Umweltwissenschaftlerin · FR chargé d’études environnement/chargée d’études environnement
environmental engineer · DE Umweltingenieur/Umweltingenieurin · FR ingénieur génie de l’environnement/ingénieure génie de l’environnement

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Conservation professionals (2151)21,900 employed
Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services (1163)8,000 employed
Environment professionals (2152)80,200 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.33. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (11-1011).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test