Business and Financial Operations · Holland code IEC

Sustainability Specialists

Address organizational sustainability issues, such as waste stream management, green building practices, and green procurement plans.

Also called: Sustainability Consultant, Sustainability Coordinator, Sustainability Specialist, Sustainable Design Coordinator, Campus Energy Coordinator, Energy and Sustainability Strategic Advisor, Sustainability Advisor, Sustainability Champion.

O*NET 13-1199.05

At a glance

US median annual pay: $83,050; Middle half earn $62,640 to $114,010. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 52% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable 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.

Develop sustainability project goals, objectives, initiatives, or strategies in collaboration with other sustainability professionals.
Monitor or track sustainability indicators, such as energy usage, natural resource usage, waste generation, and recycling.
Assess or propose sustainability initiatives, considering factors such as cost effectiveness, technical feasibility, and acceptance.
Provide technical or administrative support for sustainability programs or issues.
Review and revise sustainability proposals or policies.
Develop reports or presentations to communicate the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives.
Create or maintain plans or other documents related to sustainability projects.
Collect information about waste stream management or green building practices to inform decision makers.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Writing4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Active Listening3.9 / 5
Critical Thinking3.9 / 5
Monitoring3.5 / 5

Knowledge areas

Administration and Management3.7 / 5
Law and Government3.5 / 5
Education and Training3.5 / 5
English Language3.5 / 5
Building and Construction3.4 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.2 / 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.

Realistic18
Investigative70
Artistic25
Social33
Enterprising68
Conventional57

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)

environmental programme coordinator · DE Programmkoordinator Umwelt/Programmkoordinatorin Umwelt · FR coordonnateur de programmes environnementaux/coordonnatrice de programmes environnementaux
ICT environmental manager · DE Umweltmanagementbeauftragter (IKT)/Umweltmanagementbeauftragte (IKT) · FR responsable de l'environnement informatique

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Conservation professionals (2151)21,900 employed
Environment professionals (2152)80,200 employed
Agricultural and fishing trades n.e.c. (5119)26,800 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 +1.05. 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 (13-1199).

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