Sustainability Officer (Entry to Midlevel)

At HR Wallingford, we design smart, resilient solutions across the natural and built environments to help everyone live and work more sustainably with water. By harnessing research, data insights and the power of our collective expertise, we help the world to better understand the changing influence and impact of water.

With sustainability at the heart of what we do, it’s vital that we operate in a sustainable way and create positive impact. This includes addressing our sustainability as a business, as well as delivering sustainable solutions for our customers and wider stakeholders through our products and services. Over the last three years, we have been delivering an ambitious programme of work and reported on progress in our annual Sustainability Reports. Over the next three years, we are planning to build on these strong foundations by embedding sustainability into our business-as-usual activities, as well as strengthening our operational sustainability and exploiting opportunities to innovate in the sectors in which we have influence.

Since 2023 we have been part of the United Nations Global Compact and committed to abide by the UNGC’s ten guiding principles centred around human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. We submitted our second Communication on Progress in July 2025 with details of new policies ranging from human & labour rights to biodiversity, as well as committing to paying the Oxford Living Wage since April 2025.

We’re looking for a creative individual with a passion for sustainability as well as sound business judgement and a practical approach. You will report directly to our Sustainability Manager, with a close working relationship with our QHSE Manager, and in partnership with many others across our central business functions, in our trading divisions and within the Executive Committee.

We welcome applications from a wide range of experience levels.  The role can be appointed at either Graduate Sustainability Officer or Sustainability Officer level, depending on skills, qualifications and experience.

This varied and influential role will include the following responsibilities:

• Data capture, collation, in-depth analysis and reporting of sustainability-related metrics and key performance indicators
• Support the development and implementation of new processes and procedures where needed for sustainability-related data
• Assist with ongoing monitoring, review and monthly reporting on delivery of our sustainability plan
• Assist with annual sustainability reporting, including our Communication on Progress submission to the UN Global Compact.
• Assist with monitoring and continuous improvement of environmental management and compliance
• Support the ongoing monitoring, review and revision of our Decarbonisation Plan
• Support the implementation of decarbonisation actions
• Provide evidence of operational sustainability and social value to support supplier questionnaires, pre-qualification submissions and bidding

About you

We will assess your application fairly against both role profiles to ensure the best match for your level of experience. We provide full training and structured development to support those joining at an early‑career level.

If you are applying at an early‑career level (Graduate Sustainability Officer), you will have:

• A degree in a subject relevant to this role, demonstrating strong numeracy and data‑analysis skills

If you are applying with more experience (Sustainability Officer), you will have the above, plus:

• A qualification related to business sustainability or equivalent knowledge gained through work experience, training, or recognised assessed courses
• Around 2 years’ experience in sustainability/ESG (for example, project management, data collection, analysis, and reporting)
• Evidence of contributing to or delivering successful projects

Plus it will be advantageous for you application if you have:

• Proven track record in delivering a decarbonisation plan (especially Scope 3 emissions) and supply chain analysis
• Experience in/knowledge of environmental management, especially ISO14001
• Associate membership of a sustainability related institution (e.g. ISEP)

You will be a strategic and collaborative thinker with excellent organisational skills, with the ability to balance competing priorities. You will be creative, adaptable, and confident in building constructive working relationships with colleagues at all levels.

Strong communication skills (written and verbal), data‑analysis capability, and attention to detail are essenti