Head of ESG Assurance

( )

Location

South west, North west or London

Salary

Competitive

Reports to

Operations Director

Verco is an award-winning consultancy, specialising in helping companies reduce their environmental impact and make savings through data driven analysis, grounded advice and real-world solutions.  We’re a powerful blend of technical consultants, engineers and software developers who share a common vision: to provide solutions for a zero-carbon world.  

With over 35 years’ experience at the cutting edge of the low carbon economy, we contribute to world-leading thinking around net zero and wider sustainability.  We are proud to work with some of the biggest names in the business, across a wide range of sectors; from government to some of the largest real estate investors and leaders in industry, manufacturing and retail.  We provide a wide range of reporting, compliance and energy management services using our proprietary software and new My Verco platform. 

Verco is part of the Bip Group and a B Corp with a unique set of values which you will help bring to life. We look for high achievers who have the confidence, skill and outlook to enable them to perform well and play an active part in the collaborative culture of the company.  

About this role

    This is an exciting opportunity to build on the current momentum and Verco’s existing experience, to develop a successful ESG assurance and verification service which will utilise Verco’s unique position to meet a rapidly growing market demand.   

    The Head of Service role encompasses being a technical/knowledge lead for a service that is required by new and existing clients; to create efficient, replicable products and to ensure they are marketed, sold and then delivered to a high standard. 

    The ESG Assurance and Verification services covered by this role include: 

    • Delivery of large sustainability assurance and verification engagements for real estate and corporate clients. 

    • Delivery of assurance-adjacent services, including pre-assurance / assurance readiness reviews, assurance-ready ESG reporting methodology development, sustainability strategy validation and more. 

    The Head of Service will be expected to carry out normal consultancy duties, including project management/direction, client management, proposal writing and project delivery. As this role develops, line management of some members of the delivery team will be required, giving full visibility of workflow, utilisation, performance and development needs.  

How you will contribute

  1. Develop the service development plan for the continued evolution of the ESG Assurance service:

    Work with the Operations Director, Service Directors and others as appropriate to evolve the service development plan, to define products, sectors, clients, actions and requirements for implementation. 

  2. Drive sales by identifying target clients and opportunities:

    Work with existing Verco and BIP clients, as well as identifying prospective clients by leveraging your own network, market research, and marketing. Scope out opportunities, write and win proposals.  

  3. Manage service delivery:

    Deliver the service development plan, implementing agreed actions and updating the plan in response to market evolution, with the aim of delivering replicable services and products that are required by clients. 

  4. Account management:

    Maintain strong relationships with existing clients and build new relationships to win further work, including facilitating the cross-selling of Verco and BIP’s full range of services. 

  5. Develop relevant content for marketing material:

    Work with the Operations Director and Service Directors, with the support of the marketing team, to define the content for marketing and sales material, website content etc. to communicate with clients and drive sales. 

  6. Act as external champion for the service:

    Promote the ESG assurance service via external networking and maintaining strong client relationships to publicise, inform and attract prospective clients and team members. 

  7. Financial management:

    Work with the Operations Director and Service Directors to develop and contribute to budgets for your service area.  Manage invoicing during the year to ensure service area is profitable, and support the financial management needs of the business. 

  8. Line management:

    Manage the staff within the service area team (as it grows), through regular 1:1s, team meetings and performance reviews to ensure the team is supported, motivated and effective.  Coordinate with team members who are not direct reports. 

  9. Team utilisation management:

    Review pipeline and current loading to ensure team members (as the team grows) are effectively utilised, proactively working with other service areas to manage utilisation issues through sharing workload or resources. Review skills within the team and pipeline to develop training and recruitment plans. 

  10. Project Management:

    Work with project managers to direct ESG assurance projects and ensure delivery to client on time, to quality, and within agreed budget. 

  11. Technical input:

    Provide technical input on the complexities of the ESG assurance standards and the reporting landscape, to successfully develop and deliver the service. 

The breakdown of your work profile will look something like this:  

  • Sales: 25% of time 
  • Fee earning: 55% of time (at Principal Consultant or Associate Director grade) 
  • Strategy Development: 10% 
  • Management/Overhead: 10% of time 

This profile may change as the service develops.

What you will bring

We're looking for an experienced ESG assurance professional who is confident in developing service strategy and can evidence taking a service from strategy development to market delivery.  Please contact us to talk through the opportunity in more detail. 

To apply

If you're able to match what we're looking for with the knowledge, skill and experience necessary to deliver this challenging opportunity and more, then we'd really like to hear from you.

Please contact us at careers@vercoglobal.com for more details or to set up a call and we'll be in touch.

Our mission isn’t just about what we do, it’s also how we do it. So diversity matters to us at Verco. We value and respect unique contribution and hire the best people, whatever their background, offering a working environment that enables you to thrive and achieve your potential. We are committed to providing equal opportunity and welcome applications regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief.

You must be eligible to work in the UK. We welcome applications for this role from suitable candidates who might be eligible to come and work with us via the Skilled Worker visa route.

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