A consultant provides expert advice and recommendations on a particular area to clients (either individuals or organisations). Consultancy organisations, which range from large to small in size, employ consultants to work with external parties.
An Environmental or Sustainability Consultant is influential in embedding responsible and sustainable business principles and practices with their clients and within their own organisations.
Entry-level salary range
Early-career salary range
Experienced salary range
Senior leadership salary range
Please note: the information in our job profiles aims to give a general overview of the role and a guideline to what it involves. The content is not intended to be exhaustive and roles will vary depending on the organisation and sector. The salary ranges are a guide only, as these are dependent on the size and location of the organisation.
The primary purpose of the role of an Environmental / Sustainability Consultant is to assess and evaluate the impact and environmental impact likely to result from a specific project/product/activity or service/development. Often, consultants will advise on output/results verses environmental implications and improvements. Fields of work may cross many different sectors and industries.
As well as looking at the environmental impacts, a Sustainability Consultant will often advise on a broader range of areas, such as social value, human rights and corporate responsibility.
The goal of an Environmental or Sustainability Consultant is, ultimately, to contribute to environmental/sustainability improvements through their assessment, findings and advice. This is done by detecting the causal effects of developments, activities and projects on the planet and its resources, and recommending actions to minimise or eliminate environmental damage.
According to Nesta’s Green Jobs Explorer, this job spends 62.5% of the time doing green tasks. 21.3% of the skills listed on the job adverts for this occupation are green skills.
Transferable skills gained from extra-curricular activities or specific job tasks, either paid or voluntary, may be incorporated into the role of Environmental or Sustainability Consultant.
Day-to-day activity will involve delivering assessments and related consultancy, such as gathering and processing data and presenting and reporting back to stakeholders. Often UK travel will be required for the role. Typically, the role is full time and is office- and site-based depending on the sector and field of specialism.
Working for an independent or smaller consultancy may afford an opportunity to learn and be exposed to broader areas of running a business, working across a diverse spectrum of clients, potentially with more autonomy. Conversely, working for a larger organisation may offer more opportunity for career progression into other departments or areas of specialism working with multidisciplinary teams.
There is great opportunity to progress within the role of Environmental or Sustainability Consultant as the sectors are so vast. It’s possible to become a technical expert in complex projects within a specific area. Such specialisation may span countries and large-scale developments, for example working on environmental legislation, policy, planning, guidance and licensing. Also, with responsibilities for procurement decisions and contractor leadership and management.
Environmental and Sustainability Consultants work across across a wide range of sectors, the most prominent include:
SHIFT Environment delivers excellent environmental reports which clients use for effective environmental strategy development, compliance reporting and ESG investment.
ISEP is the membership body for environment and sustainability professionals
