Head of Sustainability
Team: Operations/Sustainability
Responsible to: Chief Operating Officer
Responsible for: Sustainability Officer
Purpose:
Responsible for leading, developing and managing the sustainability plan, in line with the England Golf Strategy 2025-2030 – strategic goal to ‘educate & influence on sustainability’.
Working Relationships:
Internal:
* Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer – meetings & communication.
* Board – attendance if required.
* SMT – as required to embed sustainability across all teams.
* Development & Membership (RMs & CCSOs) – communication & support.
* Commercial Manager – regular engagement to support planning & development.
* Data & Insight Manager – regular engagement to support planning & development.
* Communication team – to support specific campaigns & engagement.
* Unified counties, Unions & Associations –communication & promotion
* Golf clubs – communication with paid workforce & volunteers.
External:
* GB&I sustainability group – stakeholder engagement, including Home Nations.
* The R&A – aligning sustainability planning & messaging.
* Sport England – link to funding cycle as appropriate.
* Relevant EG Partners – engagement on communication & advocacy.
* Member organisations such as BIGGA, GCMA - to advocate to workforce.
* Other key stakeholders & organisations – as per alignment to the plan.
Main Duties & Key Responsibilities:
* Lead, develop and implement the England Golf sustainability plan 2025-2030.
* Deliver a sustainability promotional & advocacy campaign aligned to the plan, working closely with the communications team.
* Engage and collaborate with the R&A on sustainability projects, including Golf Course 2030.
* Engage with the British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS), aligning the 12 principles against the sustainability plan.
* Lead by example as a positive ambassador for England Golf, influencing behaviour changes and raising the profile of sustainability across the golfing landscape.
* Engage directly with government, Sport England and other relevant bodies on regulatory elements of sustainability, with specific focus on water resilience.
* Oversee the reduction of carbon across the organisation, including championships/events, in collaboration with consultants and colleagues.
* Engage with the National Golf Centre (NGC) team to ensure sustainable practices are identified and implemented across the business.
* Support Sustainability Officer to work closely with the Development & Membership team to provide guidance for golf clubs on key issues (water, energy, biodiversity).
* Ensure that environmental, social and economic elements of the sustainability plan are connected across the organisation.
* Support Sustainability Officer with the England Golf annual awards in relation to the sustainability category.
* Explore the commercial opportunities for sustainability in conjunction with the Commercial Manager.
* Oversee and manage the resource and capacity requirements of sustainability to calculate our carbon footprint and explore the potential to become net zero.
* Ensure sustainable golf insights are developed by collecting relevant data, analysis and assessing emerging trends.
* Implement changes to make our workplace greener, working closely with Human Resources and Admin team.
* Produce and deliver the sustainability annual operational & financial plan, including the cascading of the plan at a local level.
* In addition to the duties and responsibilities listed, the job holder will be required to perform other duties reasonably requested from time to time.
Dimensions/Resources:
Staff:
* 1 full time.
Financial:
* Sustainability annual budget.
Administrative:
* External meetings with key stakeholders, groups & organisations.
* GB&I Sustainability group – lead role
* Internal sustainability working group – co-ordinate & lead.
* Board, senior management team, team meetings, full staff meetings.
* Presenting at county/club update meetings & workshops as required.
Location:
England Golf Headquarters, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, hybrid working or potential to work from home. If the latter, as a guide it is expected that time is spent at the headquarters at least 2 to 3 days every 2 weeks.
Essential:
* Educated to degree, or relevant qualification level.
* Excellent knowledge of the sustainability sector and sustainable practices.
* Sound understanding of facility management.
* Knowledge of sustainability & environmental legislation in the UK.
* Experience working in business, sport, government or NGO context.
* Ability to build and sustain relationships with staff, volunteers and partners.
* Ability to empower and influence.
* Preparation and production of clear and detailed reports.
* Capable of gathering and analysis of information.
* Outstanding communication skills, including public speaking.
* Computer literate in spreadsheet, word processing and presentation software
* Motivated and proven track record of inspiring others.
* Friendly and willingly offer support and assistance to colleagues and customers.
* Explain information clearly, accurately and using appropriate language.
* Confidence and social skills to represent the company in external professional contexts.
* Encourage and display attitudes and behaviours that respect and value diversity and promote equal opportunities.
* Experience of delivering sustainability programmes
* Experience and interest in sustainability, business management or environmental science.
* Effective and proven budget management.
* Prior work in leisure or sports related industry.
* Proven people management.
* Tutoring/facilitator experience
* Valid driver’s licence as travel will be required.
Desirable:
* Degree in business, environmental sciences, environmental management, engineering or sustainability.
* Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv), or member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) or Chartered Institute of Waste Management (CIWM)
* Understanding of golf facility management and/or leisure/recreation.
* Structure of national, regional & county-based sport.
* Structure of golf (general, club based, structure).
Closing date: Monday 23rd June