Role: Sustainability Researcher, Better Buildings Partnership
Reporting to: Head of Climate Action & Investment
Location: Remote, with minimum monthly in-person meetings in London
Contract: Permanent
Hours: 37.5 per week (flexible arrangements considered)
Salary range: £32,000–£36,000, depending on experience
Start Date: August 2025
Interviews: Commencing as soon as possible, ideally w/c 16th June
Purpose of the Role
To support the delivery of BBP’s sustainability workstreams through research, content development, member engagement, and project coordination.
Key Responsibilities
Reporting to the Head of Climate Action & Investment, the Sustainability Researcher will provide research support across the BBP’s workstreams. Supporting the heads of each workstream, the Sustainability Researcher will have the opportunity to engage with a wide range of sustainability and ESG issues as they relate to commercial property, structured around the following:
· Market Transformation: Supporting the delivery of the BBP Climate Commitment and associated workstreams focused on net zero carbon, climate resilience, and ESG upskilling, aimed at driving ambitious, sector-wide decarbonisation and capability-building.
· Investment & Lending: Contributing to research on European capital flows and investor engagement, with a particular focus on how sustainability considerations are integrated into investment and lending strategies across the commercial real estate sector.
· Measurement & Benchmarking: Assisting in the delivery of the BBP’s Real Estate Environmental Benchmark (REEB) and contributing to alignment with recognised performance frameworks, including NABERS UK, to improve measurement, disclosure, and performance tracking.
· Building Innovation & Technology: Supporting the coordination of innovation roundtables and technical site visits to capture emerging best practices in building systems, energy efficiency technologies, and operational strategies.
· Property Management: Providing support to the Managing Agents Partnership, facilitating collaboration across managing agents to improve the implementation of sustainability measures at the asset level.
· Occupier Engagement: Assisting with the delivery of the Owner-Occupier Forum and research activities focused on green leasing, with the aim of strengthening collaboration between landlords and occupiers in pursuit of shared sustainability goals.
Responsibilities of the Sustainability Researcher will include:
* Undertaking research on a diverse range of sustainability and ESG issues focusing on their relevance to commercial real estate, including subject matter including but not limited to net zero carbon strategies, climate resilience and adaptation, nature and biodiversity, embodied carbon, circularity, offsetting and carbon pricing, tenant engagement, sustainable finance, climate risk disclosure, social value, and the application of voluntary sustainability frameworks such as TNFD, SBTi and GRESB.
* Member strategies: Reviewing members approaches to specific issues and keeping a watching brief on members’ sustainability activities to ensure that these inform the programme of work.
* Industry best practice: Keeping abreast of industry best practice and a watching brief on industry bodies, NGOs and other external stakeholders to ensure that this is reflected in the programme of work.
* Actively engaging with the BBP members, industry bodies and other stakeholders to gain greater insights into specific subject areas.
* Providing briefings to the BBP Executive team to help them prepare for project and member meetings.
* Contributing to content development for the BBP’s work programme and projects.
* Drafting agendas, papers and presentations for project and member meetings.
* Helping facilitate research-focused aspects of member meetings, (e.g. polling members or gathering views on specific topics)
* Providing administrative support for the work programme including organising and minuting meetings and following up on agreed actions.
* Co-ordinating data gathering and analysis for inclusion in the BBP’s annual Impact Report including updating the BBP’s own carbon footprint.
The BBP is driven by its membership and as such the work programme is constantly evolving – the responsibilities of this role are therefore likely to change over time.
Essential Skills & Qualities
We are looking for someone who is passionate about sustainability and the built environment, understands the BBP’s aims, and can work independently as part of a small team. The BBP is a highly collaborative organisation, and this role involves working closely with our members and other stakeholders to deliver high-quality outputs for the wider industry.
* Undergraduate degree (or equivalent qualification) and relevant academic or professional experience in sustainability, real estate, or consultancy.
* Proven ability to manage multiple projects, work independently, use initiative, and collaborate effectively within a small team.
* Strong research and analytical skills, with experience drawing from a range of sources including academic literature, policy documents, industry reports, and digital tools.
* Ability to synthesise complex information into clear, concise, and engaging content tailored to different audiences.
* Excellent written, verbal, and visual communication skills, with strong attention to detail and a professional, solutions-oriented approach.
* Confident user of MS Office (especially Excel and PowerPoint), with a demonstrable interest in sustainability and the commercial property sector.
Desirable Skills & Qualities
* Familiarity with sustainability frameworks and standards such as SBTi, GRESB, TNFD, SFDR or the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard.
* Familiarity with digital collaboration and engagement platforms such as Mural, Slido, or similar tools used for interactive workshops, consultation, or co-creation sessions.
* Confidence using AI-assisted tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity) to support research, summarisation, content development, and efficiency in day-to-day tasks.
* Familiarity with graphic design or data visualisation tools (e.g. Canva, Adobe, Power BI) to enhance the clarity of outputs.
* Practical experience producing or analysing sustainability metrics, data dashboards or impact reporting.