Head of sustainability

The Vacancy

🌍 Head of Sustainability – WPS
📍 Location: National ¦ 🕒 Full-time

Are you ready to lead the charge toward a greener, more sustainable future? WPS is looking for a visionary Head of Sustainability to drive our environmental strategy and embed sustainability at the heart of everything we do. 🌱

🔎 About the Role
As Head of Sustainability, you’ll shape and deliver an industry-leading strategy that positions WPS as the most environmentally sustainable business in our sector. Reporting directly to the WPS Board Member accountable for sustainability, you’ll influence decisions at the highest level, collaborate across the business and supply chain, and lead a passionate team to deliver real, measurable impact.

🌟 Key Responsibilities

1. Refine and lead the delivery of WPS’s environmental strategy in line with our Environmental Sustainability Plan.
2. Embed environmental performance into customer offerings and financial decision-making.
3. Collaborate with Group leaders, clients, and suppliers to drive systemic change and deliver net zero, nature-positive outcomes.
4. Analyse and forecast environmental impact to prioritise high-impact initiatives.
5. Build and lead a high-performing sustainability team and foster a culture of innovation and accountability.
6. Represent WPS on the Wates Group sustainability leadership team and contribute to group-wide progress.

📈 What You’ll Be Doing

7. Win work by aligning sustainability with client ambitions and strategic goals.
8. Ensure compliance with environmental legislation and drive continuous improvement.
9. Engage and influence senior leaders to embed sustainability into culture, performance, and decision-making.
10. Set and track ambitious environmental targets, reporting progress to the board and wider business.

🎓 What We’re Looking For

11. Graduate calibre with 5+ years’ experience in sustainability, ideally in the built environment.
12. Proven technical expertise in environmental management and low-carbon strategy.
13. Strong commercial acumen and analytical skills.
14. Excellent communicator and relationship builder, able to influence at all levels.
15. Passionate, self-motivated, and committed to making a difference.

💼 Why Join WPS?
This is your opportunity to lead transformational change in a business that’s serious about sustainability. You’ll have the platform, support, and autonomy to shape the future of WPS—and the built environment. 🌟

Given the nature of this position, you will need to undergo a Basic Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) at offer stage. Applicants with criminal convictions will be assessed individually, and we assure you that we do not discriminate based on an applicant's criminal record or the details of any disclosed offenses. Additionally, certain roles may be subject to additional pre-employment checks.

One of the Recruitment Team will be in contact to discuss the role in more detail and advise of the next step.

Work for Wates

Wates is one of the UK’s leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance companies. Founded over 125 years ago, we have a proud legacy in the built environment.

We are driven by our purpose, ‘reimagining places for people to thrive’ and our three promises:

Thriving places – working with customers, partners and communities to create places that are more sustainable, inclusive, and full of opportunity.
Thriving planet – protecting nature and taking action on climate change by collaborating and innovating with our partners.
Thriving people – creating opportunities and relationships so that everyone who works for and with us feels included, invested in, and treated with care.

We are proud to be recognised as Gold Investors in People and as a Disability Confident employer. We also ensure that our recruitment processes do not treat anyone less favourably due to an offending background.

Awards

BEST PROJECT

Inside Housing Development Awards

WINNER

2022 Construction News Awards Winner

GOLD AWARD

Investors in People 2022

GOLD AWARD

Considerate Constructors Schemes (CCS) National Site Awards

TOP 50 EMPLOYERS

2022 Top 50 Employers for Women

WINNER

2022 Working Families Best Practice Awards