Chief Sustainability Officer

Verdane is growing, and they are looking to recruit a Chief Sustainability Officer with an entrepreneurial mind-set and a strong drive, who has a passion for building successful sustainable businesses. The ideal candidate has hands-on experience from making sustainability a growth enabler in organizations. As a person, you collaborate well in a down-to-earth and value-based culture that is committed to creating long-lasting relationships. You have a genuine interest in moving Verdane and the investment industry in a sustainable direction. In this role will you be strategically and operationally responsible for the Elevate Sustainability team (today 3 people).
We think you have a can-do attitude, good project management skills and an ability to communicate a vision and create buy-in.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Responsibilities may include managing and developing the following services;
Responsible for setting the strategic agenda and goals for Verdane within sustainability, ensuring we are at the forefront of sustainable investing
Strategic and operational advisor to CEO’s and management teams supporting the development and execution of strategic sustainability priorities across the portfolio companies. Covering governance, sustainability policies and external commitments, sustainability programs, reporting, commercial development and execution
Lead the Elevate Sustainability team (currently a team of 3 FTEs) and ensure it conducts best practice sustainability and impact due diligences, acting as a key sparring partner to further develop how we underwrite impact as a firm
Lead sustainability-related growth initiatives across our portfolio of more than 100 tech-enabled businesses
Coordinating across the internal organization (other Elevate Teams, Investor Relations, Compliance/legal, Investment Professionals, Operations, Office management) to ensure sustainability is incorporated across functional areas
Contribute to building top of class frameworks and benchmarks for sustainability
Represent Verdane at conferences and other public events to showcase our sustainability credentials
Work in a collaborative way with internal as well as external stakeholders to engage them in Verdane’s sustainability journey
Help track sustainability/impact related KPIs and targets, creating value creating insights as well as reporting back to portfolio companies and other stakeholders (e.g. limited partners)
Manage and develop key partnerships with important software providers and advisors (e.g. Celsia, Sweep, etc.) initiatives, disseminating these across the Verdane portfolio ecosystem (through e.g. Sustainability days, webinars, etc.)



PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Hands-on strategic and operational experience working with the design- and implementation of a sustainability mandate
Team/project management in an operational, investment or consulting role
Good understanding of especially climate topics (e.g. carbon abatement cost curves, climate risk, LCA analysis), but also wider the SDG/ESG space
High level understanding of key sustainability regulations/frameworks, e.g. EU Taxonomy, SFDR, GHG Protocol, SBTi
Previous operational and PnL responsibility is a plus
Experience from transactions, including due diligence, is a plus
Minimum 12 years’ experience, preferably 3-5 of these within Sustainability
A degree in engineering/finance/business
Fluency in English, both written and spoken required, a Nordic language or German is an advantage