What Do Sustainability Specialists Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Sustainability Specialists address organizational sustainability issues, such as waste stream management, green building practices, and green procurement plans. They also create or maintain plans or other documents related to sustainability projects.

Other tasks include:

• Develop sustainability project goals, objectives, initiatives, or strategies in collaboration with other sustainability professionals.
• Assess or propose sustainability initiatives, considering factors such as cost effectiveness, technical feasibility, and acceptance.
• Provide technical or administrative support for sustainability programs or issues.
• Monitor or track sustainability indicators, such as energy usage, natural resource usage, waste generation, and recycling.
• Research or review regulatory, technical, or market issues related to sustainability.
• Review and revise sustainability proposals or policies.

We asked Sustainability Specialists how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

---

70% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 47% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Sustainability Specialists provide technical or administrative support for sustainability programs or issues. They create or maintain plans or other documents related to sustainability projects.

A typical day for a Sustainability Specialist will also include:

• Develop sustainability project goals, objectives, initiatives, or strategies in collaboration with other sustainability professionals.
• Assess or propose sustainability initiatives, considering factors such as cost effectiveness, technical feasibility, and acceptance.
• Create marketing or outreach media, such as brochures or Web sites, to communicate sustainability issues, procedures, or objectives.
• Research or review regulatory, technical, or market issues related to sustainability.
• Identify or procure needed resources to implement sustainability programs or projects.

We asked some Sustainability Specialists a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	79% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	64% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	36% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	25% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	0% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	14% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Sustainability Specialists also review and revise sustainability proposals or policies. They may also research or review regulatory, technical, or market issues related to sustainability.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Sustainability Specialists Monitor or track sustainability indicators, such as energy usage, natural resource usage, waste generation, and recycling. They might also Develop reports or presentations to communicate the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives.

In addition, they Assess or propose sustainability initiatives, considering factors such as cost effectiveness, technical feasibility, and acceptance.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Collect information about waste stream management or green building practices to inform decision makers.

To some Sustainability Specialists, it is also their responsibility to Identify or investigate violations of natural resources, waste management, recycling, or other environmental policies.

Working life

More than 40 hours per week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Sustainability Specialist, you can expect to work more than 40 hours per week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like starting up and carrying out projects. They like leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business..

They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/green/sustainability/sustainability.htm

http://www.bls.gov/green/forestry/sustainable_forestry.htm