Head of Sustainability

The Head of Sustainability at Aegon is the group's most senior sustainability voice, effectively owning the global strategy, governance and reporting architecture. In practice this means running the three-year strategy cycle, defining 2030 priorities, convening a group-wide sustainability oversight body, and reporting directly to the Board of Directors. The role is less about running grassroots programmes and more about making sure sustainability is embedded into how a large insurer and asset manager actually makes decisions. A significant share of the workload sits on the disclosure and compliance side. The successful candidate will oversee the double materiality assessment, the sustainability statement under the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, and the related limited assurance from the external auditor. Reporting streams under ESRS, NAIC climate risk disclosure, SEC requirements and CDP also fall within scope, as does maintaining internal controls, audit readiness and data governance for nonfinancial metrics. On the investment side, the role partners with Investments and Investor Relations to keep responsible investment guidelines, screening approaches, engagement practices and exclusion policies current. It also owns Aegon's external commitments (the UN Global Compact, Principles for Sustainable Insurance, PRI and Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance) and the quality of benchmark and rating agency submissions such as MSCI, Sustainalytics, ISS and S&P Global. Finally, it is a spokesperson role, representing the group to investors, regulators, NGOs and clients.

The most obvious learning curve is regulatory depth. Aegon sits at the intersection of US and EU disclosure regimes, so the role offers rare exposure to how CSRD, ESRS, NAIC climate disclosure and SEC requirements overlap, conflict and get reconciled inside a single global group. Fewer than a handful of roles worldwide give that view from the top. There is also a strong technical dimension to the sustainability data side: greenhouse gas accounting across Scopes 1, 2, operational 3 and financed emissions, plus the controls and assurance processes that make those numbers auditable. Candidates with a reporting background can expect to grow quickly in the financed-emissions and responsible-investment space, and vice versa. Finally, there is the executive-facing development. Working with the Executive Committee, the Chief Legal & Corporate Affairs Officer and business unit CEOs sharpens strategic communication, boardroom influencing and crisis-ready messaging in a way that operational sustainability roles rarely do.

Aegon is clearly looking for a seasoned operator rather than an emerging talent. The 15+ years of experience requirement, combined with at least three years in financial services, insurance or asset management, signals that regulatory fluency inside a supervised industry is non-negotiable. An advanced degree is preferred, and a relevant certification in sustainability, climate, responsible investment or reporting is expected rather than nice to have. The candidate who fits best likely has already navigated a CSRD-style reporting cycle, understands the mechanics of double materiality and limited assurance, and can hold their own in conversations about financed emissions with an investment team. Familiarity with MSCI, Sustainalytics, ISS and CDP submissions is a strong plus, as is prior experience managing signatory commitments like PRI or the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance. Just as important is executive presence. This is a role that requires translating dense technical content into board-ready narratives and defending positions to investors, regulators and NGOs. A self-starter mindset and comfort in a fast-paced, occasionally ambiguous environment, with work outside standard hours around board meetings and filings, will matter as much as technical depth.

The strongest applications will speak directly to the US–EU regulatory bridge Aegon describes, because that is the specific pain point this hire exists to solve. Rather than listing sustainability achievements generically, candidates should frame concrete examples of translating EU-centric requirements (CSRD, ESRS, double materiality) into a US regulatory and stakeholder context. Naming the frameworks and the assurance process explicitly signals fluency. Because the role reports into the Board and advises the Executive Committee, the cover letter should read like an executive briefing rather than a career narrative. It is worth picking two or three moments where the candidate shaped strategy, not just delivered reporting, and showing how those moments influenced capital allocation, investment policy or investor credibility. Quantifying outcomes (emissions reductions, improvement in ratings, successful assurance cycles) adds weight. In interviews, prepare for questions that test judgement rather than knowledge. Aegon operates in a politically sensitive environment where sustainability language is contested, especially in the US, so expect scenarios involving stakeholder pushback, regulatory divergence or balancing commercial and reputational priorities. Demonstrating that you can hold the strategy together under that pressure will differentiate a strong candidate from a technically competent one.

The clearest focus is regulatory compliance and disclosure. CSRD, ESRS, the NAIC climate risk disclosure and SEC requirements all sit within scope, which means the role is heavily weighted towards getting Aegon's nonfinancial reporting to a standard that survives external assurance and regulator scrutiny. This is sustainability as governance, arguably the fastest-growing and most scrutinised part of the discipline in financial services. Climate and responsible investment form the second pillar. Aegon's commitments through the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance and PRI mean the role must connect operational emissions (Scopes 1, 2 and 3) with financed emissions tied to the group's investment and insurance portfolios. That means shaping exclusion policies, screening approaches and engagement practices alongside the investment teams, not separately from them. The third strand is social and governance-adjacent work: maintaining credibility with NGOs, investors and rating agencies, and keeping Aegon's public positioning aligned with what its businesses actually do. Given the company's stated focus on longevity and ageing, there is likely room for the role to shape how Aegon talks about social impact in the context of retirement and protection products, even if that is not the primary emphasis of the job description.

The most immediate challenge is managing regulatory divergence. Aegon is exposed to both EU rules (CSRD, ESRS, double materiality) and a US environment where sustainability disclosure is politically contested and evolving unevenly across federal and state levels. Reconciling those regimes without producing two conflicting narratives for the same group is a genuine intellectual and diplomatic task. A second challenge is data and assurance readiness. Financed emissions, operational Scope 3 and nonfinancial metrics generally depend on data that is not yet as strong as financial reporting. Building internal controls, audit readiness and assurance processes around those numbers means working through business units, investment teams and Finance functions that may have competing priorities or limited capacity. Progress here tends to be slow and iterative. A third, subtler challenge is internal alignment. Sustainability sits across Finance, Risk, Legal, Investments, Corporate Affairs and Government and Policy Affairs, none of which the Head of Sustainability directly controls. Success depends on influence rather than authority, and on convincing business unit CEOs that the agenda is commercially as well as ethically sound. In a large organisation with over 42,000 employees, that is a constant effort.

A day in this role likely alternates between internal alignment and external representation. Mornings might involve working sessions with Finance and Risk on sustainability data governance, disclosure timelines or audit readiness, followed by a check-in with Investments on responsible investment guidelines or a financed-emissions update. Given the reporting scope, there is a steady rhythm of governance calendars, filings and assurance cycles that anchor the work week. A significant portion of the time will be spent in stakeholder-facing activity. That could mean preparing materials for the Board, briefing the Executive Committee, rehearsing messaging ahead of investor meetings, or responding to rating agency and benchmark queries. Because Aegon's external commitments (UN Global Compact, PSI, PRI, NZAOA) are managed from this function, there is also periodic engagement with those bodies and with NGOs. Variability is high. During annual reporting season, board meetings, the AGM or a major regulatory deadline, the pace intensifies and work outside standard hours is likely. In quieter periods, the focus shifts to strategy development, reviewing the global sustainability environment, refining the 2030 priorities, or strengthening internal engagement and capability across the group.

This is already a global head-of-function role, so the conventional promotion path is limited by the ceiling of corporate sustainability itself. Instead, growth is likely to come through scope: expanding from sustainability strategy and reporting into adjacent areas such as corporate affairs, government and policy engagement, or broader enterprise risk and strategy roles. The reporting line into the Chief Legal & Corporate Affairs Officer suggests a natural bridge in that direction. The visibility of the role is a significant asset. Regular contact with the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee and business unit CEOs puts the incumbent in the room where broader strategic decisions are made, which builds the kind of political capital that opens doors to general management or chief-of-staff-type roles. Successfully steering Aegon through its first full CSRD cycle would be a highly portable credential in the market. There is also meaningful development within the discipline itself. Financed emissions, responsible investment and sustainability assurance are evolving fast, and leading these workstreams at a group of Aegon's scale builds expertise that is in short supply. Candidates interested in board-level sustainability governance or advisory work later in their careers would find this a strong platform.

Internally, the most important relationships are with the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee and the Chief Legal & Corporate Affairs Officer, who effectively serves as the executive sponsor. The role also depends heavily on Finance, Risk, Legal, Compliance, Investments, Corporate Affairs and Government and Policy Affairs, since much of the delivery happens through those functions rather than within the sustainability team itself. Business unit CEOs across the US, UK and global asset management operations are key partners for implementation. Externally, the stakeholder map is unusually broad for a corporate sustainability role. Investors and Investor Relations are central, given the responsible investment mandate and the need to maintain credibility on ESG positioning. Regulators in both the US and EU feature prominently, and so do rating agencies and benchmark providers such as MSCI, Sustainalytics, ISS, S&P Global and CDP, whose assessments influence how the group is perceived by capital markets. Beyond that, the role engages with NGOs, sustainability standard setters and the signatory bodies Aegon belongs to, the UN Global Compact, Principles for Sustainable Insurance, PRI and the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance. Suppliers and clients also appear in the stakeholder description, suggesting the role acts as a senior spokesperson on sustainability matters across the value chain, not just within the corporate centre.