--- title: Abteilungsleitung Sustainability Management canonical: https://csrjobs.club/jobs/commerz-real-abteilungsleitung-sustainability-management-2ajw locale: en description: Commerz Real is hiring a Abteilungsleitung Sustainability Management on CSR Jobs. Discover this in-house sustainability role and apply today. updated: 2026-10-13 company: Commerz Real country: Germany contract: Full time seniority: Senior missions: ESG reporting, Strategic planning, Compliance, Stakeholders engagement job_type: Sustainability Manager, ESG/Sustainability Reporting Manager posted: 2026-10-13 valid_through: 2026-12-13 apply: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4478764538 source: CSR Jobs --- # Abteilungsleitung Sustainability Management In this role, you will lead the sustainability function for Commerz Real's asset-management platform, shaping how ESG targets, governance and reporting are woven into investment processes and products. Day to day, that means steering ESG strategy, advising the management team and coordinating initiatives across business lines and the wider Commerzbank group. This is a chance to shape sustainability at the heart of a €55bn asset manager, translating regulation and market expectations into tangible ESG goals, risk oversight and transparent reporting for real-asset and infrastructure funds. The impact is structural: stronger governance and better data shape where capital flows. This suits someone who has built or matured an ESG function in financial services, leads teams with confidence and can turn dense regulation into decisions a business actually acts on, in German and English. ## Job FAQs ### What are the main missions and responsibilities of this role? The core of this role is owning the sustainability agenda for Commerz Real's asset-management platform, which means taking a strategy that may exist on paper and making it operational across steering, governance, processes and products. You would define and refine **ESG targets and KPIs**, set up the mechanisms that track progress, and make sure the organisation can actually demonstrate delivery rather than just describe ambition. A second layer is advisory and risk. You would monitor regulatory and market developments in sustainable finance, assess what they mean for business models and products, and feed that analysis back to management and specialised units. This includes shaping **ESG governance and ESG risk management**, which in a regulated asset manager is as much about defensibility as it is about values. Finally, you would lead a team of sustainability managers and orchestrate cross-departmental and group-wide initiatives, from data and reporting quality to audit, certification and rating processes. Representing the firm in external committees and positioning sustainability as a strategic success factor rounds out the mandate. ### Key learning opportunities for this job The steepest learning curve here is likely in the intersection of **sustainable finance regulation** and real-asset investing. Working under the Commerzbank umbrella means exposure to how a major bank interprets and applies EU sustainability rules, which is knowledge that transfers well to other financial institutions, consultancies or regulators. You would also deepen your command of **ESG data, KPI architecture and reporting processes** at portfolio scale, including the audit, certification and rating workflows that make numbers credible to investors and external assessors. That is a rare craft skill in the market. The leadership dimension matters too: developing a team of sustainability managers, steering stakeholders across business lines and presenting to management builds executive-level judgement about how ESG decisions actually get made inside a large organisation. ### How does the ideal candidate look like (experience, skills)? The profile is clearly senior. You would need a completed degree, ideally in sustainability, economics, finance or law, plus several years of professional and **leadership experience in sustainability management, ESG, sustainable finance, strategy or governance**. This is not a stepping-stone role; it assumes you have already built or substantially matured an ESG function. On the technical side, expect expectations around sustainability regulation, ESG risk frameworks and reporting processes, ideally with exposure to audit, certification or rating exercises. Experience steering complex, cross-functional projects is essentially mandatory in a group structure like Commerzbank. The softer requirements are equally weighted. The posting emphasises analytical and conceptual strength, the ability to make complex matters understandable to different audiences, and confident leadership that creates orientation and commitment. **Negotiation-level German and strong English** are non-negotiable in this bilingual environment. ### Advice to stand out and make a successful application Because Commerz Real sits inside Commerzbank, a generic sustainability CV will not land. Your application should demonstrate that you understand how a regulated asset manager uses ESG, think fund-level reporting, SFDR-style disclosures, ESG risk integration into investment decisions rather than standalone corporate programmes. Concrete examples with numbers or regulatory references will carry far more weight than mission statements. The leadership angle deserves explicit attention. This is a **department head role**, so describe how you have built teams, developed people and navigated matrix structures where influence matters more than authority. Highlight any experience with auditors, rating agencies or certification bodies, since those interactions are named directly in the posting. Language matters: you might prepare your cover letter highlighting your German-language capability, as the role requires negotiation-level German across a German-speaking organisation. In interviews, expect questions on how you would translate strategy into targets and hold a large organisation accountable to them, be ready with a worked example. ### What aspects of the company's sustainability is this role likely to focus on? The focus is likely to sit at the intersection of **sustainable finance and real-asset investing**. Commerz Real manages real estate and infrastructure funds, including Aquila Capital's energy-infrastructure investments, so decarbonisation pathways, energy-transition assets and ESG characteristics of physical portfolios are central to the strategy this role stewards. Governance is the second pillar. The posting repeatedly references ESG governance, ESG risk management and regulatory requirements, which suggests a heavy emphasis on making sustainability defensible under European financial regulation, transparency of data, KPI integrity and readiness for audit and rating scrutiny. The social and product dimension is present but secondary: shaping **competitive, sustainable products** and embedding sustainability into steering and product design. This is a role about systemic change inside an asset manager, not about philanthropy or communications. ### What are the main challenges someone in this role might face? The most predictable tension is between ambition and regulation. In a listed-bank subsidiary, sustainability must satisfy supervisors, auditors and rating agencies while still being useful to investment teams. Balancing **regulatory compliance with strategic value creation**, without letting one crowd out the other, is the daily tightrope. Organisational complexity is another. The unit sits at the interface between Commerz Real's various brands, the broader Commerzbank group and external stakeholders. Driving cross-departmental initiatives in that matrix, with limited direct authority over many of the people whose cooperation you need, requires patience and political sensitivity. Finally, data. The role owns the quality and transparency of sustainability data and KPIs across a ~€55bn platform. Legacy systems, inconsistent portfolio-level data and evolving methodologies mean this will rarely be clean or fast, and managing upward expectations about what is achievable will be part of the job. ### How could a typical day look like for someone in this position? A day could start with a team check-in, aligning the sustainability managers on live workstreams, a reporting cycle, a regulatory analysis, an upcoming audit. From there, much of the time is likely spent in meetings: advising specialist units on how a new regulation touches their products, or working with group functions in Commerzbank to synchronise approaches. You would review ESG target progress and data outputs, resolving issues that block reliable KPIs, and prepare or refine materials for management or committee discussions. **Stakeholder management** weaves through everything, internal business partners, auditors, rating analysts, occasionally external forums. The mix shifts with the calendar: heavier on strategic review and board preparation around planning cycles, heavier on data, audit and reporting during disclosure seasons. There is little routine; the role rewards someone comfortable switching between conceptual work and operational detail. ### What are the opportunities for professional growth and development in this role? The visible path is further executive responsibility within Commerz Real or the broader Commerzbank group, where leadership of a central sustainability unit is a credible platform for roles in strategy, risk or business management. **Visibility across the group**, this unit is described as a central interface to Commerzbank, creates natural options. Beyond promotion, the role builds a distinctive profile at the meeting point of sustainable finance, real assets and regulation. That combination is scarce and increasingly sought after by asset managers, infrastructure investors and advisory firms. Development also comes through the work itself: leading a team, representing the firm in external committees and steering audit and rating processes are all experiences that sharpen executive judgement rather than merely adding credentials. ### The main stakeholders you might be interacting with Internally, you would work closely with your team of sustainability managers, the leadership of Group Strategy & Sustainability, and senior management across Commerz Real's business lines, whom you advise on strategic sustainability questions. Because sustainability touches everything, you would also interact regularly with risk, finance, legal, product and investment teams. A distinctive set of stakeholders sits at the group level: **Commerzbank functions**, given Commerz Real is a 100% subsidiary and the unit acts as the asset-management interface to the bank. This makes alignment and upward communication a constant feature of the role. Externally, the posting names auditors, rating agencies and other stakeholders, so expect recurring contact with assurance providers and analysts. There may also be committee or industry-forum representation, placing you in front of peers and institutional audiences who judge the firm's sustainability credibility. --- Source: https://csrjobs.club/jobs/commerz-real-abteilungsleitung-sustainability-management-2ajw