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Manager Sustainability & Innovation

Fintri • Netherlands • Added on Aug 5, 2026
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As the interim lead for a prominent energy player, you will manage a newly established international team tasked with executing the firm’s sustainability and innovation roadmap. This is more than a caretaker role; you are expected to professionalize the department’s governance, clarify individual responsibilities, and ensure that strategic ambitions translate into operational reality across diverse global workstreams.

The position sits at the heart of the energy transition, where you will oversee critical agendas including decarbonization, circularity, and biodiversity. By bridging the gap between high-level ESG strategy and technical innovation, you ensure that the organization remains a frontrunner in sustainable infrastructure while maintaining compliance with rigorous reporting standards. Your leadership directly influences how the company navigates the complex shift toward a future-proof energy supply.

This suits someone who is a seasoned people manager with deep experience in asset-intensive industries and a proven track record of maturing young, multicultural teams within complex corporate environments.

Job FAQs

What are the main missions and responsibilities of this role?

The primary mission involves transforming a nascent international team into a high-performing unit. You will be responsible for defining the governance structures, decision-making processes, and individual accountabilities that allow the department to function effectively within a large corporate framework. Beyond team development, you are the custodian of the sustainability and innovation agenda. This includes driving progress on decarbonization, circularity, and biodiversity while ensuring the organization meets its strategic milestones and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Additionally, you will handle operational management, such as budget allocation, resource planning, and high-level stakeholder communication, ensuring that sustainability initiatives are integrated into the broader business strategy and reporting cycles.

Key learning opportunities for this job

In this role, you will gain deep exposure to complex energy transition dynamics within a major asset-heavy organization. Managing an international team at this level offers a unique masterclass in cross-cultural leadership and organizational change management during a high-stakes interim period. You will also sharpen your expertise in integrated reporting and innovation management. Navigating the intersection of emerging green technologies and rigid sustainability compliance frameworks provides practical experience that is highly valued in the current ESG landscape. Finally, the role provides an opportunity to master stakeholder diplomacy at the executive level, learning how to balance the competing interests of internal business units and external regulators.

How does the ideal candidate look like (experience, skills)?

The ideal candidate is a heavyweight leader with a background in both sustainability and innovation. You should have a proven history of managing or transforming departments within complex, large-scale environments such as infrastructure, energy, or public-sector utilities. Technical knowledge of ESG reporting standards is essential, as is the ability to communicate fluently in both Dutch and English. You must be comfortable with ambiguity and have the professional maturity to set boundaries while maintaining a psychologically safe and inclusive team culture. Soft skills are paramount; you need to be highly resilient and organizationally sensitive, capable of building trust quickly with diverse professionals and senior leadership alike to drive results during a seven-month tenure.

Advice to stand out and make a successful application

To stand out, highlight your specific experience in team maturation and governance. Rather than just listing sustainability projects, demonstrate how you have historically structured teams, resolved complex dynamics, and established clear accountability in previous senior roles. Since this is an interim position via Fintri for a major energy firm, emphasize your immediate operational readiness. Show that you can hit the ground running by providing examples of how you have successfully managed transitions or 'inherited' teams in high-pressure, asset-intensive sectors like energy or utilities. Ensure your application reflects a balance between strategic vision and pragmatic execution. The client is looking for a manager who understands the 'big picture' of the energy transition but is equally skilled at the 'mechanics' of running a department effectively.

What aspects of the company's sustainability is this role likely to focus on?

The role centers on the strategic pillars of the energy sector: decarbonization, circular economy, and biodiversity. You will likely oversee projects that reduce carbon intensity and enhance the sustainability of physical assets and infrastructure. There is a strong focus on governance and transparency, particularly regarding sustainability reporting and annual disclosures. You will ensure the team provides accurate data that reflects the company's progress toward its social and environmental commitments. Innovation is the other half of the coin; you will focus on scaling sustainable technologies. This involves creating the right conditions for new green solutions to be tested and integrated into the organization's long-term operational strategy.

What are the main challenges someone in this role might face?

A primary challenge will be managing the 'newness' of the team. Because the department is still in development, you may face friction related to undefined roles, overlapping responsibilities, or inconsistent internal processes that need urgent professionalization. Balancing short-term stability with long-term strategy is another hurdle. Since this is a temporary replacement role, you must keep current projects moving while simultaneously building the foundation for the permanent successor to take over a more mature department. Lastly, navigating complex stakeholder networks in a large, asset-intensive environment can be difficult. Aligning international team members with the expectations of local management requires high levels of cultural intelligence and political savvy.

How could a typical day look like for someone in this position?

A typical day might begin with a team alignment meeting to clarify priorities and resolve any bottlenecks in current innovation or reporting workstreams. You would spend time coaching individual team members, helping them navigate their own stakeholder challenges. Mid-day, you might attend a leadership steering committee to report on sustainability KPIs or present a business case for a new innovation project. This requires translating technical ESG data into strategic insights for senior management. In the afternoon, you could be focused on governance design, perhaps reviewing resource allocation or refining the decision-making framework for the department. Your day often ends with stakeholder outreach, ensuring that other business units are aligned with the sustainability agenda.

What are the opportunities for professional growth and development in this role?

While this is a seven-month interim assignment, the high visibility of the role within a leading energy organization provides significant career leverage. Success here establishes you as a go-to expert for complex ESG organizational transformations. There is an explicit option for extension, which could lead to a longer-term strategic role or the opportunity to oversee even larger transformation projects within the energy sector’s evolving landscape. Furthermore, the specialized network you build through Fintri and the client organization can open doors to executive-level sustainability positions across Europe, particularly in sectors undergoing radical transitions like utilities and infrastructure.

The main stakeholders you might be interacting with

You will interact daily with your Sustainability & Innovation team, a group of international professionals looking for direction, coaching, and clear organizational structure. Upwardly, you will engage with senior management and leadership teams, acting as the primary representative for the department's progress and the strategic implementation of the energy transition roadmap. Externally and cross-functionally, you will collaborate with business unit leads and external partners. These interactions are focused on ensuring that sustainability initiatives are integrated across the entire value chain.

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