Director of Sustainable Investing

The Director of Sustainable Investing will own Glenmede’s firmwide sustainable investing capability, sitting inside Investment Strategy & Research. The day-to-day mission is to keep the platform intellectually rigorous and commercially relevant: refining the frameworks that assess mission and values alignment, partnering with Manager Research on strategies being evaluated, and ensuring that sustainable investing is scalable rather than bespoke. This person also acts as the senior subject-matter expert in complex client and prospect meetings, helping relationship and portfolio managers translate a client’s mission into an actual portfolio. Beyond the investment core, the role carries a strong external and internal leadership mandate. That includes advancing Glenmede’s thought leadership, representing the firm at conferences and with industry organizations, and connecting published perspectives directly to what Glenmede can deliver. Internally, the director leads and develops the Sustainable Investing team, stewards the Sustainable Advisory Council, the internal Guiding Coalition and the Best Practices program, and creates training and tools so client-facing colleagues can speak about sustainable investing with confidence. The overarching goal is to strengthen the link between investment offerings, client implementation, thought leadership, and business priorities. This is not a pure research or communications post: it is a platform leadership role that must source opportunities, support business development, and help Glenmede grow its sustainable investing footprint without compromising investment discipline.

This role offers deep exposure to how sustainable investing is actually implemented inside a multi-client wealth and investment management firm. The successful candidate will sharpen their ability to build and govern investment frameworks, evaluate managers through an ESG and mission-alignment lens, and integrate sustainability considerations into multi-manager portfolio construction. That is a rare combination of investment fluency and sustainability expertise. The director will also develop significant client-facing and commercial skills. Because the role supports complex, mission-focused relationships, it provides repeated practice in translating values into portfolio decisions, handling nuanced conversations about return concession and intended versus unintended deviation, and building trust with sophisticated private and institutional clients. Those are highly transferable skills for leadership roles in sustainable finance. On the leadership side, the candidate can expect to grow as a people manager, platform builder, and external spokesperson. Glenmede’s emphasis on thought leadership, industry relationships, and internal training means the director will refine public speaking, writing, and stakeholder-alignment abilities. Exposure to the Sustainable Advisory Council and Guiding Coalition also offers a view of how governance, client advisory structures, and business strategy interact in a boutique investment firm.

Glenmede is likely looking for someone with at least ten years in investment management, wealth management, or a closely related field, including meaningful hands-on experience in sustainable, mission-aligned, or impact investing. The ideal candidate will have led a platform, program, or investment capability across multiple stakeholders or business lines, and will be comfortable in client-facing or advisory settings with sophisticated individual or institutional clients. Investment fluency matters greatly. A CFA, CAIA, CIMA, or comparable designation or advanced degree is preferred, along with familiarity with manager evaluation and multi-manager portfolio construction. The candidate should be able to balance client objectives, investment considerations, and firm priorities, and should have a practical point of view on how sustainable investing can be implemented without losing sight of risk and return. Established industry relationships and credibility in sustainable investing would be a strong advantage. The soft skills are just as important. Glenmede values emotional intelligence, humility, and the ability to partner across investment, relationship management, and business development teams. The ideal person can articulate a clear vision for the platform, communicate excellently in writing and in person, and define and measure business-line metrics. A willingness to travel is expected, and a genuine comfort with a hybrid, team-oriented boutique culture is essential.

To stand out, avoid a generic sustainability CV. This role sits inside an investment firm, so your application should lead with investment management experience and then show how sustainable investing has been a central part of your work. Concrete examples of platforms or programs you have led, strategies you have evaluated, client relationships you have supported, and commercial outcomes you have helped drive will matter more than broad statements about ESG passion. Because Glenmede is explicitly seeking a commercially oriented platform leader, your cover letter should address the tension between mission alignment and investment discipline. Mention how you have handled return concession, intended versus unintended deviation, governance, and scalability. If you have experience with manager research, multi-manager portfolios, or client advisory work for endowments, foundations, or private wealth clients, make that prominent. The firm wants someone who can speak credibly with portfolio managers and relationship managers, not just sustainability specialists. Interview preparation should include a clear point of view on where sustainable investing is heading and how Glenmede should position its platform. Be ready to discuss thought leadership you have produced and how it connected to business development. Also prepare for questions about emotional intelligence, cross-functional partnership, and cultural fit. Glenmede is independent, boutique in feel, and values humility, so a collaborative tone and evidence of working well across functions will likely be as important as technical expertise.

This role is likely to focus on the investment side of sustainability: how ESG factors, mission alignment, and values-based objectives are assessed, documented, and implemented across Glenmede’s platform. The director will refine frameworks for evaluating strategies, partner with Manager Research on sustainable investment options, and help ensure that client portfolios reflect meaningful mission alignment rather than superficial labels. Much of the work will center on governance, definitions, and decision discipline. Client-facing sustainability is another major focus. Glenmede serves private wealth, endowment and foundation, and institutional clients, many of whom have specific missions or values. The director will help translate those missions into portfolios, support complex relationship conversations, and ensure that sustainable investing offerings are implementable and scalable. This could include work on impact investing, mission-aligned allocations, and the practical trade-offs between financial return and mission objectives. Externally, the role will drive thought leadership on sustainable and mission-aligned investing and represent Glenmede in industry forums. Internally, it will steward the Sustainable Advisory Council, the Guiding Coalition, and the Best Practices program, helping embed sustainable investing knowledge across relationship and portfolio management teams. The sustainability focus is therefore less about operational carbon accounting and more about responsible investment strategy, client alignment, and market leadership.

One clear challenge is balancing commercial growth with investment integrity. Glenmede wants to expand its sustainable investing platform, but it also wants clear definitions, governance, and discipline around return concession. The director will likely face pressure to support business development while maintaining rigorous standards, especially in client conversations where mission and financial objectives may conflict. Navigating that tension without appearing either profit-driven or naively mission-led will require strong judgment. Another challenge is internal alignment. Sustainable investing touches manager research, portfolio management, relationship management, business development, marketing, and legal. The director must partner across all of them, often without direct authority, and ensure that the platform is scalable rather than dependent on a few experts. That means building training, tools, and escalation paths that work across business lines. In a boutique firm with 589 employees, competing priorities and limited resources could make this especially delicate. The external environment adds further complexity. Sustainable investing remains politically and commercially contested, with differing client expectations, regulatory developments, and market skepticism. The director may need to defend the firm’s approach, avoid greenwashing, and articulate a clear point of view in public forums. Measuring the impact and business value of the platform could also be difficult, particularly if metrics are still being defined. Emotional intelligence and humility will matter as much as technical expertise.

A typical day could begin with internal meetings with Manager Research or business-line investment teams, discussing strategies under evaluation and how sustainable investing considerations apply. The director might then join a client or prospect meeting as the senior sustainable investing expert, helping a relationship manager frame mission alignment and portfolio implementation for a complex, mission-focused client. Between meetings, there may be quick reviews of documentation, frameworks, or training materials being developed for colleagues. Afternoons could involve team leadership or platform-building work: coaching members of the Sustainable Investing group, preparing for a Sustainable Advisory Council session, or refining metrics and governance processes. The director might also spend time on thought leadership, drafting an article or preparing remarks for an industry conference, and connecting those perspectives to Glenmede’s capabilities. Business development activity, such as following up with centers of influence or conference contacts, could also feature. Because the role is hybrid and firmwide, no two days are identical. There will be periods heavy with external travel and client engagement, and others focused on internal alignment, training, or strategic projects. The director will likely move fluidly between investment research, client advisory, team management, and commercial strategy, which makes time management and clear prioritization essential.

This role offers a strong platform for professional growth because it combines investment strategy, client advisory, business development, and team leadership. A successful director could deepen their expertise in sustainable investing while also gaining visibility with senior leaders across Glenmede’s investment and client-facing functions. That breadth positions them well for broader leadership roles, such as head of investment strategy, head of sustainable investing, or a senior business-line leadership position. Externally, the thought leadership and industry representation components can raise the candidate’s profile significantly. Speaking at conferences, publishing perspectives, and building relationships with allocators and industry organizations create opportunities for board roles, advisory positions, and recognition as a subject-matter expert. Within Glenmede, stewarding the Sustainable Advisory Council and Guiding Coalition could also open doors to governance and strategic initiatives beyond the immediate team. The role’s commercial dimension is another growth lever. By sourcing opportunities and helping to define business-line metrics, the director can demonstrate revenue impact, which is often a prerequisite for the most senior roles in investment management. If the platform scales successfully, this position could evolve into a more expansive franchise-building mandate, with greater influence over product development, client segments, and firmwide strategy.

The director will interact most frequently with Glenmede’s Manager Research Group, portfolio managers, relationship managers, and business development professionals. These interactions are central to the role: manager research needs sustainable investing input on strategies, portfolio managers need help implementing mission-aligned allocations, relationship managers need support in client conversations, and business development needs a credible expert who can help source and win opportunities. The director must be a partner rather than a bottleneck. Internally, the role also touches marketing, legal, and senior leadership. Marketing will look to the director for thought leadership and client-facing content, while legal may be involved in documentation, disclosures, and governance around sustainable investing claims. The Sustainable Advisory Council and the internal Guiding Coalition are formal stakeholder groups the director will steward, and the Sustainable Investing team itself will require leadership, coaching, and clear direction. Externally, key stakeholders include clients and prospects, particularly complex mission-focused relationships, as well as industry organizations, conference contacts, centers of influence, and allocators. The director will represent Glenmede in these forums and will need to build trust with sophisticated audiences. Because the role is firmwide, stakeholders span private wealth, endowment and foundation, and institutional clients, each with different expectations and levels of sustainable investing sophistication.