Senior Manager ESG

The core mission is to make GWH's ESG reporting reliable and useful. That means contributing to the sustainability report under CSRD/ESRS and preparing the annual energy management report. You would collect, analyse and quality-check ESG metrics together with internal departments and external partners, and help build and refine the ESG data management system and the reporting and carbon accounting tools. A second mission is analysis and management preparation. You independently research regulatory developments, market and competitor activity and ESG trends, monitor progress of the GWH Footprints programme, and turn all of it into status reports, decision papers and presentations for department and executive level. You also prepare briefings and background material for internal and external meetings. The third strand is communication and stakeholder work. You support internal communication on sustainability topics towards managers, subsidiaries and committees, translate complex issues for audiences ranging from specialists to the board, and contribute to external sustainability communication.

This role offers deep exposure to CSRD and ESRS in practice, which is a specialised and sought-after skill set in the German market. You would learn how a large housing company structures its sustainability reporting, how ESG data flows from operations into a report, and how assurance processes work. You would also develop skills in ESG data management and climate accounting tools, likely gaining hands-on experience with reporting software and carbon footprint methodologies for buildings. Working with SAP and MS Office is mentioned, so there is room to strengthen systems and analysis capabilities. Because the role prepares material for the executive level, you would sharpen your ability to summarise complex topics for senior decision-makers. GWH also mentions individual development through training, so formal courses on reporting standards or sustainability management are plausible.

The ideal candidate likely has an academic background with analytical and organisational content, such as business administration, economics, environmental sciences or engineering, and several years of experience in sustainability reporting, ESG data or a related field. Familiarity with CSRD, ESRS and energy management reporting is probably expected at this senior level, as is experience coordinating data across departments. On the technical side, good MS Office skills are required and SAP experience is an advantage. You should be comfortable with reporting tools and climate accounting software, or at least able to learn them quickly. Strong analytical skills and attention to detail matter because the role includes quality assurance of ESG metrics. On the personal side, GWH asks for a strategic, goal-oriented, independent and careful way of working, plus negotiation skills and persuasiveness. Entrepreneurial thinking and enjoyment of teamwork are explicitly mentioned, which fits a role that depends on cooperation across the group.

Applications are only accepted through GWH's online portal and only as PDF files, so prepare your documents accordingly and do not send anything by email or post. Tailor your CV to the two pillars of the role: CSRD/ESRS reporting and ESG data management. Concrete examples of reports you helped produce, metrics you validated or tools you improved will carry more weight than general statements about sustainability. In your cover letter, connect your experience to the specifics of a housing company: energy data from buildings, multiple subsidiaries, and reporting that has to serve both regulators and management. Mentioning familiarity with energy management reporting or carbon accounting for real estate would show you understand GWH's context rather than only the regulatory framework. For interviews, be ready to explain how you handle incomplete data and how you persuade colleagues outside your team to prioritise ESG topics. The job description stresses negotiation skills and entrepreneurial thinking, so prepare examples that show you can move things forward without formal authority. A short, clear writing sample or a description of a management summary you produced could also demonstrate the communication skills the role requires.

The main focus is almost certainly ESG reporting and regulatory compliance. GWH must produce a CSRD-compliant sustainability report and an annual energy management report, so the role sits at the heart of how the group measures and discloses its environmental performance. For a housing company with around 50,000 apartments, the environmental side likely centres on energy consumption, building emissions and the carbon footprint of the existing stock. The mention of the GWH Footprints programme suggests this role monitors and reports on a broader set of sustainability measures across the group. Social aspects of ESG are also relevant for a landlord: affordable housing, tenant satisfaction and fair living conditions are part of the company's purpose, and these themes usually appear in a housing association's sustainability reporting. Governance work is implied too, since the role prepares decision papers for the management board and supports communication with committees and subsidiaries. So the role touches environmental data, social impact and governance processes, with reporting as the connecting thread.

One challenge is data. ESG figures for a housing group come from many sources: energy bills, metering systems, property management, subsidiaries and external service providers. Ensuring those numbers are complete, consistent and audit-ready for CSRD/ESRS is demanding, especially when processes and tools are still being developed. Another challenge is regulation. CSRD and ESRS requirements continue to evolve, and you will need to track changes and judge what they mean for GWH without overreacting to every draft. Balancing regulatory detail with what management actually needs to decide is a skill in itself. A third challenge is influence. The role prepares papers and briefings but often depends on others to supply information or act on recommendations, so persuading busy colleagues across the group to prioritise ESG data quality requires tact and persistence. Reporting deadlines add pressure at predictable points in the year.

A typical day at GWH likely splits between data work and writing for senior audiences. You might spend the morning chasing ESG figures with colleagues from asset management, energy management or finance, checking that consumption and emissions numbers match what the reporting tool produces. Later you could review the latest regulatory guidance on CSRD or ESRS and turn it into a short note for the department head. There will be regular coordination with subsidiaries such as GWH Bauprojekte or GGM, and with external partners who supply data or climate accounting software. Some days are dominated by preparing management summaries or presentation slides for the executive team, or by drafting briefing material for external meetings. Because reporting deadlines cluster around the annual cycle, the rhythm will vary: quieter periods allow you to improve data processes and tools, while the weeks before a report or committee meeting are more intense.

The Senior Manager title suggests you would enter at a level where you already own significant workstreams, with the possibility of deepening your expertise or broadening your scope over time. Success in CSRD reporting could lead to taking fuller responsibility for the group's sustainability reporting or for the ESG programme itself. Because GWH is part of a larger group with several subsidiaries, there may be opportunities to work on cross-entity projects, such as aligning ESG data across GWH Bauprojekte, GWH Digital or GGM, or supporting Helaba group requirements. That kind of exposure can position you for a head of sustainability or ESG function role later. Alternatively, the regulatory and data skills you build are transferable to other real estate companies, banks or consultancies. Internal moves into controlling, strategy or digitalisation are also conceivable given the group's breadth.

Inside GWH, the closest working relationships are likely with the sustainability or ESG team, the department head you report to, and colleagues in finance, energy management, asset management and controlling who supply data. You would also interact with subsidiaries such as GWH Bauprojekte, GWH Digital, GWH WertInvest, GGM and Systeno, since the group reports as a whole. At senior level, you prepare material for the management board and possibly for supervisory bodies, so interactions with executives are part of the job even if they are mostly through written briefings and presentations. External stakeholders include auditors or assurance providers, software and climate accounting vendors, and possibly industry associations or rating agencies. Because GWH is a subsidiary of Helaba, there may also be coordination with the parent group's own sustainability and reporting functions, aligning timelines and definitions. The role is therefore a hub between operational data owners, group entities and top management.