---
title: Lead Sustainability
canonical: https://csrjobs.club/jobs/idm-sudtirol-alto-adige-lead-sustainability-k1jc
locale: en
description: "IDM Südtirol-Alto Adige is hiring a Lead Sustainability on CSR Jobs. Discover this in-house sustainability role and apply today."
updated: 2026-10-26
company: "IDM Südtirol-Alto Adige"
country: Italy
contract: Full time
seniority: Senior
missions: ESG reporting, Stakeholders engagement, Strategic planning, Compliance, Corporate Carbon Footprint
job_type: Sustainability Manager
posted: 2026-10-26
valid_through: 2026-11-25
apply: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4483548691
source: CSR Jobs
---

# Lead Sustainability

This role owns IDM Südtirol's strategy for a more sustainable South Tyrol, from writing the roadmap and budget to making sure it is actually delivered. Day to day that means coordinating the EU EmpCo rules on green claims, assessing the sustainability label, and supporting colleagues and local businesses who need to understand what the rules require of them.

It sits inside an economic development agency, not a dedicated sustainability department, so the work touches tourism, agriculture, investment and business support at once. The central question is how an entire region grows without hollowing out what makes it worth living in, which is why the label and the greenwashing rules carry real weight here.

This suits someone who has run projects or advised clients for at least five years, with three of those in sustainable development, who can lead a small team and speak German, Italian and English well enough to negotiate in all three.

## Job FAQs

### What are the main missions and responsibilities of this role?

The central mission is to develop and implement IDM's strategy for the Weiterentwicklung nachhaltiger Lebensraum Südtirol, meaning the further development of South Tyrol as a sustainable living space. That includes building a roadmap with the corresponding budget, then making sure it is carried out and complied with. Day-to-day, the role means setting priorities across IDM's areas of work and turning a wide objective into concrete programmes.

A second cluster of duties concerns EmpCo, the EU directive on green claims. The post holder coordinates its implementation within IDM, which in practice means checking how the organisation communicates sustainability, aligning labels and marketing messages with the new rules, and supporting colleagues through the change. Closely linked is the awarding and assessment of the sustainability label, so the role also carries a control and quality function towards external applicants.

The role also includes leading the sustainability team and acting as coach, impulse-giver and sparing partner on sustainability for internal departments and external stakeholders. In addition, the post holder drafts annual programmes and budgets together with the departmental heads, is responsible for the use of funds and for the correct processing of orders, and keeps skills current through ongoing training and specialised conferences.

### Key learning opportunities for this job

The first area of learning is regulation. Coordinating IDM's EmpCo implementation and assessing the sustainability label means working directly with the EU's anti-greenwashing framework, which is becoming a core competence for sustainability roles across Europe. This is practical legal and compliance knowledge that is hard to acquire elsewhere.

The second area is strategy and budget ownership. Drafting annual programmes with the departmental leads and matching them to a budget teaches how a regional development agency prioritises resources across innovation, tourism, agriculture and investment promotion. The coaching and sparing role across IDM's internal departments will build advisory skills and internal stakeholder management inside a public-private organisation. Leading the sustainability team adds people management experience, with the associated feedback and planning routines.

Finally, the role explicitly includes ongoing training and attending specialised conferences, so IDM expects the post holder to keep learning rather than applying a fixed toolkit. Working in a trilingual environment will also sharpen your ability to discuss sustainability topics in German, Italian and English, which is a durable asset in this region and beyond.

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

IDM expects at least five years of professional experience, preferably in strategy development, consulting or project management, of which at least three years must be in sustainable development. Experience in leading staff is required, since the role heads the sustainability team. Language skills are non-negotiable: very good German, Italian and English, which reflects the trilingual reality of South Tyrol and IDM's client base.

Preferred criteria add a university degree, preferably in sustainability management, economics or communication sciences, a professional manner and enjoyment in dealing with clients, solution-oriented action and entrepreneurial thinking, good organisational skills, team orientation and communication ability, and an autonomous, goal-oriented way of working. Willingness to travel is a plus. Read together, this profile suggests a consultant or project manager who has already moved into sustainability and now wants operational leadership and client-facing responsibility.

The strongest candidate will combine strategy and delivery: able to write a roadmap with a budget in line with departmental leads, present it convincingly, and then manage orders, funds and the internal advisory work. Familiarity with EmpCo and with sustainability labels would be a clear advantage. Because one duty is being a coach and sparing partner to internal areas and external stakeholders, emotional intelligence and the ability to challenge without alienating are as important as technical ESG knowledge.

### Advice to stand out and make a successful application

IDM's posting is in German and the role requires German, Italian and English, so send your application in German unless the portal clearly allows Italian. The core of this role is the Weiterentwicklung nachhaltiger Lebensraum Südtirol strategy, so your cover letter should open with your view of what that strategy can be. Show that you understand EmpCo (the EU directive against greenwashing) and can explain how you would align IDM's internal practices and its sustainability label with it. Your CV should make the five years of professional experience and the three years in sustainable development easy to verify, with project sizes and budgets. Highlight any experience leading a team, coordinating across departments, and managing a budget. Because IDM serves companies across all sectors, a concrete example of advising a business on sustainability will be worth more than a list of frameworks.

Prepare for the interview by researching IDM's areas: innovation and internationalisation support, tourism marketing, agricultural marketing and investment promotion. Be ready to say which of these holds the most sustainability potential and why. The role is permanent-contract, full-time, based in Bozen, Glurns or St. Christina, so mention your willingness to travel within South Tyrol. Since German, Italian and English are all required, expect part of the interview to be conducted in each language. Finally, show that you can be a coach and sparing partner to colleagues, not only a strategist, because the job description places internal advisory work at the centre.

One more practical step: read IDM's public communications on sustainability before applying and note one concrete inconsistency or opportunity you could address in the first year. Specific observations show that you understand the company's context rather than offering generic enthusiasm. If you have worked with certifications, labels or audits, explain exactly what you did, because assessing the sustainability label is a named duty.

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

The focus is regional and strategic. IDM's mandate is economic development in South Tyrol, so the sustainability agenda here does not sit in an isolated CSR department; it concerns how an entire regional development agency operates and how its support for companies, tourism, agriculture and internationalisation becomes more sustainable. The role's stated goal, the further development of South Tyrol as a sustainable living area, suggests a focus on long-term regional value rather than on a single environmental metric.

Two concrete themes stand out. The first is green claims and marketing integrity under EmpCo, plus the sustainability label, which sits exactly where a marketing and business development agency is most exposed. The second is embedding sustainability criteria into IDM's own programmes, budgets and client advice, so that the support given to local companies reflects sustainability goals.

Environmental aspects such as climate and resource use matter, but so do governance and stakeholder elements: transparency in communication, correct labels, and the involvement of businesses and public actors. The role appears designed to connect IDM's existing sector strategies with EU expectations, which is a governance-heavy and communication-heavy form of sustainability work.

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

The main structural challenge is that no standard playbook exists for this role, because the assignment is to design and implement IDM's sustainability strategy from the ground up. That means defining the scope, convincing colleagues and external stakeholders of the priorities, and keeping the roadmap moving through an organisation that is not primarily a sustainability institution but an economic development agency with tourism, agriculture, investment and film services.

The second challenge is coordinating EmpCo and the sustainability label in parallel. EmpCo compliance requires a systematic review of how IDM communicates environmental claims, and this affects many of the company's marketing activities. Reconciling honest communication with the marketing objectives of a services organisation could create tension, and the lead Sustainability person will likely have to push back on practices that are established.

The third challenge is breadth. One day may involve steering a strategy, another reviewing budgets, another coaching a colleague on a sustainability claim, another assessing a label. Managing this range requires discipline and prioritisation. Budget management and procurement rules, since the role carries responsibility for the use of funds and the correct processing of orders, add an administrative dimension that strategy-minded candidates may find less appealing but which is clearly part of the job.

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

A typical day could start with internal alignment: a short exchange with the sustainability team, then a meeting with the heads of one or two departments to review programme and budget progress. Much of the middle of the day might be spent reviewing documentation, for example an application for the sustainability label or a communication piece that needs checking against EmpCo requirements, and writing or refining parts of the strategy roadmap.

Interactions are varied. A colleague may come for advice on a sustainability claim, an external company may request guidance on the label, or a regional partner may want to discuss a joint project. The role also involves procurement-related work, since the post holder is responsible for the use of funds and the correct processing of orders, which means following up on budget lines and approvals. Some days include travel across South Tyrol or to conferences, which the job explicitly encourages.

There is likely to be less routine than in a standard corporate sustainability post, because the strategy is being built while it is implemented. The balance shifts over time: early months lean towards analysis, design and relationship building, later months towards delivery, reporting and the expansion of the team's work into new sectors.

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

The title Lead Sustainability and the responsibility for leading a team indicate that IDM is creating a senior internal function rather than a junior support post. Growth could come from expanding the team's remit over time, from being the internal authority on EmpCo and the sustainability label, and from representing IDM externally in regional and European networks. If the strategy proves successful, the role could evolve into a broader sustainability and corporate responsibility leadership position covering all of IDM's business areas.

The requirement for continuous professional development and attendance at specialised conferences signals that IDM expects the post holder to stay current and to convert that knowledge into the organisation's practices. This could open visibility at European level, particularly through EmpCo, which is a shared issue for chambers of commerce internationally. Success in this role would likely strengthen a profile oriented towards strategy, advisory or management, especially for someone who wants to keep working at the intersection of business, sustainability and regional development.

Since IDM works with regional agencies and EU programmes, the position could also give access to networks that are otherwise hard to enter from a single company. For a candidate with an advisory background, moving into a leading in-house role is the direction of travel; this job is the kind of position that converts consulting experience into institutional responsibility.

### The main stakeholders you might be interacting with

Internally, the lead Sustainability will report to senior management and work closely with the heads of the different departments to draft annual programmes and budgets. The job description also makes the department colleagues direct stakeholders, since the role is described as coach, impulse-giver and sparing partner on sustainability for internal areas of IDM. The sustainability team itself is a direct responsibility, as the post holder leads it.

Externally, IDM's client base, businesspeople and entrepreneurs across South Tyrol, will be an important audience. The role includes awarding and reviewing the sustainability label and a professional manner with clients is a stated preference, so interactions with applicants for the label and with companies seeking guidance are expected. Other external stakeholders could include regional authorities, tourism and agricultural bodies, EU programme partners and the organisations that grant or audit the label.

Because IDM works in internationalisation and EU projects, part of the stakeholder activity may be in Brussels or in partner networks. The interactions are likely to be advisory in style, since the strategy is realised through others, which makes communication and expectation management central to the post.

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Source: https://csrjobs.club/jobs/idm-sudtirol-alto-adige-lead-sustainability-k1jc