Director, Sustainability Reporting

The core mission is to hold and direct LSEG's technical position on sustainability reporting and accounting: deciding the basis of preparation, the calculation methodologies, and the assumptions and judgements behind every disclosure. Day to day this means running the enterprise programme that introduces the processes, controls and systems needed for CSRD and UK SRS compliance from FY27, including the rollout of the Workiva platform and the training that goes with it. Alongside the regulatory build, the role owns the recurring reporting cycle. That covers half-year, quarterly and annual processes, document production with the external design agency, the annual report and accounts, and the stand-alone sustainability reports and online content. The director also leads the work to obtain limited assurance from Deloitte and represents LSEG in that relationship. Longer-term objectives sit around continual improvement: reassessing the reporting boundary when assets are acquired or sold, lifting performance in third-party ESG ratings and proxy adviser assessments, and acting as LSEG's senior external voice in industry forums and at seminars on this topic.

The clearest learning curve is regulatory depth in practice rather than theory. Working through CSRD, country-level adoption of the IFRS Sustainability Reporting Standards and UK SRS on a live FY27 implementation means the candidate will build first-hand knowledge of how these frameworks translate into calculation methodologies, judgements and controls inside a FTSE100 group. There is also substantial exposure to assurance. Leading the programme to gain limited assurance and representing LSEG to Deloitte gives rare insight into how auditors test sustainability data, what evidence survives scrutiny, and where internal controls typically fail. This is knowledge that is difficult to acquire outside a listed-company reporting function. Beyond technical reporting, the role develops programme leadership and influence skills. Coordinating Finance, Technology, divisional data owners and Investor Relations across quarterly and year-end deadlines, and managing vendors such as the corporate reporting agency and technology partners, builds the kind of cross-functional delivery experience that transfers to broader finance and ESG leadership roles.

The ideal candidate has spent years inside the reporting function of a large publicly listed company, ideally FTSE100 or equivalent, and can demonstrate practical delivery of regulatory change rather than only awareness of the rules. A deep technical command of CSRD, the IFRS Sustainability Reporting Standards and UK SRS is expected, together with a working understanding of how sustainability disclosures interact with financial reporting and controls. Experience of ESG ratings and proxy adviser methodologies matters here, because the role carries responsibility for LSEG's performance relative to peers and its standing on proxy votes. Financial sector background is described as an advantage, which suggests familiarity with the reporting pressures and investor expectations specific to financial markets infrastructure would help. The softer profile is equally specific: an experienced people leader who can influence without direct authority across divisions, businesses and functions, and who can hold contributors to quarterly and year-end deadlines. Strong written and verbal communication is implied by the external representation duties, and the ability to set a clear strategy that others can align to is central.

Lead with regulatory delivery, not with general sustainability enthusiasm. The posting is explicit that this is a technical role, so the strongest applications will name the frameworks handled (CSRD, IFRS Sustainability Reporting Standards, UK SRS), the scale of the listed organisation, and the specific change programmes delivered. Quantify where possible: number of entities in scope, reporting cycles owned, assurance outcomes achieved. Because the role is accountable for ESG ratings and proxy adviser performance, a short section on how you improved an organisation's ratings position, and what you changed to get there, will differentiate your application from candidates who only list reporting experience. If you have worked with an external auditor on assurance over sustainability data, say so plainly and describe your part in it. For interview preparation, expect questions on how you would design a reporting boundary policy, how you would sequence a multi-year CSRD programme, and how you influence colleagues in Finance and Technology who do not report to you. Referring to LSEG's own annual report and sustainability disclosures, and showing you have read them critically, is a credible way to demonstrate the technical judgement the role requires.

The role sits at the reporting and governance end of LSEG's sustainability agenda. Its primary focus is compliance with incoming corporate reporting regulation, principally CSRD and UK SRS, and the technical infrastructure of methodologies, controls and assurance that makes those disclosures defensible. That includes the annual reassessment of the reporting boundary as assets are acquired or sold, which is a governance question as much as an accounting one. A second focus is how LSEG is perceived by the market. The director drives improvement in third-party ESG ratings and proxy adviser assessments, which connect directly to access to capital and to how shareholders vote. For a company whose business is financial markets infrastructure, its own credibility on disclosure carries weight with the customers and issuers it serves. There is also an external engagement dimension. Representing LSEG in industry forums and at seminars positions the role at the point where regulation is interpreted and, to some degree, shaped. The company's broader sustainability commitments and its foundation work are visible in the culture, but this particular role concentrates on the reporting and assurance layer rather than on programme delivery elsewhere in the business.

The most obvious challenge is timing and interdependency. CSRD and UK SRS compliance from FY27 requires new capabilities, processes, controls and systems to be in place across a group operating in around 70 countries, and much of that work depends on data owners in divisions the director does not manage. Influencing without direct authority is stated in the posting for a reason. A second challenge is technical ambiguity. Emerging regulation, country-specific adoption of the IFRS Sustainability Reporting Standards, and evolving interpretations mean the basis of preparation will keep moving. The role has to make and defend judgements and estimates under that uncertainty, and then stand behind them through limited assurance with Deloitte. There is also a delivery tension between the transformation programme and the regular reporting cycle. Quarterly, half-year and year-end deadlines do not pause while a new platform is embedded, so the director has to protect reporting quality while changing the way reporting is done, and bring users up to speed on Workiva at the same time.

A typical day would mix programme delivery with technical judgement. That could mean working through a CSRD workstream with Finance and Technology colleagues, reviewing how a specific disclosure will be calculated, or resolving an open question on the reporting boundary with the relevant data owners. Early parts of the cycle tend to be design and alignment heavy. As deadlines approach, the rhythm shifts toward production and review: coordinating contributions across divisions, checking document drafts with the external design agency, and preparing material for the annual report and accounts. Interaction with the external auditor around assurance is a recurring thread, and time with Investor Relations and ESG ratings work is likely to appear in most weeks. There is also an external dimension. The role represents LSEG in industry forums and at seminars, so some days include preparing positions, speaking, or feeding market and regulatory developments back into the internal programme. Vendor management with the corporate reporting agency and technology partners runs alongside all of this.

The role is already positioned as LSEG's most senior technical expert on sustainability reporting, so growth is less about the next title and more about scope and influence. Successfully delivering the CSRD and UK SRS programme would give the holder a credible record of enterprise-wide regulatory change at a FTSE100 financial markets infrastructure group, which is a strong platform for broader finance, risk or ESG leadership roles. There is lateral potential too. The exposure to Finance, Technology, Investor Relations and the external auditor, combined with responsibility for ESG ratings and proxy adviser performance, builds a profile that spans reporting, capital markets perception and governance. That combination is relatively rare and opens routes into group finance, investor relations or sustainability leadership at a larger scale. External visibility is part of the package. Representing LSEG in industry forums and at seminars builds a professional network across regulators, peers and advisers, which tends to generate further opportunities over time. Embedding the Workiva platform and the associated ways of working also leaves a lasting mark on how the group reports.

The closest working relationships are likely to be with Finance, since the sustainability reporting strategy has to sit coherently alongside financial reporting and controls, and with Technology, which supports the Workiva platform and the data infrastructure behind disclosures. Data owners across the divisions are central, because the quality and timeliness of what gets reported depends on what they provide. The external auditor, Deloitte, is a key counterpart through the limited assurance programme, and the relationship is both technical and scrutinising. Investor Relations is another important interface, particularly on ESG ratings and proxy adviser performance, where the narrative presented to the market and the underlying data have to line up. Outside the group, the director manages vendors including the corporate reporting agency and technology partners, and engages with industry forums, regulators and peers through external speaking. Internally, the role also leads a team, so people leadership and alignment across contributors to the quarterly and year-end cycles form a continuous part of the stakeholder map.