Sustainability and Climate Reporting Lead

The core of the role is producing controlled sustainability and climate reporting, particularly disclosures in scope of TCFD, and preparing the firm for UK SRS. Day to day that means owning the reporting cycle: gathering and reviewing data, drafting disclosures, checking that figures are supported by evidence, and running the governance and control steps that make the output defensible to auditors. Beyond production, the role carries an implementation mandate. The postholder translates emerging standards into practical requirements across reporting, data, controls and governance, which involves mapping gaps, agreeing owners, and testing whether current processes can cope with new disclosure demands. Acting as the sustainability reporting subject matter expert, they advise Finance and business colleagues on judgemental or complex questions and constructively challenge assumptions where reporting quality is at stake. There is also a strategic layer. The role helps shape reporting strategy within Finance and monitors regulatory developments, turning them into clear implications and priorities. Long term, the objective is a reporting function that is ready for UK SRS and any related requirements, with assurance-ready evidence and a governance model that holds up as the firm's disclosures expand.

The most immediate learning is depth in the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards. The posting names UK SRS S1/S2 as a live implementation task, so the role offers first-hand experience of moving from technical text to reporting processes, data flows and controls before practice across the market is fully settled. That kind of implementation experience is scarce and transferable. Beyond the standards themselves, the candidate would gain exposure to the intersection of sustainability reporting and financial control: evidence and assurance readiness, governance design, and how audit, risk and compliance functions interrogate non-financial information. Working alongside Finance, they would also see how a retirement and savings business treats climate and sustainability assumptions in its disclosures, which is a narrower and more technical lens than a general corporate sustainability role. There is also strategic learning in the less visible parts of the job: tracking regulatory developments, judging which ones matter for a UK insurer, and helping set reporting strategy. The posting frames this as bringing external perspective into Finance, so a candidate could develop a genuine voice in how the firm reads and responds to reporting change, with mentoring likely to run in both directions given the lead level.

The posting asks for a senior reporting specialist with a finance-side background rather than a generalist sustainability manager. Expect a strong fit to have delivered mandatory disclosures in a financial services firm, with hands-on work on TCFD and UK SRS S1/S2, and awareness of EU CSRD and SDR as context. Length of experience is not stated, but the salary band, the lead title and the requirement to advise and challenge senior stakeholders point to someone already operating at a senior level. Technical depth needs to be matched by a controls and assurance mindset, with a track record of evidence, review and governance around reported numbers, and ideally experience working with internal or external audit, risk or compliance. Equally important is the ability to convert regulatory text into practical actions across data, controls and governance, since much of the role is translation work rather than pure reporting production. On the softer side, the posting emphasises judgement, resilience and communication. A credible candidate can hold a position under challenge, explain a judgemental reporting matter in plain language, and manage several demanding deadlines at once. A recognised accounting or sustainability reporting qualification is not demanded but would likely help, and the company states it welcomes applicants whose experience looks different from the advert.

Applications are reviewed as they arrive and the role may close before the closing date, so applying early matters. Tailor your CV around the frameworks you have actually operated: TCFD, UK SRS S1/S2, CSRD or SDR, naming which reports you produced, for which legal entities, and under what controls. Since the role sits in Finance, quantify reporting work in ways a finance audience reads well: number of entities consolidated, deadlines met, evidence packs prepared for audit or assurance. If your background differs from the listed requirements, the posting invites candidates who can show value in another way, so a short cover letter explaining how your reporting, risk or assurance experience maps onto this mandate is likely to be read. Prepare for interview by having one clear view on the direction of UK sustainability reporting and what it means for a retirement-focused firm. You may be tested on a judgemental reporting question, such as how to treat an uncertain climate assumption or where an emerging requirement is still unsettled. Showing structured reasoning, awareness of your own limits and a practical path to a defensible answer will matter more than bluffing certainty. Because the role is built on relationships across Finance, risk, governance and assurance, expect behavioural questions about influencing senior stakeholders and challenging technical positions without creating friction. Have two or three concrete examples ready where you changed a reporting outcome through evidence and persuasion.

The focus is reporting rather than programme delivery. The role is anchored in climate and sustainability disclosure, covering TCFD-aligned disclosures now and UK SRS S1/S2 as those come into force, with CSRD and SDR sitting in the background as frameworks the firm tracks and may need to respond to. For a retirement specialist, much of this likely centres on how climate risk and other sustainability matters affect long-term savings and income, and how those effects are described and quantified in external reports. Governance and controls are a substantial part of the sustainability angle here. The posting stresses assurance readiness and evidence, which points to work on data quality, methodology and internal review rather than on setting net zero targets or running environmental initiatives. Where the company's wider sustainability agenda exists, this role would sit close to it but from a Finance vantage point, making sure what is claimed externally is supported and consistently reported. Stakeholder engagement is likely to be internal and regulatory in character: aligning finance, risk, governance and assurance colleagues around one reporting position. The social and governance dimensions would appear mainly through reporting requirements and materiality assessment rather than through direct community or people programmes, so a candidate whose interest is purely in environmental projects may find the centre of gravity here is disclosure quality.

The central difficulty is timing. UK SRS is still bedding in, CSRD and SDR keep shifting, and the role is expected to translate unfinished requirements into controlled reporting now. That means living with ambiguity, making judgements that may need revisiting, and defending positions to stakeholders who want certainty. The posting names this directly by asking for sound judgement on complex or judgemental reporting matters. A second challenge is that sustainability information often sits outside Finance's usual systems and owners. Pulling together data, evidence and governance across the wider business, without direct authority over many of the contributors, requires patient relationship building. Competing deadlines add pressure, and the closing programme suggests a busy reporting calendar rather than a steady one. There is also the assurance dimension. Reporting that passes internal review can still fail an audit or assurance lens, so the role carries the discomfort of being challenged on evidence and methodology. Balancing the desire for high-quality disclosure against data that may be incomplete or estimated is likely to be a recurring tension, and one where the candidate has to hold a line rather than accept the easiest answer.

A typical day would be split between reporting work and coordination. Time would go on reviewing disclosure drafts, checking data against source evidence, resolving open questions with colleagues who own the underlying information, and preparing or responding to queries from risk, governance or audit. Around reporting deadlines, this becomes the dominant activity, with a focus on accuracy and completeness. A substantial share of the week would involve meetings. These could include working sessions with finance and sustainability colleagues to agree data and methodology, check-ins with the assurance or audit team, and updates to senior stakeholders on progress, risks and emerging requirements. As a senior SME, the postholder would also field ad hoc technical questions and give views on how a new development should be treated. Variability comes from the reporting calendar and the regulatory pipeline. In quieter periods, more time goes to implementation work: gap analysis against UK SRS, process and control design, and tracking external developments. In peak periods, the role narrows to delivery, with competing priorities and hard deadlines, and the hybrid pattern means some of this coordination happens remotely across the Edinburgh, Birmingham, Telford and London offices.

The posting describes a lead role at a moment of change in external reporting, which usually translates into visible work: standing up new disclosures, shaping reporting strategy within Finance, and becoming the firm's reference point on sustainability reporting. Success here could open routes into wider Finance leadership, such as head of external reporting, financial control or risk and assurance functions where sustainability data is increasingly embedded. The remit spans multiple UK office locations and the wider business, so the role builds a broad internal network beyond the sustainability function. That breadth is useful for lateral moves into strategy, governance or risk roles, or into group-level positions as UK SRS and related requirements mature and demand for senior reporting expertise grows across the sector. Given the salary band and the senior title, this reads as an established position rather than a development role. Growth is therefore likely to come through scope (new standards, more entities, greater board exposure) rather than a structured promotion ladder, so a candidate should negotiate mandate as much as title.

The role sits in Finance and is described as working across Finance and the wider business, so the closest working relationships are likely to be with finance reporting and control teams, the group sustainability function, risk, governance and internal audit. These interactions would centre on building reporting processes, agreeing data ownership and preparing evidence for review and assurance. External-facing contact is likely to include the firm's auditors and assurance providers, who will test the sustainability disclosures, and possibly external advisers on regulatory interpretation as UK SRS develops. The posting's reference to monitoring the external reporting and regulatory landscape suggests some engagement with peers, industry bodies or standard setters, at least through reading and response rather than formal representation. Senior stakeholders matter too. The requirement to act as a senior SME and constructively challenge thinking implies regular exposure to finance leadership and possibly executives or board committees that sign off disclosures. The posting also mentions communication with a range of colleagues across UK offices, so a candidate should expect a network that is broad rather than deep, with influence resting on technical credibility rather than positional authority.