The Complete Guide to Sustainability Resourcing: Full-Time Manager vs. Alternative Models

By 2030, 20% of jobs could go unfilled because green talent can’t keep pace with business ambition. Sustainability has become a business necessity, but most organisations lack the internal expertise to deliver it effectively. The challenge lies in embedding sustainability within core business functions rather than treating it as a separate department, especially when resources and specialised talent are scarce.

Here’s what the data tells us: Recent IBM research interviewing 5,000 CEOs across 22 industries found that businesses embedding sustainability throughout their organisation, rather than just “doing sustainability”, saw dramatically different results. Of those who embedded sustainability into every leadership role and core function, 75% attributed greater revenue growth to their sustainability efforts, and 52% outperformed their peers in profitability.

It’s clear sustainability only delivers commercial and financial gains when it’s truly embedded, not when it’s treated as a bolt-on responsibility. But embedding sustainability across an entire organisation typically takes the better part of a decade to achieve independently.

The most successful sustainability initiatives share one common trait: they’re woven into the fabric of how the business operates. Sales teams understand the sustainability value proposition. Operations teams have sustainability KPIs. Finance teams can model the ROI of green investments.

This embedded approach shifts sustainability from a compliance exercise into a compelling competitive advantage. But achieving this level of integration calls for careful consideration of how you resource your sustainability function.

The “Two-Hatter” Approach

Many businesses, in fact probably the majority, start by adding sustainability to someone’s existing role, often in HR, procurement, marketing, or legal. While this can work for basic compliance, it rarely delivers real change. These busy professionals, who are specialists in their own fields, are already stretched thin and more often than not lack the specialised knowledge sustainability demands.

When it works: Small businesses with straightforward sustainability needs.
When it doesn’t: When you have ambitious goals requiring strategic sustainability integration.

The Dedicated Hire

Hiring a sustainability manager seems like the logical next step. However, it’s important to recognise that even with a dedicated hire, cross-functional integration and accountability remain essential – so there’s typically still an important role for existing team members to play. A senior sustainability professional in the UK typically costs £65,000-£80,000 annually, but the true investment goes far beyond salary.

Hidden costs to consider:

• Benefits packages (pension, healthcare, leave)
• Recruitment and onboarding expenses
• Ongoing training to keep pace with evolving standards
• Office space and equipment
• Time to reach full productivity (typically 3-6 months)
• Additional consultant fees (no single sustainability manager can cover all areas)

The sustainability unicorn challenge: The expectation that one person can be a sustainability savant and do it all is unrealistic. The field spans carbon management, circular economy, employee wellbeing, compliance, data analysis, reporting, stakeholder engagement, and leadership communication. Finding one person who excels across all areas is nearly impossible, and most organisations end up paying for additional consultants to fill the gaps.

When it works: When sustainability is core to your business model and you’re building long-term internal capability.
When it doesn’t: When you need diverse expertise quickly or have limited budget for senior talent.

The Consultant Route

Traditional sustainability consultants can provide specialised expertise for specific projects. However, they often work in isolation from your business, delivering reports rather than building internal capability.

When it works: For defined projects with clear deliverables.
When it doesn’t: When you need ongoing support or want to build internal knowledge.

The Embedded Team Model

The goal for any organisation should be embedded sustainability – sustainability that’s woven into every aspect of how the business operates, a part of every core function across the business. In 2025 IBM gather evidence from 5,000 global CEOs to demonstrate that this is what it takes to turn sustainability from a cost centre, to a profit driver. 

At Seismic, we developed the Embedded Sustainability Team model to help organisations achieve this embedded approach quickly and effectively.

An EST consists of specialists who work as an extension of your internal team while maintaining expertise across multiple areas. Unlike traditional consultants, these teams integrate directly into the business, using internal email addresses, job titles, and becoming part of the organisational fabric. 

The advantages:

• Access to diverse specialists (carbon, communications, data, frameworks)
• Both strategic depth (board-level capability) and execution expertise 
• Integration of tools, frameworks and language into the business 
• Built-in knowledge transfer and capability building 
• Cross-sector insights from working with multiple businesses
• Scalable engagement based on your needs – bringing in the right expertise when you need it
• The intangible benefit of sustainability conversations happening organically throughout the organisation

The transition: The most effective embedded teams work themselves out of a job over 2-3 years. They typically spend the first year charting the roadmap and delivering change at pace, then focus on transferring capability, skills, and language to build strong internal sustainability expertise that becomes one of your strongest assets. 

When it works: When you need comprehensive expertise quickly and want to build internal capability. 

When it doesn’t: When sustainability is fully integrated into your business model and you have strong internal expertise.

Before choosing your resourcing model, consider these key factors:

1. What specific sustainability outcomes do we need to achieve, and by when?
2. How does your ambition level match your current capability?
3. What’s your capacity for managing and developing internal talent?
4. Where are your biggest capability gaps, and how quickly do you need to fill them?
5. What does success look like in 12 months, and who needs to be involved to achieve it?

Many successful organisations don’t choose just one model. Instead, they create hybrid approaches:

Build-and-Support: Start with external expertise to establish foundations, then transition to internal management as capabilities develop.

Core-and-Flex: Maintain a small internal sustainability team supported by external specialists for complex projects or peak demands.

Mentored Development: Use external experts to coach and develop internal talent while filling immediate capability gaps.

You might need to consider changing your resourcing model if you’re experiencing:

• Slow progress despite good intentions
• Difficulty translating sustainability goals into action
• Lack of stakeholder buy-in or engagement
• Compliance-focused rather than value-creating outcomes
• Sustainability initiatives that don’t connect to business objectives
• High turnover in sustainability roles
• Frustration from leadership about sustainability ROI

The goal isn’t just to resource sustainability; it’s to resource it in a way that switches it from a cost centre into a profit driver. This happens when sustainability becomes truly embedded rather than siloed:

• Integration over isolation: Sustainability expertise should connect with every key business function and leadership role
• Action over analysis: Focus on implementation, not just strategy development
• Knowledge building over outsourcing: Make sure internal teams develop sustainability literacy
• Capability transfer: Build internal expertise that creates long-term competitive advantage

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to sustainability resourcing. The right method depends on your specific circumstances, ambitions, and constraints. The key is to be honest about where you are today and strategic about where you want to be.

Whether you choose to hire, partner, or build hybrid capabilities, success comes from treating sustainability as a core business function rather than a bolt-on responsibility. The organisations that get this right aren’t just reducing their environmental impact; they are creating competitive advantages that drive long-term, measurable value.

Every business today faces the same fundamental choice: invest in the right sustainability expertise now, or risk falling behind competitors who moved faster. The cost of delayed action often far outweighs the investment needed to get it right from the start.