Sustainability Officer

Leicester City Council is hiring a Sustainability Officer to help achieve net zero and climate adaptation goals. The role involves advising on sustainability, assessing compliance, delivering training, monitoring progress, and supporting project development. It requires expertise in climate issues, strong analytical and communication skills, and project management abilities. This full-time position offers a hybrid working model, combining remote work with office days at City Hall in Leicester.
Join our ambitious team spearheading Leicester’s journey to becoming a net zero and
climate-adapted city.

Leicester City Council has a long-standing commitment to sustainability, playing a key role in
Leicester becoming the UK’s first Environment City in 1990 and declaring a climate emergency in
2019. We are proud to hold an ‘A’ rating from the international Carbon Disclosure Project,
demonstrating our leadership in tackling climate change.

As a Sustainability Officer, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring the
council meets its net zero ambition and climate adaptation goals. You will be employed within
the council’s Energy and Sustainability Service, working across departments and with external
partners to help embed sustainability into council decision-making, support colleagues in
delivering climate initiatives, and engage the wider community.

This is a unique opportunity to work at the heart of a forward-thinking local authority that is
driving real change. In this full time and permanent role, you will work
hybrid, with a mix of remote working and office-based days at City Hall,
alongside occasional site visits and external meetings. The role benefits from a
flexitime scheme and typically involves standard office hours, with occasional
evening work required.

What You’ll Be Doing
• Advise on sustainability and climate change – Provide expert guidance to colleagues across
the council, ensuring policies and projects align with our Climate Ready Leicester program
goals.
• Assess compliance and policy impact – Review planning applications, committee reports, and
key proposals to ensure they meet sustainability standards.
• Deliver training and engagement – Organise and present training sessions, workshops, and
promotional campaigns to encourage climate action within the council and the wider community.
• Monitor and report on progress – Analyse data, track carbon reduction progress, and prepare
reports for senior leaders, including the Lead Councillor for climate change.
• Support funding and project development – Identify opportunities for external funding,
contribute to grant applications, and assist in delivering sustainability projects,
particularly with our Net Zero ambitions.
• Organise high-level meetings – Coordinate agendas and logistics for Climate Emergency
Programme Board meetings and Lead Member Briefings.

What You’ll Need
• Sustainability expertise – Strong knowledge of climate change, carbon reduction, and
sustainability issues and best practices.
• Analytical skills – Ability to assess proposals, interpret data, and produce clear,
evidence-based recommendations.
• Communication and engagement skills – Confidence in presenting complex information to
different audiences, from senior officials to community groups.
• Caseload and project management abilities – Experience in coordinating multiple requests
and projects, organising events, and managing workloads effectively.
• Collaboration and influencing skills – Ability to work with a range of stakeholders to
drive action and inspire change.
• Digital competency – Confidence working with spreadsheets and writing reports is essential,
while sustainability experience with social media and other communications is an advantage.

What we can offer you

As well as the satisfaction of helping to improve thousands of lives across Leicester, you can
look forward to a work environment that encourages a healthy work/life balance. You’ll enjoy
generous annual leave, membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme and the option of
flexible working. We’ll also give you the chance to develop your skills and expertise with a
variety of training and development opportunities. In addition, you can choose from a number
of flexible benefits, including discounts on city buses and trains. For an illustrative value
of your benefits package, take a look at our benefits calculator.

Join us

We’re committed to recruiting a diverse and highly-talented workforce as we continue to build
a council that is fitting and representative of our great city. That’s why we’ve designed
our recruitment process to put you at your ease, make you feel welcome and bring the best out
of you. We’ll do all we can to make our recruitment process as fair as possible. To help you
with your application, take a look at the ‘our
approach to recruitment’ page.

For an informal discussion about this role, please contact Duncan Bell at
duncan.bell@leicester.gov.uk.

Interview and assessment dates: Wednesday 30th April