What does a sustainability coordinator do?
A sustainability coordinator helps an organization achieve its goals when it comes to sustainability and being environmentally friendly. It is their duty to develop and support environmental programs and implement its policies and regulations in an effort to reduce environmental damages brought by an organization's operations. Moreover, they must gather and analyze data to identify which areas need improvement, conduct research to determine the ideal practices to attain sustainability, produce progress reports, and implement solutions against problem areas in adherence to the company's vision and mission.
Sustainability coordinator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real sustainability coordinator resumes:
- Manage and organize all incoming/outgoing documents concerning the junior staff leadership program.
- Develop public information programs on appropriate waste management procedures and integrate them with existing community programs.
- Develop strategic framework and system-wide goals with supporting cross-functional team structure to streamline implementation of CSR strategy.
- Increase production accuracy and plant efficiency by generating product availability forecasts and weekly lead-time reports to upper management.
- Coordinate support services for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families -Determine eligibility and secure Medicaid fund services -Develop/implement treatment plans.
- Calculated/Recommend ROI of large-value energy reduction equipment.
Sustainability coordinator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 26% of Sustainability Coordinators are proficient in Data Collection, Employee Engagement, and Composting. They’re also known for soft skills such as Speaking skills, Problem-solving skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Sustainability Coordinators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Data Collection, 26%
Supervised and assessed four work-study student employees on an alumni involvement data collection project.
- Employee Engagement, 18%
Direct and oversee the sustainability strategic planning across the company while promoting awareness, communicating achievements and supporting employee engagement.
- Composting, 14%
Attended an eco-summit to represent associated Aquatron composting toilet systems and Dubbletten diverting toilets.
- STARS, 9%
Reorganized and redesigned the required STARS co-curricular student group.
- Sustainability Efforts, 7%
Created innovative incentives and campaigns that motivated participants to support sustainability efforts.
- Sustainability Initiatives, 4%
Coordinated and promoted the effectiveness of current sustainability initiatives and emerging efforts by creating marketing materials and managing social networking outlets
Common skills that a sustainability coordinator uses to do their job include "data collection," "employee engagement," and "composting." You can find details on the most important sustainability coordinator responsibilities below.
Speaking skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a sustainability coordinator to have is speaking skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "public relations specialists regularly speak on behalf of clients or their organization." Sustainability coordinators often use speaking skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "developed and presented educational workshops focused on sustainable business practices for local business leaders. "
Problem-solving skills. Another essential skill to perform sustainability coordinator duties is problem-solving skills. Sustainability coordinators responsibilities require that "public relations specialists sometimes must explain how a company or client is handling sensitive issues." Sustainability coordinators also use problem-solving skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "researched utility, federal, and other incentives, rebates, and financing options for energy efficiency solutions. "
Writing skills. This is an important skill for sustainability coordinators to perform their duties. For an example of how sustainability coordinator responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "public relations specialists must be able to write well-organized and clear press releases, speeches, and social media posts." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a sustainability coordinator: "grant writing and management* handle all accounting practices, including payroll".
Interpersonal skills. A big part of what sustainability coordinators do relies on "interpersonal skills." You can see how essential it is to sustainability coordinator responsibilities because "public relations specialists deal with the public and the media regularly." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical sustainability coordinator tasks: "mediated interpersonal conflicts for state's attorney cases, prisoner reentry, individuals and community organizations throughout baltimore city. "
Organizational skills. A commonly-found skill in sustainability coordinator job descriptions, "organizational skills" is essential to what sustainability coordinators do. Sustainability coordinator responsibilities rely on this skill because "public relations specialists are often in charge of managing several events or communications at the same time, which requires excellent skills in coordinating arrangements." You can also see how sustainability coordinator duties rely on organizational skills in this resume example: "helped manage the hr sponsored certification and organizational development programs for east carolina university. "
The three companies that hire the most sustainability coordinators are:
- Black & Veatch49 sustainability coordinators jobs
- Live Nation Entertainment18 sustainability coordinators jobs
- House of Blues6 sustainability coordinators jobs
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Compare different sustainability coordinators
Sustainability coordinator vs. Chief specialist, leed chief
A director of sustainability is responsible for maintaining the safety and security of the environment of the company's premises, including the efficiency of processes and the production impact on society. Directors of sustainability ensure that the business operates under strict adherence to regulatory requirements and environmental conservation. They also handle the profitability of materials used in the production, choosing the resources that promote sustainability and benefits to the environment. A director of sustainability facilitates and plans training and programs for the employees to educate them about sustainability factors and improve productivity goals.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a sustainability coordinator are more likely to require skills like "data collection," "employee engagement," "composting," and "stars." On the other hand, a job as a chief specialist, leed chief requires skills like "financial statements," "law enforcement," "healthcare," and "development projects." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, chief specialists, leed chief reach higher levels of education than sustainability coordinators. Chief specialists, leed chief are 12.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 2.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Sustainability coordinator vs. Champion of sustainable design
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that sustainability coordinator responsibilities requires skills like "data collection," "employee engagement," "stars," and "sustainability efforts." But a champion of sustainable design might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "cad," "cycle analysis," "leed," and "building design."
In general, champions of sustainable design achieve similar levels of education than sustainability coordinators. They're 4.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 2.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Sustainability coordinator vs. Director of sustainability
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, sustainability coordinators are more likely to have skills like "data collection," "climate," "community outreach," and "sustainability projects." But a director of sustainability is more likely to have skills like "supply chain," "project management," "governance," and "ehs."
Directors of sustainability earn the highest salary when working in the construction industry, where they receive an average salary of $112,693. Comparatively, sustainability coordinators have the highest earning potential in the construction industry, with an average salary of $59,338.When it comes to education, directors of sustainability tend to earn higher degree levels compared to sustainability coordinators. In fact, they're 11.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 3.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Sustainability coordinator vs. Sustainable design consultant
Even though a few skill sets overlap between sustainability coordinators and sustainable design consultants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a sustainability coordinator might have more use for skills like "data collection," "employee engagement," "composting," and "stars." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of sustainable design consultants require skills like "sustainable design," "revit," "cad," and "hvac. "
Sustainable design consultants reach higher levels of education compared to sustainability coordinators, in general. The difference is that they're 10.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of sustainability coordinator
Updated January 8, 2025
