How To Become A Sustainability Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a sustainability specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Robert Sroufe

A sustainability specialist is an individual who supports and implements programs that focus on improving a community and environment. These individuals perform research and analysis to identify opportunities for new programs, possible improvements to current programs, and develop sustainability project goals, objectives and initiatives. Sustainability specialists are essentially responsible for designing programs that conserve energy and environmental resources, and promote conservation and limit negative impacts on the environment.

These individuals troubleshoot such issues as waste stream management and green building practices, as well as track sustainability indicators, such as recycling, energy usage, and natural resource usage. These professionals help organizations to operate in an environmentally responsible manner and seek business solutions that prioritize renewable energy sources and limit waste. Sustainability specialists must also assist upper management in generating cost-benefit reports of sustainability practices.

Sustainability specialists also provide technical or administrative support for programs and should possess excellent communication, analytical and organizational skills. These individuals typically work in an office environment and should be comfortable with computers and the generation of spreadsheets and reports.

Although an advanced degree is not necessarily critical to obtain a job in this field, many sustainability specialists have a certificate or an advanced degree in environmental sciences or environmental engineering. These individuals can make up to $47,000 annually in the US, and the job field is expected to grow 10% by 2028.

What general advice would you give to a sustainability specialist?

Dr. Robert Sroufe

Falk Chair of Socially Responsible Business, Chatham University, Website

The ability to leverage data analytics skills, understanding key performance metrics, and leveraging AI are all at the forefront of skills employers are looking for. Understanding the potential for Integrated Management , i.e., how sustainability is already integrated within all business functions, and is part of everyone's job, is a skill that can set applicants apart. Performance measurement and then management of relationships across value chains will enabling change across industries. Industry sectors need people/skills ready to embrace change while finding new value propositions beyond a business as usual, myopic focus on lowest cost will only grow in importance. Future skills include a need to actualize full cost accounting, understanding life cycles of products along with processes and how to value greenhouse gases (GHGs) as this will give some an advantage in seeing strategic opportunities from decarbonization initiatives that can be broken down into new tactical and operational programs.

ScoreSustainability SpecialistUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $49,602

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.4

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.43%

Asian 8.83%

Black or African American 6.36%

Hispanic or Latino 9.39%

Unknown 4.56%

White 70.43%

Gender

female 58.82%

male 41.18%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

4.4

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a sustainability specialist

Explore sustainability specialist education requirements

Most common sustainability specialist degrees

Bachelor's

54.7 %

Master's

16.1 %

Associate

16.1 %

Start to develop specific sustainability specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
HVAC	9.56%
Renewable Energy	8.11%
Logistics	7.19%
CAD	6.28%
Cycle Management	6.07%

Complete relevant sustainability specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New sustainability specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a sustainability specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real sustainability specialist resumes.

Research sustainability specialist duties and responsibilities

Achieve executive buy-in and trained/ supervise a team of 5 HVAC and plumbing technicians to conduct commissioning.
Accomplish aircraft paint refinishing procedures in accordance with OSHA state, federal and military specification.
Collect and report GHG, energy and water data.
Research the carbon neutrality of biomass in order to more accurately assess Middlebury's GHG emissions.

Prepare your sustainability specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your sustainability specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a sustainability specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable sustainability specialist resume templates

Build a professional sustainability specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your sustainability specialist resume.