Sustainability Officer

Help us build a greener future across our college community - join us as a Sustainability Officer

The East Kent Colleges Group is on an exciting journey to become a carbon net zero organisation.  To help drive this we are looking for an enthusiastic individual with a track record of delivering environmental projects and an in-depth understanding of the science behind climate change.  You will also have a good understanding of how to calculate an organisation's carbon emissions.

This is a new role which will report to the Group Head of Capital Projects and will be a key member of our Climate Change Working Group. You will be responsible for delivering a number of environmental initiatives and will be working closely with our staff and students to do this.  You will be confident speaking in front of groups and will seamlessly combine your understanding of the science behind climate change with winning the “hearts and minds” of our staff and students to bring everyone on the journey with us.   

You can expect to be involved in a variety of initiatives; from developing our e-learning offer on environmental matters, talking to our staff and students about climate change, improving our reporting on the Group’s carbon footprint and also helping to make sure that our buildings are as energy efficient as possible.    

With a new Sustainability Strategy being developed, this is a great time to be joining us as you can help shape this important agenda.  If you have the skills and experience we are looking for then we would love to hear from you. 

• Have an in-depth knowledge of the science and reasoning behind climate change
• Be able to influence staff and external stakeholders to enable climate and sustainability changes to be implemented
• Have a proven track record in leading on environmental and sustainability initiatives in a large organisation
• Have experience of managing environmental, climate related or sustainability projects
• Have experience of analysing and presenting data and information on climate and sustainability 

• Have excellent communication skills
• Have a high level of computer literacy and the ability to use a range of analytical and report-writing tools
• The ability to inspire staff and students to make the Group a greener place to work and learn

Outstanding Ofsted Provider

East Kent Colleges Group is an Ofsted Outstanding rated provider. It is proud to be the first General Further Education college organisation in the country to have received the Outstanding grade against each of the strands under the new Ofsted inspection framework. An inclusive provider, our colleagues place our students and the communities we serve at the heart of everything they do across EKC Group and this is illustrated in our ‘Strong’ skills grading by Ofsted.

Commitment to Safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and we ensure that all staff are aware of their responsibilities for upholding these principles.

As a designated establishment, we are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore have an obligation to carry out checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children and vulnerable adults. These checks include conviction/caution self-declaration, Enhanced DBS check and obtaining sufficient referencing.

It is a criminal offence to apply for a post which involves engaging in regulated activity relevant to children if you are barred from doing so.

If you are successful in being shortlisted to interview, your suitability to work with children and vulnerable adults will be explored as part of the interview process.

Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

East Kent Colleges Group is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all members of our communities. We are particularly keen to increase the diversity of our staff body and encourage applications from candidates where there is underrepresentation in our workforce.

We are proud to hold the Positive About Disability Award and are a Disability Confident Employer. This confirms our commitment to interviewing all applicants who declare that they have a disability and who meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification. With any successful candidate, we will explore any reasonable adjustments to a role due to a health needs or disability.

Similarly, we have a commitment to Care Leavers (Care Covenant Pledge) and to current or previous Armed Forces personnel (Armed Forces Covenant Pledge) with a commitment to interview applicants who meet the positions essential criteria and who have declared this on their application. 

We welcome applications from anyone wishing to work flexibly and those considering a return to work from a career break.

We do not engage with agencies for permanent staff and have an in-house recruitment team.