SmartSuite for the Chief Sustainability Officer
The Chief Sustainability Officer leads the organisation's sustainability vision and aligns ESG strategy with business objectives, investor expectations and regulatory frameworks. They own ESG performance against frameworks such as GRI, ISSB and CSRD and communicate progress to executives and investors.
What you own
- Set the sustainability strategy and ESG targets
- Align ESG goals and KPIs with corporate strategy and board objectives
- Oversee ESG disclosure against GRI, ISSB, SASB, TCFD and CSRD
- Sponsor environmental, social and governance programmes across functions
- Engage investors, rating agencies and regulators on ESG performance
- Report ESG performance to the executive team and board
Where the role sits
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Reports to
Direct reports
Works closely with
GRC processes
The shared GRC process map, highlighted for this role.
Owns
accountable for the process
Touches
contributes or approves
Depends on
consumes its output
How SmartSuite helps, suite by suite
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How they use the ESG Management suite
Program oversight
Monitors ESG performance across environmental, social, and governance initiatives in real time.
Strategic alignment
Connects sustainability goals and KPIs to corporate strategy and board-level objectives.
Framework governance
Tracks progress against frameworks like GRI, SASB, and TCFD for transparent reporting.
Suites that serve this role
How SmartSuite supports this role
ESG. Gives the CSO real-time ESG performance across environmental, social and governance initiatives, with KPIs connected to corporate strategy.
Compliance management. Tracks progress against GRI, SASB, TCFD and CSRD requirements as mapped obligations with evidence.
Risk management. Integrates ESG risks into the enterprise risk register so climate and supply-chain ethics exposure is governed with other risk.
Reporting. Produces investor and board ESG reports from traceable metrics and evidence.
Industry reference
The GRI Universal Standards (2021) remain the most widely used disclosure framework; the ISSB's IFRS S1 and S2 (2023) set the investor-focused baseline that jurisdictions are adopting; and the EU's CSRD, with the ESRS, makes sustainability reporting a legal duty for large and listed EU companies, subject to assurance. California's SB 253 and SB 261 add greenhouse gas and climate-risk reporting for large companies doing business in the state.
Financial institutions carry extra duties: the EU's SFDR for asset managers and the EBA's Pillar 3 ESG disclosures for banks. Public bodies and healthcare systems typically report voluntarily against GRI and the GHG Protocol.
In their words
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