Senior Manager, Sustainability Reporting and Requests, Global Sustainability – Contract (9 months)

Location:

Belfast

Workplace:

Hybrid

The opportunity:

The Senior Manager, Sustainability Reporting and Requests, Global Sustainability – Contract (9 months) will prepare the Firm's sustainability and ESG reporting submissions and respond to requests for Firm ESG requirements, including implementing sustainability standards in client and supplier agreements.

Working at Baker McKenzie:

Baker McKenzie is the world’s leading law firm with offices all over the world. Our Belfast Centre is home to over 400 colleagues in both legal and professional services.

We offer one of the best workplace benefits packages in the business with comprehensive private health cover, income protection, life assurance and a full employee assistance plan. These and a host of other benefits make us one of the most desirable companies to work for in Belfast.

We are committed to promoting inclusion, diversity, and equity for all and are confident we can provide a career as individual and as exceptional as you.

About the role:

As part of this role, the successful candidate will:

Responsibilities:

• Prepare first drafts of the Firm’s sustainability and ESG reporting submissions and work with functions across the Firm to collect data needed to prepare the qualitative sections of the same:
  o Review the sustainability and ESG reporting requests and frameworks to identify key content areas needed for preparing a response
  o Work with the sustainability team to obtain quantitative information needed to prepare a response
  o Work with internal functions (Procurement, People, Risk & Compliance, Finance, etc.) to outline substantive content needed to prepare a response
  o Work with CSO and Associate Director to confirm reporting approach and adjust following guidance
  o Work with functions to prepare the following year's reporting process based on scoring and corrective actions received from standard setters
• Manage responses to client requests and draft contractual provisions as needed to be incorporated into client terms:
  o Collaborate with client teams to understand the request's context and its impact on the terms of engagement; identify other Firm functions to review the request and provide appropriate responses; and manage expectations regarding the timing and content of the response.
  o Work with the sustainability team to obtain quantitative information needed to prepare a response
  o Identify client requests that require negotiation and escalate to CSO and Associate Director with the proposed approach for review:
  o Prepare a file of all documentation needed for negotiation of client requests that require negotiation by CSO
  o Maintain an up-to-date FAQ based on the latest data used in responses to client requests
• Manage implementation of the Sustainability Annex to the Master Service Agreement and draft contractual provisions as needed to respond to supplier positions
  o Work with Procurement team to identify contractual provisions that require modification to address positions taken by suppliers
  o Escalate complex negotiation positions to CSO and Associate Director with recommended response

Skills and Experience:

• Strong experience in a law firm or professional services organization
• People management experience is a must
• Legal background with experience in legal writing and drafting contracts
• Experience in sustainability reporting is a plus but not mandatory; keen interest and passion for sustainability are a must
• Strong written and verbal communication skills including the ability to provide clear instructions, and deadlines and manage input received (process and content)
• Strong organizational skills and application of rigor to work product delivered
• Self-starter; ability to work to timelines and manage workload independently
• Collaborative nature, with a "can do" attitude, that enjoys working in a small team environment; experience in working in a multi-cultural environment
• Fluent in written and spoken English (university coursework in English, English as primary language in prior work experience)