ESG Senior Associate Level I

Grant Thornton is seeking an ESG & Sustainability Assurance Senior Associate to join our team. 

The ESG & Sustainability practice at Grant Thornton serves clients across the entire Sustainability reporting lifecycle, including readiness and gap assessments, climate/sustainability reporting implementation advisory, and assurance. The ESG & Sustainability team is comprised of innovative, curious professionals who bring assurance experience, technical depth, and industry insights to our clients. As progressive thinkers, each team member creates and transforms value to support our clients as they respond to an increasingly complex regulatory environment. Working with our team provides a unique and exciting opportunity to contribute to the growth of Grant Thornton’s ESG & Sustainability practice. ESG assurance professionals will perform both assurance and reporting advisory engagements.

ESG & Sustainability assurance senior associates will lead projects for clients at all levels of ESG maturity. Senior associates will apply their experience in delivering professional services solutions across a variety of industries, organizations, and functional areas while working closely with other team members, including associates, managers, directors, and partners. Senior associates are responsible for engagement-level leadership in critical areas such as supervision of junior team members, managing projects to budget, and engagement design and delivery. Senior associates can expect to support business development activities by supporting prospect presentations, contributing to the client experience, conducting ESG and company research, assisting with ESG deliverables, and helping to strategically identify subjects for thought leadership. Senior associates will have exposure to cross-border engagements, teaming with Grant Thornton member firms in international jurisdictions to serve complex, global clients. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES  

• Review, analyze, and interpret sustainability-related data and disclosures. Perform independent research to develop a deep understanding of application of ESG and sustainability reporting requirements to client-specific situations. Communicate directly with the engagement team and clients regarding technical guidance and related interpretations.
• Lead engagements at all phases, which includes planning engagements according to budget, timely completion of work, coordinating with and managing teams located remotely and in-person, and providing clients with updates of the process throughout the engagement.
• Supervise junior team members and participate in Grant Thornton’s performance management processes. Support on the job coaching/training of junior team members.
• Team with others on proposals and business development activities.
• Support internal initiatives to develop tools and templates for the performance of high-quality ESG assurance engagements to drive efficiency and effectiveness of engagement teams and ESG practice.
• Assist with development and delivery of robust and interactive learning to internal groups (engagement teams and those in other service lines and roles), and external groups (clients, prospects, and other third-parties).
• Maintain ongoing understanding of relevant and emerging ESG issues, including the national and international regulatory environment and relevant reporting frameworks.
• Adhere to the highest degree of professional standards, manage firm risk on engagements, and maintain strict client confidentiality.
• Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS 

• A minimum two years' full-time work experience in the following areas. Candidates who demonstrate progressively complex work experience involving problem-solving and increasing interaction with individuals at various levels of seniority are preferred.
• Providing attestation or audit services over sustainability information or financial statements.
• ESG reporting standards and frameworks such as GHG Protocol, CSRD/ESRS, SASB, TCFD, GRI, including certification in any of the aforementioned.
• Intermediate understanding of ESG related activities such as environmental/social impact assessments, GHG emissions, and water or waste accounting.
• Technical writing and research.
• Project management or process improvement fundamentals.
• Client or customer-facing roles.
• Virtual communication and project performance tools such as Zoom, Teams, Smartsheet.
• Data aggregation, data analytics, visualization tools (e.g., Excel, PowerBI, CoPilot, Tableau, SQL).
• Ability to work independently.
• Strong attention to detail.
• High professional standards and acumen.
• Comfortable with managing multiple deadlines across projects at varying stages in the project life cycle. 
• Ability to travel on short notice and work additional hours as necessary. Travel requirements flexible but possibly up to 25%. Working location is hybrid with in-office and remote attendance as needed for each project.

Associate, Bachelor, or Master’s degree in relevant field is required. Relevant fields to include: Accounting, Sustainability, or related disciplines.
Relevant professional certifications such as CPA, SASB FSA, or completion of technical training such as GHG Protocol are preferred. Certification completion required prior to promotion to manager.