As the senior executive in charge of your company’s sustainability programs, you wear many hats. In a single day, you might be leading a strategic planning meeting in one moment, then delivering a public speech to a large group of stakeholders in the next.
Today, you’re riding on a boat headed north through the Johnstone Strait into the pristine BC wilderness. Your destination is a small mountain stream used as a barometer to monitor salmon populations in BC’s waterways. In this visit to the local salmon enumeration project, you will learn about the people and processes behind the program, as well as develop a clearer understanding of why this partnership with the federal government is so crucial to a healthy, sustainable salmon population. When you get back to the office, you’ll shift gears and continue your preparation for an important meeting with local politicians about your company’s latest sustainability initiative.
Your role as CSO is challenging and demanding – you would not be successful in it if you did not have outstanding leadership skills, the ability to think strategically, and a passion for developing people and programs. At the end of the day, your guidance and foresight enables your organization to positively contribute to the triple bottom line of people, planet and profits.
In their day-to-day work, CSOs carry out such tasks as:
CSOs work in a variety of locations, including:
In the office:
In the field:
As key executive leaders who shape their company’s sustainability policy, CSOs work in many different types of organizations. Common employers of CSOs include:
If you are a post-secondary student seeking a CSO role in the future, consider pursuing a university degree related to:
In addition to the educational fields mentioned above, you will also need extensive management experience to become a CSO, with well-developed human resources management and leadership skills. Consider educational seminars or post-graduate studies that will hone your analytical thinking, such as:
Nous travaillons actuellement sur la version française du site que nous espérons lancer très bientôt!
Merci pour votre patience et compréhension pendant que nous finalisons la version améliorée du site.
We are working to launch the French site very soon!
Thank you for your patience while we finalize the new and improved version of our website.