Taking on a leadership role of being APD’s Sustainability Champion, the successful candidate will lead a team to coordinate, organise, communicate, and report on SMBC APAC sustainability initiatives across Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) dimensions, Finance Emission policy and ensure compliance with mandatory/regulatory requirements.
The candidate is expected to be pro-active in keeping abreast and understanding developments in ESG policy including regulatory frameworks, taxonomies and also major sustainability initiatives so as to be an early-mover in leveraging the implications of such developments from the viewpoint across the APD organisation and further strive to elevate SMBC’s standing amongst the global Sustainability Community.
Key Responsibilities Include Leading a Team of Professional(s) to:
- Develop and further drive the agenda of APD wide sustainability mindset and culture aligned with the organization’s mission and values.
- Leading and organise a team of sustainability professionals to effectively deliver agreed strategy.
- Oversee strategy implementation by the team, ensuring regular cadence between the team and Heads of Countries and Heads of BUs from a policy and engagement point.
- Managing Responsible Financing and ESG risk policies of the Bank, including developing new policies for identifying, managing, and monitoring environmental and social risks, and ensuring relevance and effective in building firm-wide resilience to ESG risks, as well as compliance with relevant regulations and aligned with industry standards.
- Work with Chief Sustainability Officer (CuSO) and related stakeholders in region to serve as a point of contact for engagements with regulators, governmental agencies, industry associations, NGOs and other relevant agencies/bodies on sustainability matters and where required, collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure appropriate responses and communication.
- Governance and Reporting by working with stakeholders to organise and structure information for various sustainability reporting. Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) for sustainability and regularly report progress to Senior Management team and relevant stakeholders.
- Ensure transparent and accurate reporting on sustainability metrics in alignment with industry standards.
- Working cross-functionally with bank-wide stakeholders to define and drive the implementation of frameworks, policies, and tools, and facilitate various programmes and initiatives enabling effective ESG risk management and capability development across the Bank.
- Driving a collaborative, cross-functional team towards establishing ESG understanding, practices and application of selected international standards/guidelines across the bank.
- Engaging subsidiaries to ensure prompt adoption and localisation of the Group ESG policies and to ensure compliance with Group core standards.
- Facilitating awareness and capacity building on ESG and risk management.
- Champion SMBC's Social Value Creation (SVC) Program to deliver social and economic impact in our operating environment.
Key Attributes and Skills
- At least 15-20 years of proven leadership track record and expertise in franchise-building, corporate client-facing role in the areas of ESG/climate advisory, and/or environmental and social consulting;
- Relevant academic studies will be advantageous in sustainability, environmental science, environmental engineering and development
- Demonstrates experience and ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders externally and internally in the area of sustainability-related matters;
- Possesses a broad and deep network of senior relationships within the ESG and relevant industry sectors;
- In-depth knowledge of key sustainability issues, ESG international standards/principles, relevant regulations & standards, and best practices and their relevant experience to the banking sector;
- Familiar with international environmental and social policies, procedures, and standards such as IFC performance standards and/or GHG Protocol and possessing in-depth environmental and social due diligence experience;
- Proficient in project management with strong analytical skills in analysing data and identify trends to understand data systems
