About PRI 

The PRI is the world's leading proponent of responsible investment. It works to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions. 

The PRI's three distinct capabilities relate to the core elements of the PRI's approach to achieving a sustainable financial system: 

• Translate responsible investment thought leadership into insights and practical support tailored to signatories' needs. 

• Convene our global network to create opportunities for collaboration. 

• Harness our global scale to influence markets and support system-wide change. 

Job Description 

The Director, Sustainability Initiatives is responsible for the strategic leadership, delivery and performance of PRI's sustainability initiatives portfolio, bringing together PRI signatories (asset owners, investment managers, financial service providers) and strategic partners to address shared sustainability challenges, advance responsible investment practice and drive meaningful outcomes. The role offers a unique opportunity to work alongside leading investors, service providers and partners globally, helping to shape collaborative approaches that advance responsible investment practice and influence the wider market. 

The role oversees a portfolio of initiatives spanning climate, nature and social themes, including flagship investor collaborations and peer-learning programmes across asset classes, while identifying opportunities to strengthen investor action and engagement in emerging areas. Through these initiatives, the Director helps investors advance their responsible investment practices through peer knowledge sharing and collaboration and develop approaches that support effective stewardship, informed decision-making and sustainable value creation in the delivery of long-term value for beneficiaries and clients. 

The Director is responsible for ensuring PRI's initiatives deliver high-quality support and secretariat services, collaboration opportunities and tangible value for signatories, helping them navigate sustainability-related risks and opportunities while strengthening investment practices and real-world outcomes. Working across PRI, the Director plays a key role in ensuring that insights, relationships and outputs from initiatives help inform and strengthen PRI's broader work across stewardship, policy, guidance, market engagement and signatory support.  

Reporting to the Chief Investor Initiatives Officer, the Director leads the Sustainability Initiatives team and works closely with the Director of Stewardship Initiatives to shape the strategic direction, performance and development of PRI's investor initiatives portfolio. This includes a focus on signatory value, emerging market expansion, initiative effectiveness, organisational collaboration, innovation and long-term growth. As a member of PRI's wider leadership community, the Director will also contribute to organisational priorities, culture and capability development, and help shape and deliver the next phase of PRI's strategy. 

Current strategic priorities 

The Director will play a leading role in: 

• Strengthening signatory value, participation and engagement across PRI's sustainability initiatives. 

• Ensuring the continued evolution and growth of flagship investor collaborations, including the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance and the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, alongside investor network partners and leading investors. 

• Deepening engagement with strategically important investor audiences, including private markets investors and investment consultants, and on opportunities for investor collaboration and peer learning across sustainability thematics (nature, social and emerging topics). 

• Supporting PRI's efforts to strengthen investor understanding, capability and confidence across different markets and geographies, including emerging markets and developing economies, through research, collaboration, peer learning and knowledge sharing. 

• Helping shape PRI's next strategy and strengthening collaboration across teams. 

Core responsibilities 

Strategic leadership, direction and performance of initiatives 

• Lead the strategic development and delivery of PRI's sustainability initiatives portfolio, ensuring alignment with PRI's mission, strategy and signatory needs. 

• Drive the evolution of PRI's initiatives and collaboration models, identifying opportunities for innovation, growth and enhanced signatory value. 

• Translate market developments, emerging sustainability issues and signatory feedback into effective priorities, strategies and workplans. 

• Ensure the long-term sustainability, effectiveness and growth of PRI's sustainability initiatives, ensuring they continue to deliver value for signatories and contribute to organisational priorities. 

• Work closely with the Chief Investor Initiatives Officer and wider leadership team to shape the future development of PRI's investor initiatives portfolio, identify opportunities and risks, and strengthen cross-team collaboration to maximise signatory value and organisational impact. 

  Signatory engagement & value 

• Ensure PRI's sustainability initiatives deliver meaningful value, practical support and measurable outcomes for participating signatories. 

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior leaders across asset owners, investment managers, investment consultants and other financial institutions. 

• Lead high-quality convenings, peer-learning opportunities and collaborative activities that help investors address shared sustainability challenges and advance responsible investment practice. 

• Ensure signatory insights and market perspectives inform the development of initiatives and PRI's wider programme of work. 

  Partnerships & external representation 

• Act as a senior representative of PRI with investors, international organisations, network partners and other key stakeholders. 

• Develop and maintain strategic partnerships that strengthen the reach, credibility and effectiveness of PRI's sustainability initiatives. 

• Represent PRI through external speaking opportunities at conferences, roundtables and industry forums globally. 

• Promote the lessons, insights and influence generated through PRI initiatives across the wider responsible investment ecosystem. 

  People leadership & operational excellence 

• Lead, develop and inspire a high-performing team, fostering a culture of collaboration, inclusion, accountability and continuous improvement. 

• Set clear priorities, allocate resources and manage financial budgets effectively, working closely with initiative managers to ensure delivery against agreed objectives and budgets. 

• Uphold and ensure best practice and compliance with PRI collaboration guidelines and related policies. 

• Maintain effective governance, planning, risk management and performance management. 

• Develop innovative delivery approaches, including technology-enabled and AI-supported solutions, that enhance how PRI supports and engages signatories. 

• Identify opportunities to expand the impact and reach of PRI's sustainability initiatives through grant funding and strategic partnerships, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities, signatory value and long-term portfolio development, and contributing to funding proposals and delivery. 

• Contribute as a senior leader within Investor Initiatives & Collaboration and PRI more broadly, helping shape organisational priorities, culture, capability and strategic direction. 

Person Specification

• Significant experience working within, or closely alongside, institutional investors or other financial institutions, with a strong understanding of responsible investment and sustainable finance.  

• Demonstrated experience leading complex programmes, partnerships, collaborations or strategic initiatives in a multi-stakeholder environment, translating external developments and stakeholder needs into impactful strategies and outcomes.   

• Strong knowledge of responsible investment and sustainability-related investment issues and processes, including expertise in one or more of the following areas: climate and net zero, nature and biodiversity, social issues and human rights.  

• Excellent relationship-building, facilitation and influencing skills, with experience engaging senior leaders across the investment industry and developing productive partnerships with external stakeholders.   

• Proven people leadership experience, including setting vision and direction, developing high-performing teams, managing through change and fostering an inclusive and collaborative culture.  

• Strong strategic thinking and judgement, with the ability to identify opportunities, navigate complexity and contribute to organisational leadership and decision-making.  

• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to represent an organisation credibly and effectively with senior internal and external audiences.  

• A collaborative and inclusive leadership style, with the ability to work effectively across teams, functions and external partnerships while balancing strategic ambition, operational resilience and delivery of organisational priorities. 

Why Join PRI? 

This role offers the opportunity to work directly with many of the world's leading investors and sustainability practitioners, helping to shape how collaboration drives progress on some of the most important challenges facing the global financial system. 

You will lead collaborations that bring investors together to share knowledge, solve common problems, raise standards and accelerate responsible investment practices. At the same time, you will help ensure that the insights generated through these initiatives strengthen PRI's broader work and support thousands of signatories globally. 

As a member of PRI's leadership community, you will play an important role in shaping organisational culture, influencing strategic direction and helping deliver the next phase of PRI's impact, growth and support for signatories. 

We particularly welcome candidates from under-represented groups, including Black, Asian, and other People of Colour, those with visible or non-visible disabilities, LGBTQ+ candidates and those who are neurodivergent.

N.B. We reserve the right to close a vacancy before the closing date in the event of an overwhelming response or a change in business priorities.