What leading sustainability consultancies are hiring for in 2025

The opinions expressed here by Trellis expert contributors are their own, not those of Trellis.​

Sustainability consulting is currently a highly competitive career path, despite current ESG headwinds. Firms often receive 1,000 to 5,000 applications for a single role, and most organizations have turned to AI for help with identifying candidates with the greatest potential. 

To understand how candidates can stand out in today’s competitive landscape, I spoke with senior leaders at five sustainability consultancies. It quickly became clear that once highly sought-after experience in areas such as disclosure and greenhouse gas accounting has become easier to find. As a result, many technical skills have become table stakes, leading firms to focus more on specific combinations of skills, attributes and cultural fit. 

While networking has always been important, it carries a heightened significance in today’s job market. Referrals remain the best way to get your resume seen by a human and conversations with current employees can help you understand the nuances of what each firm values. 

Below are summaries of my conversations, edited for length and clarity. 

3R Sustainability

Headquarters: Pittsburgh, PA 

Approximate sustainability advisory team size: 40 consultants

Best known for: Sustainability strategy and management systems; decarbonization and resilience for the built environment; reporting, scoring, ratings and sustainability assurance

Jana Lake, president and owner on what makes 3R unique: 3R stands out for its human touch — we prioritize long-term relationships, a partnership approach with our clients and work–life balance for our consultants. Our consultants are encouraged to listen deeply, ask the right questions and motivate clients who may feel overwhelmed, while also supporting each other with a team-first mentality. We work remotely with our clients so that everyone has the flexibility they need to spend time with family or pursue other passions outside of work. 

What 3R Sustainability looks for in candidates: Cultural fit has always come first. We’re looking for candidates with a partnership mentality and a growth mindset who take a coaching approach to their work. It’s also important for candidates to clearly understand the sustainability context and what drives business value, reduces risk and improves management systems. 

How candidates can stand out: Candidates with internal sustainability experience have a unique appreciation for how difficult it can be to drive change across an organization and that makes them more empathetic and effective. We also appreciate candidates who have assurance experience and can understand how a sustainability assessment works from the other side of the table.

SE Advisory Services

Headquarters: Paris, France 

Approximate sustainability advisory team size: 3,300 consultants

Best known for: Net-zero strategy; regulatory-grade reporting; high-integrity carbon credits; climate risk consulting

Stuart Lemmon, head of the global sustainability practice, on what makes the team unique: We have always differentiated ourselves by the quality of the work that we do. We use processes that are underpinned by rigorous science to develop solutions for our clients that are data-driven and in alignment with international standards. 

The firm has been recognized as the “World’s Most Sustainable Company” by TIME Magazine and Statista for the past two years. We’re part of a larger global team of experts in energy, resilience, strategy and efficiency who really understand this work and walk the talk, which puts us in a very strong position to offer our clients high-quality end-to-end solutions. 

What SE Advisory Services looks for in candidates: We’re heavily focused on candidates with strong data science and engineering skills. They must be able to understand and interpret data within the context of the science and then understand how it informs strategy. 

We’re also looking for candidates who can engage effectively with clients. Every member of the team is expected to serve as a trusted adviser directly supporting our clients on their sustainability journey. And as a values-driven organization, we’re looking for people who are passionate about creating impact for our clients, are open and transparent, and work well within an empowered environment. 

How candidates can stand out: Exceptional candidates are capable of guiding a client’s progress along their journey while also thinking about where the market is going. They understand context and how the evolving regulatory and standards landscapes will impact the client. Strong candidates are also constantly thinking about a business’s operating model and how to improve it. They’ve learned how to use AI tools and can effectively incorporate them into existing tools and processes. 

KPMG

Headquarters: London, UK 

Approximate sustainability advisory team size: 5,000 consultants

Best known for: Sustainability strategy and implementation; sustainability reporting and assurance; climate risk and transition planning

Charlotte Fildes, global ESG head of talent, on what makes KPMG unique: We view ESG as a watermark running throughout the global organization that empowers our consultants to become agents of positive change and provides solutions and services that help our clients overcome the challenges facing our planet and society. 

Our consultants are passionate about making a difference and working towards the goals in the KPMG: Our Impact Plan, which includes a validated Science-Based Target (SBT) to decarbonize our business by 50 percent across all scopes by 2030 compared to our FY19 baseline.

What KPMG looks for in candidates: We have always looked for candidates with strong analytical minds and excellence in client service, but as we’ve moved forward with implementing KPMG’s Our Impact Plan, we’ve been increasingly looking for purpose-driven thinking as a core competency. Our consultants are interested in more than just solving problems; they’re also motivated by a meaningful career and want to drive meaningful change that creates and protects value for our clients. 

How candidates can stand out: The most competitive candidates combine ESG skills, such as reporting or climate analytics, with value-driven transformation abilities. We’re also looking for candidates who understand the risks and value creation potential across the full ESG project life cycle. They can connect the dots and articulate how a change in one functional area can impact risk mitigation, operational efficiency and competitive positioning across the entire organization.

WAP Sustainability

Headquarters: Chattanooga, TN 

Approximate sustainability advisory team size: 80 consultants

Best known for: Corporate sustainability; product sustainability; certifications and verification

William Paddock, CEO and managing director on what makes WAP Sustainability unique: We are known for our balance of strategy and execution, as well as our well-rounded cross-functional service offerings. We meet our clients where they are on their sustainability journey and stay grounded in the realities of this work. Our team combines a “get it done” mentality with a culture of camaraderie and respect for each other’s skills. 

What WAP Sustainability looks for in candidates: There are two skill sets that we’ve always gravitated towards: a growth mindset and the ability to thrive in ambiguity. Because the sustainability space is constantly changing, we look for self-motivated learners who want to build skills across our service lines while keeping pace with new developments. Every client has a unique set of needs, drivers and level of ambition so every engagement will be different and consultants have to be able to adjust for that. 

How candidates can stand out: We’re most interested in candidates who can clearly demonstrate experience with moving the needle and making the right structural differences within an organization. We look for people who have tangible accomplishments in things like strategy or supplier engagement and are looking to join a consulting firm in order to scale their impact. 

WSP

Headquarters: Montreal, Canada 

Approximate sustainability advisory team size: 130 US-based sustainability consultants, hundreds more globally

Best known for: Sustainability strategy and program design; decarbonization and carbon accounting; climate resilience and adaptation planning 

Julie Hughes, vice president, sustainability, energy and climate change, on what makes WSP unique: As an advisory team operating within the context of an engineering firm, we’re in a unique position to help our clients develop a vision, build a strategy and implement actionable plans. It’s incredibly rewarding to see an aspirational vision start to manifest in real actions.  

Our consultants are big thinkers with big ideas, and they’re also practical people who are technically sound and comfortable digging into the details that drive projects forward. They have a lot of personal agency to identify the skills that they want to develop and pursue projects they want to work on. Our team is a special blend of collaborative, supportive and respectful. We treat each other as fellow human beings first, and as co-workers second.  

What WSP looks for in candidates: Consulting is inherently about enabling others to succeed, so it’s important to have humility and a proclivity for helping other people — rather than a desire to have the spotlight or receive all the credit. We look for people with a natural inclination towards helping others who derive real joy and satisfaction from that act.  

We’re looking for natural learners who are intellectually curious, appreciate diverse perspectives, believe in what’s possible, and are excited by growth and change. 

How candidates can stand out: We’re particularly interested in candidates who are “pragmatic visionaries,” people who are adept at developing ambitious and aspirational ideas, but are also able to break those ideas down into actionable steps. We need team members who can paint a vivid picture for a client that helps them envision a better future, but can quickly pivot to the tactical, creating an action plan that builds towards that tomorrow. While we’ve always looked for candidates with intellectual agility and versatility, adaptability and comfort with change has recently become even more important. There’s a significant feeling of uncertainty in the market right now and we’re looking for people who are able to navigate that uncertainty productively, and with a level of empathy and grace that keeps our clients and our team moving forward.