Senior Associate - Sustainable Investment Research / ESG Research (ESG Investments)

Position Title: Senior Associate - ESG Research

Practice: Sustainable Industries / ESG

Reporting to: Senior/Engagement Manager or Associate Director

Team Reporting: Associates/ Analysts/Interns

External Interactions: Company Clients, Corporate or Industry Officials, SMEs, Consultants, or Government officials

Work Type & Schedule Full time: Permanent role; Monday -Friday

Work Location: Okhla, New Delhi; Field travel for client projects

cKinetics is looking for experienced and skilled Senior Associates who are passionate about Sustainability and seeking to mainstream the same in Industrial settings and looking to be part of the projects that create meaningful cutting-edge work.

The candidates would be part of the Sustainability Industries practice of cKinetics. The Sustainable Industries practice provides strategic and operational advisory in the areas of resource efficiency, climate goals related action in supply chains, decarbonization, water neutrality, and material and resource circularity to various Indian and global Corporates. The work entails developing insights into environmental sustainability-related issues and framing recommendations on pathways for developing sustainable products, rolling out global best practices of manufacturing, enhancing resource efficiency in manufacturing processes, clean energy transition, circular resource use mechanisms, as also ESG reporting and disclosures.

Purpose of the Position:

A Senior Associate is tasked with managing project deliverables end to end, overseeing a team of 2-3 associates / analysts or contribute as a SME, per the engagement needs. A Senior Associate must focus on the planning aspects as also the research elements. She /he must ensure that the deliverables are addressing the core objectives laid out by the clients in a timely and comprehensive fashion with requisite quality, specifically creative presentations/narratives backed by requisite market analysis, techno-commercial assessments, and data insights.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Project Management:

Plan and execute the sustainability research and advisory projects in the areas of Resource Efficiency (Energy, water, waste, etc), Renewable Energy and Cleaner Production

Focus on integration of ESG facets also global mandates such as SBTi, EP100, RE100 etc. into Sustainability interventions formulated for the Clients

Identify the areas for Primary and secondary research parameters for the allocated tasks and reliable data sources

Collaborating with the project/ internal teams- Associates/ Analysts in devising a cohesive solution for client's projects/ problem/ Program/ product

Plan and undertakeOnsite/ On-ground field or site visits as required for the different engagements

2. Client Engagement:

Developing impactful and world-class written and oral presentations - Prepare reports with various data insights, trends, and patterns after requisite analysis derived from the structured/unstructured data collated through the research phase

Ensure client project (s) /engagements are completed in a timely and cost-effective manner that leads to requisite client delight

3. Team and Time Management:

Regular monitoring of the project progress on quality parameters & timelines as also providing oversight and inputs to different team members on assigned tasks

Must use and ensure the team uses the Internal /company Project Management/ Time Management tools in day to day working to record time utilization towards respective project/s

Managing and guiding the Associates, and Analysts to align them with the company and client expectations

4. Business Development Support:

-Support practice leadership in crafting necessary collateral such as White Papers and Intelligence Briefs and participate in preparing business proposals.

Candidate Requirements:

Skills and Mindset:

The ideal candidate must be desirous of mainstreaming Sustainability through clean supply chains, circularity, and resource-efficient manufacturing processes. She/he must have the following mindset and skills sets:

Flexible and creative mindset; curious and creative individual able to understand quickly the complexities of the client organization's products and markets

Ability to work hands-on and multi-task in an energetic environment

Strong analytical abilities and excellent presentation skills - Ability to present and discuss their research and findings to a high-level audience and industry experts

Data Analytics skills - Assessment and Visualization Skills to extract and present relevant data information in a coherent manner; developed spread-sheet based models as part of your work; or worked on R

Well acquainted with Techno-commercial assessments, and project finance essentials

Academic Qualifications and Experience:

Masters in disciplines such as Engineering, Environmental Management, Economics or a related domain with appropriate intersect with Sustainability

Must have relevant 4-6 years of experience in Consulting or Industry roles related to Sustainability, resource efficiency, circular economy, sustainability target setting, carbon accounting, ESMS frameworks, ESG due diligence and/or ESG governance

Knowledge of sustainability standards or frameworks such as the GHG Protocol, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Integrated Reporting (IR), CDP, and Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) a plus