Corporate Sustainability Director – Governance, Policy & Regulation - Full-time

At Jacobs, we tackle the world’s most critical challenges driven by our purpose to create a more connected, sustainable world. Through our global sustainability strategy, PlanBeyond, we integrate sustainability and resilience into how we operate, how we govern risk, how we allocate capital, and how we create value for clients. Sustainability expectations increasingly influence regulatory compliance, economic performance, enterprise risk and market competitiveness, Jacobs operates across diverse geographies, sectors and regulatory regimes. This requires strong enterprise‑level coordination to ensure regulatory readiness, clear policy frameworks, effective risk management and commercially sound decision‑making across operations, supply chains and corporate functions. This role plays a central part in ensuring Jacobs is prepared for, and responsive to, evolving sustainability‑related requirements, while supporting the Vice President, Global Head of Sustainability in delivering the broader sustainability agenda across the enterprise. Role Purpose The Corporate Sustainability Director: Policy, Regulation and Governance is accountable for strengthening Jacobs’ enterprise‑wide regulatory readiness, sustainability policy framework, economic rationale and risk integration across a complex global operating environment. The core role is focused on ensuring that sustainability‑related regulatory and policy requirements — spanning environmental, social, governance, economic and technology considerations — are anticipated, understood and translated into clear, practical and proportionate enterprise processes covering operations and supply chains. The Director leads the development and maintenance of a coherent sustainability policy architecture, supports transformation business cases (including AI‑enabled and Responsible AI initiatives), and works closely with the Enterprise Risk function to ensure material sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities are identified, mitigated/enabled and managed through appropriate policies, processes and initiatives. In addition, the role acts as a senior strategic support and advisor to the Vice President, Global Head of Sustainability, providing insight, analysis and governance support deliver of Jacobs PlanBeyond Sustainability Approach. Objectives * Ensure enterprise regulatory readiness for sustainability‑related requirements across global operations and supply chains. * Maintain and evolve a robust sustainability policy framework, ensuring policies remain current, effective and aligned with regulatory, risk and business needs. * Strengthen the economic and transformation case for sustainability, including business cases at enterprise level and deployed within a decentralised operating environment, including embedment of sustainability into operations, with technology and AI a key enabler. * Support effective identification, assessment and management of material sustainability risks in partnership with the Enterprise Risk team. * Act as a strategic support to the Vice President across all sustainability priorities, ensuring coherence and alignment at enterprise level and deployed within a decentralised operating environment. Key Responsibilities Regulatory Readiness & Enterprise Interpretation * Monitor, interpret and assess sustainability‑related trends, regulatory, policy and standards developments across key jurisdictions. * Translate regulatory and policy developments into clear enterprise guidance, readiness actions and prioritised response pathways, covering corporate functions, and partnering with operational and functional teams to deliver the required changes. * Support proactive planning to address regulatory change efficiently, avoiding unnecessary complexity or duplication in delivery. Sustainability Policies & Processes * Act as policy owner for core enterprise sustainability policies (including Sustainability, Human Rights, Social & Economic Inclusion) while collaborating closely with key contributors from across the business, ensuring they remain up‑to‑date, credible and fit for purpose. * Serve as a key stakeholder and contributor to adjacent enterprise policies (e.g. Risk, HR, Ethics, HSE, Supply Chain, Technology and Data), ensuring alignment and consistency across governance frameworks. * Maintain effective governance and evolve policy review, approval, assurance and escalation processes related to sustainability. Sustainability Economics, Transformation & AI * Lead the development of sustainability transformation business cases, connecting sustainability objectives to enterprise value, efficiency, resilience and risk mitigation. * Support business cases for AI‑enabled sustainability initiatives, ensuring alignment with enterprise AI strategy and Responsible AI principles. * Partner with Finance, Technology and Business teams to ensure sustainability investments are economically grounded and operationally viable. Enterprise Risk Integration * Work closely with the Enterprise Risk team to identify, assess and prioritise material sustainability‑related risks across the organisation. * Leading, with the ESG reporting team, to deliver high quality sustainability impact, risk and opportunity disclosures. * Ensure sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities are appropriately addressed through policies, processes, controls and initiatives, rather than isolated programmes. * Support consistent integration of sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities into enterprise risk management, decision‑making and governance. * Work with key stakeholders in operations and functions, including Senior Leaders, to ensure deploy impact management measures, risk mitigation measures and opportunity enablers commensurate with Jacobs' strategy and risk appetite. Operations & Supply Chain Enablement * Collaborate with Operations, Procurement and Supply Chain teams to support understanding and implementation of sustainability‑related requirements. * Ensure sustainability expectations placed on suppliers are aligned with regulatory obligations, enterprise policy and operational capability. * Support a consistent enterprise approach to managing sustainability impacts, risks, opportunities and obligations across the value chain. Strategic Advisory & Support to the Vice President * Act as a trusted advisor to the Vice President, Global Head of Sustainability on ESG/sustainability‑related matters. * Provide analytical and governance support across the full range of sustainability topics, including environmental, social, governance, economic and technology‑related matters. * Support executive and Board‑level materials, decision processes and discussions where regulatory credibility, risk understanding and economic rationale are required. * Sustainability Economics, Transformation & AI * Lead the development of sustainability transformation business cases, connecting sustainability objectives to enterprise value, efficiency, resilience and risk mitigation. * Support business cases for AI‑enabled sustainability initiatives, ensuring alignment with enterprise AI strategy and Responsible AI principles. * Partner with Finance, Technology and Business teams to ensure sustainability investments are economically grounded and operationally viable. * Enterprise Risk Integration * Work closely with the Enterprise Risk team to identify, assess and prioritise material sustainability‑related risks across the organisation. * Leading, with the ESG reporting team, to deliver high quality sustainability impact, risk and opportunity disclosures. * Ensure sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities are appropriately addressed through policies, processes, controls and initiatives, rather than isolated programmes. * Support consistent integration of sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities into enterprise risk management, decision‑making and governance. * Work with key stakeholders in operations and functions, including Senior Leaders, to ensure deploy impact management measures, risk mitigation measures and opportunity enablers commensurate with Jacobs' strategy and risk appetite. * Operations & Supply Chain Enablement * Collaborate with Operations, Procurement and Supply Chain teams to support understanding and implementation of sustainability‑related requirements. * Ensure sustainability expectations placed on suppliers are aligned with regulatory obligations, enterprise policy and operational capability. * Support a consistent enterprise approach to managing sustainability impacts, risks, opportunities and obligations across the value chain. * Strategic Advisory & Support to the Vice President * Act as a trusted advisor to the Vice President, Global Head of Sustainability on ESG/sustainability‑related matters. * Provide analytical and governance support across the full range of sustainability topics, including environmental, social, governance, economic and technology‑related matters. * Support executive and Board‑level materials, decision processes and discussions where regulatory credibility, risk understanding and economic rationale are required. * Qualifications, Skills & Experience Qualification * Advanced degree in Sustainability, Economics, Law, Public Policy, Finance or a related field. * Experience * Director‑level experience leading sustainability strategy, regulation, policy, ESG governance within complex, multinational organisations. * Demonstrated expertise in global sustainability‑related regulatory frameworks and their strategic and economic implications for businesses. * Experience owning or stewarding enterprise policies. * Strong track record working across Finance, Risk, HR, Legal, HSE and Strategy functions. * Experience supporting or shaping sustainability‑related disclosures and executive communications. * Strong understanding of professional services or infrastructure‑related business models (desirable). * Skills * Collaborative and consultative. * Ability to interpret complex external developments and translate them into clear business implications and strategic actions. * Excellent stakeholder engagement and influencing skills across senior leadership and cross-functional teams. * Strong strategic thinking, judgement, and communication capability. * Experience operating in complex, matrixed, or multinational organisations preferred. Jacobs is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding), age, medical condition, marital or domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression and transgender status, mental disability or physical disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, citizenship, low-income status or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable law. Learn more about your rights under Federal EEO laws and supplemental language.