Global Sustainability and Innovation Grant Consultant

At EY, we’re all in to shape your future with confidence. We’ll help you succeed in a globally connected powerhouse of diverse teams and take your career wherever you want it to go. Join EY and help to build a better working world.

We have an exciting opportunity available to join our dynamic and growing EY Innovation & Sustainability Incentives team, based in one of our national offices. This team specialises in helping clients access government funding to invest in innovation, economic development and sustainability/energy transition-focused projects. We work across a broad client base - from FTSE100 companies to ambitious scale-ups, many of whom have declared net zero goals and are seeking our support to accelerate their transition through grant funding.

Our service offering includes UK and international R&D tax credits, Government business and innovation grants, Innovation loans, the Patent Box, and increasingly, sustainability-oriented cash grants and incentives. In response to growing demand, we’re expanding our grants team to support a portfolio of companies committed to the green transition and climate innovation.

You’ll be joining a collaborative and agile team focusing on forward-looking cash grant and other incentive mechanisms where you will, over time, be supported to develop your own niche within that team's innovation, economic development & sustainability/energy transition pillars.

Your Key Responsibilities

• Work as an effective member of a project team, exhibiting strong communication skills and collaboration across multi-disciplinary teams.
• Engage with clients’ senior technical, commercial, and sustainability-focused stakeholders (e.g. Head of Sustainability, Head of Transformation, Head of Engineering, etc.) to develop a deep understanding of their innovation and net zero roadmaps.
• Translate innovative sustainability-focused projects into compelling grant applications, aligning with national and international funding priorities.
• Participate in and facilitate structured workshops to capture relevant technical, commercial and environmental details for project proposals.
• Conduct horizon scanning of both UK and international sustainability funding calls, including EU-level funding.
• Support client business development efforts, assessing potential for grant support and contributing to net zero-aligned proposals.
• Maintain technical awareness of innovation within key sectors while also deepening your knowledge in sustainability, clean tech, and environmental innovation.
• Deliver advice and solutions to clients, upholding EY’s reputation for quality, integrity and sustainability leadership.

Skills And Attributes For Success

• You have a STEM background and ideally an advanced degree from a top university.
• Passion for sustainability and an understanding of key topics related to net zero, decarbonisation, energy transition, or clean innovation, and technology more broadly.
• Ability to convert complex technical and environmental projects into impactful written content, tailored to specific funding bodies.
• Capability to act as a trusted advisor to clients, facilitating cross-functional collaboration between sustainability, finance and R&D teams.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, able to work both autonomously and as part of a wider team.
• High attention to detail and strong problem-solving capabilities, especially under tight deadlines or limited information.
• Flexibility to adapt to different industry sectors and grant programmes across geographies.
• Experience in managing innovation projects with a commercial or environmental impact lens.

To Qualify for the Role, You Must Have:

• Experience with cash grant applications, bid writing or reviewing, ideally with exposure to sustainability-driven funding.
• Familiarity with technical or engineering concepts and challenges in areas such as clean energy, sustainable product design, or green manufacturing.
• Strong communication skills and experience engaging senior internal or external stakeholders.
• An interest in helping organisations meet climate goals through grant-funded innovation.
• A collaborative approach and the ability to juggle multiple projects while maintaining a high standard of delivery.

Ideally, You’ll Also Have:

• Experience interacting with grant funding bodies and understanding their climate-related policies and criteria – this could include developing policy or assessing grant applications.
• Demonstrable experience contributing to or leading the development of environmental or sustainability-focused grant proposals.
• Understanding of financial and technological risks in innovation and how these intersect with sustainability transitions.
• Familiarity with tools or frameworks commonly used in the net zero planning and reporting space.
• Knowledge of the economic and environmental impact criteria used by grant funders.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional innovation projects or building effective green tech consortia.

What Working At EY Offers

We offer a competitive remuneration package and the opportunity to develop your career in one of the most exciting and fast-moving spaces – Innovation, economic development & sustainability/energy transition. Our Total Rewards package includes flexible working support, health and well-being benefits, and personalised learning paths.

You’ll also benefit from:

• Support, coaching and feedback from colleagues at the forefront of innovation and sustainability.
• Opportunities to build new skills and make a lasting environmental and societal impact.
• The freedom and flexibility to work in a way that fits your life and values.

About EY: As a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services, we’re using the finance products, expertise and systems we’ve developed to build a better working world. That starts with a culture that believes in giving you the training, opportunities and creative freedom to make things better.