Principal Sustainability Officer in London

Salary range: £56,436- £62,742 per annum. Salary negotiable depending upon experience.

Work location: Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, Westminster, SW1E 6QP.

Hours per week: 36.

Contract type: Temporary up to 12 months.

Closing date: 20 February 2026.

Interview date: Week commencing 23 February - 6 March 2026.

About Us:

Regeneration, Economy and Planning in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where innovative and open-minded people bring everything to the cause. Regeneration isn’t just about bricks and concrete. It’s about communities, the environment, and the lives of people and how they feel about where they call home.

The Role:

As Principal Sustainability Officer you can make your own powerful contribution to Westminster's success. These are exciting and challenging times for our organisation, and we’ve set ourselves ambitious goals for achieving net-zero carbon emissions - the target dates are 2030 for the Council and 2040 for the City of Westminster. You’ll play a vital role in ensuring that exemplary standards of sustainability are incorporated into our Town Planning functions, supporting the delivery of the Climate Emergency Action Plan's priorities and projects, and the development of sustainability policies.

• Building positive relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders as you promote collaborative efforts towards our climate emergency goals.
• Providing guidance and training on sustainability issues to colleagues in the Design, Construction and Sustainability team and our Town Planning service.
• Responsible for negotiating major schemes and advising on technical areas such as embodied carbon, whole life carbon, the circular economy, energy assessments and retrofit.
• Leading on cross-department collaborations through talks, workshops and continuing professional development sessions.
• Supporting the effectiveness of policy frameworks and contributing to an evidence base for any future local policy development.
• Preparing appeal statements and giving evidence at hearings.
• Creating green job opportunities as part of the Climate Action Plan refresh.
• Leading projects that deliver improvements on issues such as renewable energy, water management, waste upcycling and material reuse.

About You:

You’ll bring all your knowledge and understanding of built environment sustainability and climate change issues, including an awareness of environmental legislation, policies and working practices such as Green Buildings certifications, Building Regulations, Energy Performance certificates, Whole Life Carbon modelling and Circular Economy principles.

• Ability to advise and build positive working relationships with senior colleagues, councillors, our communities and other organisations.
• Well developed scoping, planning and project management skills.
• Ability to approach tasks from a fresh perspective, challenge established ways of working and plan ahead.
• Excellent relationship-building skills and effective communication to implement project deliverables.
• Independent, proactive and strategic thinker with astute political awareness.
• Extensive knowledge of statutory requirements, codes of practice, industry and best practice developments concerning Sustainability, Net Zero and Carbon Emissions reductions and the Circular Economy.

Qualifications: A degree in a relevant field - for example in architecture, structural engineering, building services or environmental engineering, and a post-graduate qualification or chartership in a related area would be desirable. Strong communication skills with the ability to write clear and persuasive reports, project proposals and committee reports. Capability of coaching, developing and mentoring less experienced members of our teams.

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role. The Council is committed to achieving diverse shortlists to support our desire to increase the number of staff from underrepresented groups in our workforce.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council's strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster, where our communities are at the heart of our decision-making.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best.

As a forward-thinking Council, we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working. The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.