The Opportunity: Director, Sustainable Business

Brunswick Group, a strategic advisory firm focused on critical issues, is seeking a Director in Chicago with expertise in how purpose, social value creation, and sustainability are transforming the future of business to join Brunswick’s Sustainable Business practice. Stakeholder demand for businesses to act responsibly and lead on social value has exponentially grown. At Brunswick, we recognize that corporate resilience today requires creating credible social value alongside financial value. Our Sustainable Business team advises the world’s leading companies on how to address these critical societal issues for business resilience and to meet the ever-increasing social value expectations of stakeholders.  

 

Our Chicago office is one of the fastest growing offices in our network. Founded in 2017, the office has grown from four to 40 professionals and the home office for some of our highest profile client work in the region.

 

What you will do:

The Director is an integral leadership role in our global Sustainable Business practice, with a primary focus on client engagement in the United States. This role requires a driven and innovative professional to work alongside the Sustainable Business Partners to continue to develop and grow the practice. The Director will drive client engagement and execution, developing and maintaining trusted and valued close relationships with clients, across a variety of industries at the c-suite level. The Director will also mentor and help develop junior level team members innovate to consistently improve our work with clients and our practice and provide critical thinking on societal challenges. Ultimately, the Director will contribute to the overall performance and impact of the Sustainable Business practice and the firm. 

Responsibilities may include but are not limited to:

• Lead internal teams on the delivery of client engagements, leading the client engagement team on research, benchmarking, internal and external activities, issue analysis, social value business case development, business leadership strategy, external partnerships and communications, organizational design and implementation support
• Deliver strategic advice to c-suite clients, drawing on expertise at the intersection of social value and financial value and depth of professional advisory experience
• Create new opportunities to drive impact with clients; anticipate client needs and deliver superior results by leveraging their capabilities to build high performing teams
• Apply knowledge of disruptive trends and competitor activity to drive continuous improvement in client engagements
• Innovate and drive the development of new approaches, methods and tools to optimize the client experience and strengthen value creation
• Build trusted relationships across a diverse network of clients and potential clients
• Empower and coach team members to stretch their capabilities and ensure they have access to the right resources to deliver results
• Deliver high-quality and impactful client-ready, board and executive-level materials including business cases and social value leadership strategies, assessments and benchmarking, research insights and conclusions, partnership and communications strategies, and ongoing program performance monitoring and evaluation. etc.
• Lead meetings and workshops with clients
• Develop and maintain strong, trusted and high touch relationships with client
• Engage and collaborate with colleagues across the firm at all levels to bring different expertise, thinking and perspectives to client work and the Sustainable Business practice offer
• Source new business opportunities - apply knowledge and experience to lead well-run pitch teams and pitch preparation
• Exhibit strategic thinking and strong analytical skills, evaluating different ideas, points of view, and out of the box thinking
• Write thoughtful, well-structured content including thought leadership associated with critical issues around the practice; considering style and tone of communications for different audience targets

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Undergraduate and/or masters level degree in business, communications or a related discipline with a focus on sustainability, social value or a related field
• Issue area expertise in one or more of the following preferred: circular economy, sustainable finance, labor and workforce topics, diversity, equity and inclusion change management, supply chain operations, and / or ESG governance.
• 10-15+ years of relevant work experience preferably in a communications advisory, consulting firm or related corporate function, with multiple years at the Director level
• Proven commitment and passion for activism and social causes
• Experience working with and briefing company c-suite and executive leadership
• Experience with sustainability standards and frameworks
• Proven track record of leading business development efforts and practice development and growth
• Proven track record driving innovation, developing new methods and tools, and developing thought leadership
• Experience leading by example through trust amongst colleagues, ability to work smarter, not harder, and deliver highest quality to clients during all engagements
• Experience managing and mentoring teams
• Strong enthusiasm for learning and curiosity, creative problem solving, and the ability to think strategically and critically
• Strong work ethic and attention to detail; client service-orientation
• Ability to lead and operate in fast pace, high-performance, client service environment with high emotional intelligence, empathetic leadership, and a terrific sense of humor

 

The Americas 

In the U.S., we have offices in Chicago, Dallas, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. In Brazil, we have an office in Sao Paulo. We advise clients on, among other things, domestic and cross border M&A, IPOs, activism, capital markets and investor relations, public and regulatory affairs, geopolitical issues, litigation, crisis, cyber, employee engagement, digital, opinion research and on broader reputation campaigns.  

Colleagues in the U.S. are drawn from a variety of backgrounds and consist of in-depth industry and sector experts from banking, law, accounting, politics, government, journalism and the media, consulting and elsewhere. Our U.S. CEO is Nik Deogun. 

 

About Brunswick

Brunswick is a global advisory firm. We help companies tackle high-stakes issues, navigate complex stakeholder relationships, and deliver high-impact outcomes. 

Our clients value our ability to anticipate, shape, and respond to the key players and forces in the financial and investment arena, regulatory and geopolitical universe, NGO community, workforce and beyond. They rely on us for deep experience, fresh perspectives and original thinking. So, in Brunswick you will find an exceptional range of experience and talent with a rich mix of backgrounds. From the beginning, we have prioritized attracting, developing, and retaining the best professionals in the industry, united by a culture of inclusivity, excellence, and intellectual curiosity.

Founded in 1987 in London, the firm has organically grown to 27 offices in 18 countries across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia. We operate as a “one-firm firm” with no individual profit centers. This allows us to assemble fully integrated, bespoke teams for each client, able to draw on the full resources of Brunswick anywhere in the world. 

Brunswick is an equal opportunity employer.  All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, pregnancy, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable law.