Prepare for the public sector: Director of Sustainability roles

As environmental goals move higher up the agenda, Director of Sustainability roles are becoming essential to how public sector organisations deliver services, manage assets, and meet compliance targets. From local authorities to housing providers, sustainability leadership is now a key focus in executive hiring. 

These roles demand more than technical knowledge. Panels want to see how you lead strategy, engage stakeholders, and turn environmental, social and governance (ESG) ambitions into results. Whether you’re applying through public sector recruitment agencies or directly, preparing for an interview means understanding what makes sustainability leadership successful in a public setting.

In this guide, we’ll cover what to expect in Director of Sustainability interviews, including common themes, practical questions, and what public sector employers are really looking for.

What panels expect from sustainability leaders

Director of Sustainability roles are expanding in scope and becoming increasingly influential across public sector organisations. In housing, local government, and wider public services, these roles support decarbonisation, ESG alignment, and long-term resilience while keeping core services running.

Public sector interviews at this level are designed to assess more than your technical knowledge. Panels want to understand how you lead strategy, manage change, and deliver outcomes that support both residents and organisational goals. Whether you are applying directly or through public sector recruitment agencies, it is important to show how you influence at a senior level and deliver progress in real-world settings.

You may be assessed through several stages, including:

• A technical interview on strategy, frameworks, and delivery.
• A stakeholder panel with senior leaders, non-executives, or residents.
• A presentation or case study on a live sustainability issue.

Each stage tests a different part of your leadership. Interviewers will explore how you make decisions, collaborate across teams, and embed sustainability into operational plans and public sector objectives.

You will be expected to demonstrate:

• Strong knowledge of policy, compliance, and regulatory change.
• Experience aligning sustainability with service delivery.
• The ability to lead through uncertainty and influence internal and external stakeholders.

The most successful candidates combine strategic thinking with clear delivery. They understand the pressures public sector teams face and know how to make sustainability work in that context.

Pathways and levels of experience 

There’s no set route into Director of Sustainability roles. Some come from operational backgrounds in housing, planning, or estates. Others move in from policy, transformation, or compliance. What matters most is your ability to connect environmental goals with the realities of public service delivery.

Many current Directors have progressed through one of the following pathways:

• Built environment and asset management, with experience in retrofit, procurement, or decarbonisation.
• Policy and governance, where they’ve led on climate action plans or net-zero strategy.
• Resident-facing services, where they’ve embedded sustainability into local delivery.
• Programme or change management, often from broader transformation roles.

Some come from the private or third sector with ESG or consultancy experience and transition into public roles through interim contracts or secondments. Others step up internally from energy, environmental health, or climate teams within local government.

There’s often a mix of formal training and on-the-job learning. While many hold degrees or professional credentials (such as IEMA or CEnv), interview panels are typically more focused on experience than qualifications.

The most competitive candidates can show:

• A clear track record of leading delivery in a complex, public-facing setting.
• Experience working across departments, boards, and political structures.
• The ability to bridge technical and operational conversations — and drive action.

The strongest candidates connect technical knowledge with real-world delivery. Public sector employers want people who can lead across departments, shape sustainable services, and embed change within existing structures.

The 5 themes that shape Director of Sustainability interviews

Sustainability is now a core focus across public sector organisations. Councils, housing providers and government departments are expected to lead on net zero, embed ESG goals, and report transparently, often while managing limited budgets and competing priorities.

The UK’s net-zero targets require a 68% emissions cut by 2030. Local authorities are central to this, yet two-thirds say they lack the funding and capacity to meet their commitments. While green job numbers are rising, public bodies continue to face skills gaps when recruiting sustainability leaders.

Director of Sustainability roles sit at the intersection of strategy, delivery and compliance. Below, we outline five themes that frequently shape interviews for Director of Sustainability jobs in the public sector. Each section includes example questions and advice on what panels are looking for.

1. Aligning sustainability with organisational goals

Public sector employers want sustainability strategies that work in practice. This part of the interview often explores how you’ve balanced environmental ambition with operational delivery, shaped policy responses, and supported long-term goals within tight constraints.

Whether you're applying to a local authority, housing provider or government department, panels will expect you to show how your work has supported wider organisational priorities. They want to understand how you influence decision-makers, make the case for change, and keep residents at the centre of your approach.

Example questions:

• How have you developed or influenced sustainability strategy?
• What helped you gain internal buy-in?
• How do you stay up to date with policy and regulation?

What to show:

• Strategic planning aligned to net zero, ESG and service outcomes.
• Experience shaping plans in a public sector context.
• A clear approach to translating national targets into local delivery.

Top tip:

Use examples that reflect the realities of public sector jobs. The best answers show how you worked with others to shape strategy and deliver change, not just what the plan said on paper.

2. Delivering programmes that make an impact

Panels want to understand what you’ve delivered in practice. This is where you show how your work has made a measurable difference across retrofit, procurement, or resident engagement.

Expect questions about end-to-end projects, risk management, and how you adapted when things didn’t go to plan. Focus on outcomes, not just activity.

Example questions:

• Tell us about a sustainability project you led.
• How did you measure success?
• What would you do differently next time? 

Example response:
 “I led a retrofit project across 200 homes. Contractor delays and low tenant engagement slowed progress. I introduced joint planning sessions with the housing team and set up weekly calls with our supplier. Completion rates improved within six weeks and we exceeded forecast carbon savings.”

What to show:

• Results and learning.
• Cross-team collaboration.
• Clear delivery under pressure.

Top tip:
 Choose one strong example and talk through what changed because of you. Impact is what panels remember.

3. Influencing others and leading across teams

Directors of Sustainability rarely work in isolation. Whether you're delivering ESG strategy, embedding net zero into housing, or improving environmental reporting, success relies on how well you lead across departments and partner organisations.

Public sector employers want to understand how you influence outcomes when you’re not the final decision-maker. That means showing how you build trust, challenge constructively, and adapt your message to different audiences.

This is especially important at the senior level. Sustainability plans often depend on input from operations, finance, procurement, and frontline services. In housing and local government, leadership is based more on collaboration than hierarchy.

Expect questions that explore how you've gained support or managed resistance. 

Interviewers will often look for:

• Examples of stakeholder engagement at different levels.
• Clear communication across internal and external teams.
• Experience leading delivery in multi-agency or political environments.

Top tip: 

Share what made your approach work. Strong answers show how you brought people with you, especially when priorities were competing or change was complex.

4. Navigating ESG frameworks and compliance

The compliance side of sustainability leadership is growing fast. From 2025, public sector organisations will need to align with the new Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDRs), including updated expectations around climate risk, emissions reporting, and social value. For Directors of Sustainability, this means greater visibility and a stronger link between ESG reporting and operational delivery.

Local authorities, housing providers and central departments are all adapting to stricter external expectations. In many cases, sustainability reporting is being formalised for the first time, and there’s pressure to get it right.

Interviewers will want to know:

• Which frameworks you’ve worked with (such as TCFD, GHG Protocol, or UK SDR/SRSP).
• How you’ve supported data collection across teams with limited resource.
• What impact your reporting has had on funding, assurance, or procurement decisions.

Why it matters:

Sustainability targets now carry compliance weight. ESG reporting is used in procurement scoring, investment decisions and audit processes. Strong examples here show you understand risk, not just strategy.

Example questions

• How have you supported teams to gather and report ESG data?
• What reporting frameworks or standards have you worked with?
• How do you ensure reports are accurate, timely and understood by non-specialists?

What to prepare:

Come with a clear example of how you’ve improved reporting or worked through data challenges in a public sector setting. Panels want to see your practical grip on compliance, not just your awareness of frameworks.

5. Planning for change and long-term success

Strategy, reporting and influence only go so far. Success depends on what gets delivered. Many public sector employers want to see the impact you’ve made in practice, especially where delivery has been complex, long-term, or resource-constrained.

Directors of Sustainability are often responsible for embedding change into day-to-day operations. Whether it’s improving how teams use energy, adapting procurement processes, or supporting residents to engage with net-zero goals, results take time. Interviewers want to know how you’ve kept things moving, even when momentum was difficult to maintain.

With new sustainability targets now in place across the public sector, including mandatory reporting standards and 2030–2038 net-zero deadlines, scrutiny around implementation is increasing. Delivery skills have become a key differentiator at the senior level.

You may be asked:

• How have you embedded sustainability in service delivery?
• What have you done when delivery fell behind or targets shifted?
• How have you monitored and reported progress?

What to prepare:

Bring clear, specific examples. Show how you kept delivery on track when priorities competed or resources changed. If you adapted plans in response to feedback, changing data or internal pushback, explain how you managed that process. 

Final advice for Director of Sustainability interviews

Director of Sustainability roles are central to how public sector organisations meet climate targets, manage assets, and lead change. Success in these roles depends on more than technical knowledge. Employers want clear, confident leadership, grounded in practical delivery and collaboration.

Before your interview, review the themes above. Prepare examples that show how you've worked across teams, driven implementation, and responded to the specific challenges of public sector delivery. Strong answers are specific, relevant, and show how you’ve made a measurable difference.

Explore Director of Sustainability jobs with Sellick Partnership

At Sellick Partnership, we recruit for senior sustainability roles across local authorities, ALMOs, central government departments, and housing associations. From climate strategy to retrofit delivery, we support leaders working at the forefront of public service transformation.

Whether you're ready to lead ESG change or embed sustainability into housing and place-based services, we can help you find the right opportunity.

Get in touch today to explore current Director of Sustainability jobs and take the next step in your leadership career.