Sustainability Strategy and Governance - Executive Director

Company Profile:

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments and individuals from more than 1,200 offices in 43 countries. As a market leader, the talent and passion of our people is critical to our success. Together, we share a common set of values rooted in integrity, excellence and strong team ethic. Morgan Stanley can provide a superior foundation for building a professional career - a place for people to learn, to achieve and grow. A philosophy that balances personal lifestyles, perspectives and needs is an important part of our culture.

Department Profile:

The department is part of Morgan Stanley’s Global Sustainable Finance group (“GSF”), which coordinates the Firm’s pursuit of business opportunities involving the deployment of the Firm’s capital. The department seeks to execute transactions designed to deliver positive commercial, environmental, and social returns.

Job summary:

Help shape, develop and implement an integrated approach to climate change and other strategic sustainability issues facing Morgan Stanley. Drive Morgan Stanley’s efforts around sustainability and climate change strategy and governance by creating a robust, forward-thinking firmwide effort focused on business integration, risk management and metrics. Work internally across the Firm to help lead and execute corporate strategic sustainability efforts, in particular those focused on climate change, by partnering with GSF leadership and key internal executive stakeholders.

Responsibilities:

• Driving the strategic development of and leading the day-to-day management of the Firm’s focus on sustainability governance, strategy, risks, opportunities and related disclosure for climate change and other issue areas
• Developing working relationships with senior executive partners across the Firm to serve as a trusted partner for thinking through sustainability challenges and opportunities across the Firm’s three businesses and shaping a strategic approach to addressing these challenges
• Engaging with key external stakeholders ranging from investors to clients to NGOs and others on Morgan Stanley’s journey related to sustainability strategy and risk management on issues such as climate change – synthesizing insights from external stakeholders into takeaways for the Firm to ensure the effort is developed in the appropriate context
• Developing and tracking metrics and progress to feed into the Firm’s sustainability reporting and other disclosure
• Helping contextualize, shape and execute aspects of the Firm’s overall climate change-related efforts for the Firm’s businesses
• Ensuring relevance and positioning of Firm sustainability and climate change-related activities relative to peers
• While climate change might be a heavy initial focus of the role, the focus will expand to other key emerging and systemic sustainability issues over time

QUALIFICATIONS

The successful candidate should have approximately 15 years of professional experience, with at least 5+ years of corporate sustainability experience in either an in-house or consulting role

• The candidate will have proven experience focused on strategic risk management and governance in the corporate context, as well as sustainability-related activities, ideally in the financial services sector
• The candidate will also have proven experience successfully delivering within a fast-paced environment where priorities may rapidly shift on a given day
• The candidate must have experience with and/or a deep understanding of the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosure, and be able to translate the recommendations into the context of Morgan Stanley’s business

Other required, demonstrated skills include:

• Gravitas with senior executives
• Ability to interpret information and recommendations into strategic insights
• Analytic, problem-solving and critical thinking skills
• Strong project management skills with proven execution results
• Experience in key relevant climate change issues in the corporate context
• Strong communications skills both written and verbally
• Comfort with balancing multiple priorities
• Ability to operate collaboratively in a team culture
• Quantitative analytical skills a plus
• Sharp writing skills for a business audience
• Tenacity, passion and drive for results
• Effective multi-tasker, with ability to manage stakeholders and prioritize work with support from senior team members
• Strong attention to detail, in particular quality assurance and nuanced messaging of complex topics for a sophisticated audience
• Experience in the financial sector and/or Series 7 license holder preferred
• BA/BS and Master’s degree in a related field required

To Apply:

Please visit the Morgan Stanley careers website.