Barclays Europe Sustainability Vice President

The Europe Sustainability Vice President within the Group Sustainability Team will play a pivotal role in driving the region’s sustainability agenda, advancing the firm’s commitments across environmental, social and governance (ESG) priorities and leading complex regulatory projects. Based in Paris, the VP will work closely with cross-functional teams including stakeholder management across PPCR (Public Policy & Corporate Responsibility), functions, businesses, and externally (via client engagement, advocacy work, representation of Barclays Europe when appropriate in industry groups, technical bodies) in a highly collaborative, in person environment.

This role will oversee the execution of key sustainability initiatives, contribute to the development of a robust non-financial risk and control framework, and support major disclosures such as the Prudential Transition Plan, Annual Report and CSRD requirements. Partnering closely with the Businesses, Risk, Finance, Compliance, Legal and Group & Barclays Europe governance committees, the VP will champion responsible business practices, strengthen reputational risk management on sustainability matters, and help shape the continued growth of the expanding Barclays Europe sustainability function.

To be successful as a Barclays Europe Sustainability Vice President, you should have the following experience:

• Background in financial services, ideally within banking, with prior exposure to ESG risks, and cross functional collaboration with Businesses, Finance, Risk or Compliance
• Fluent in both written and verbal French and English, with the ability to engage confidently with French and European regulatory bodies (e.g., ECB, EBA) and represent Barclays Europe in senior forums
• Ability to influence and develop business strategy, and driving and executing global programmes
• Knowledge and experience of environmental, social and sustainability matters, particularly as they pertain to financial services.
• Attention to detail and with an ability to balance multiple critical requests from various stakeholders with outstanding precision
• High level stakeholder management capability, navigating senior internal and external stakeholders and shaping strategic sustainability direction across the region and building long-term, trusted relationships through consistently excellent execution and a collaborative attitude

You may be assessed on the key critical skills relevant for success in role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen strategic thinking and digital and technology, as well as job-specific technical skills.

This role is located in our Paris office and may involve travelling.

Purpose of the role

To identify, develop, and embed an approach to managing Barclays' sustainability-related risks, strategy, and ambitions; and supporting the banks’ business objectives, priorities, and regulatory requirements.

Accountabilities

• Collaboration with stakeholders to develop, support, and direct on sustainability-related activities which align to Barclays’ sustainability-related ambitions, targets, and priorities, providing advisory and strategic direction, including for risk management, policies and standards, governance processes, and reporting.
• Identification of sustainability risks and opportunities, through use of sustainability materiality assessments, data analytics, internal and external stakeholder perspectives, and awareness of internal and external industry trends.
• Provide strategic, risk, and policy advisory on sustainability-related activities, guiding on external best practice, whilst maintaining appropriate alignment and benchmarking with industry peers.
• Develop and embed Barclays' sustainability-related activities with internal and external stakeholders to support the banks’, ambitions, targets, and business objectives.
• Management and execution of sustainability-related frameworks and approaches to risk management including alignment to regulatory, policy and legal requirements.
• Development and execution of group-level sustainability-related projects or supporting business-level priorities and ambitions through creating plans, identifying key resources, and monitoring completion within time and budget.
• Identification of industry trends and developments related to sustainability management by attending conferences, participating in training, and conducting market research on emerging sustainability-related techniques and tools.

Vice President Expectations

• To contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change. Plan resources, budgets, and policies; manage and maintain policies/ processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalate breaches of policies/procedures..
• If managing a team, they define jobs and responsibilities, planning for the department’s future needs and operations, counselling employees on performance and contributing to employee pay decisions/changes. They may also lead a number of specialists to influence the operations of a department, in alignment with strategic as well as tactical priorities, while balancing short and long term goals and ensuring that budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements..
• If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others..
• OR for an individual contributor, they will be a subject matter expert within own discipline and will guide technical direction. They will lead collaborative, multi-year assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
• Advise key stakeholders, including functional leadership teams and senior management on functional and cross functional areas of impact and alignment.
• Manage and mitigate risks through assessment, in support of the control and governance agenda.
• Demonstrate leadership and accountability for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work your team does.
• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the organisation functions to contribute to achieving the goals of the business.
• Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategies.
• Create solutions based on sophisticated analytical thought comparing and selecting complex alternatives. In-depth analysis with interpretative thinking will be required to define problems and develop innovative solutions.
• Adopt and include the outcomes of extensive research in problem solving processes.
• Seek out, build and maintain trusting relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders in order to accomplish key business objectives, using influencing and negotiating skills to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.