Dubai Holding Real Estate
Associate Director - Sustainability
- Permanent
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Experience 10 - 15 yrs
- Urgent
Job overview
Date posted
08/08/2025
Location
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Salary
Undisclosed
Compensation
Job description
The Associate Director - Sustainability at Dubai Holding will lead strategic planning, budgeting, and project management for sustainability initiatives across a global investment portfolio spanning multiple sectors. Reporting to the Head of Sustainability, the role is responsible for measuring the value of sustainability initiatives, managing ESG risks, and embedding sustainability into core business practices. Key mandates include driving decarbonisation efforts, implementing group-wide Net Zero targets, embedding ESG principles across the organization, and guiding the Manager - Sustainability Analytics to enhance data quality, assurance processes, and analytical capabilities. The role oversees strategic projects such as sustainable design, internal carbon pricing, natural capital accounting, and the deployment of carbon credits and offsets. It involves reviewing and updating the groupās sustainability strategy, leading annual planning and materiality assessments, aligning initiatives with national and international goals, and ensuring compliance with frameworks like SDGs, GRI, and SASB. Responsibilities extend to science-based target setting for carbon reduction, developing decarbonisation transition plans, consolidating vertical-specific targets, and submitting progress to MOCCAE in line with Dubai Holdingās Net Zero 2050 commitment. The Associate Director will oversee ESG data measurement and reporting, ensure adherence to international standards for Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and manage the implementation of an ESG assurance framework. The position demands 10+ years of experience in sustainability and climate-related roles, strong strategic thinking, business integration skills, resilience, and the ability to influence without formal authority.
Required skills
Key responsibilities
- Lead group-wide sustainability strategic projects including sustainable design, internal carbon pricing, and natural capital accounting
- Oversee development, procurement, and deployment of carbon credits and offsets aligned with global best practices
- Establish and manage internal carbon pricing mechanisms and governance structures
- Provide sustainability advisory to strategic teams and identify integration opportunities into group projects
- Develop and implement methodologies to assess and quantify sustainability value
- Conduct ESG technical reviews for due diligence on investments
- Review and align the groupās sustainability strategy with national and international goals
- Develop and update the groupās materiality assessment
- Integrate sustainability initiatives into the groupās annual business planning processes
- Prepare and monitor the sustainability function budget and provide regular updates to senior leadership
- Oversee alignment with environmental and sustainability policies and standards across the group
- Lead group-wide target setting and scorecard processes
- Identify and integrate ESG risks and opportunities into business processes
- Implement science-based target setting for decarbonisation and align targets with materiality assessments
- Oversee consolidation of sector-specific targets into a group-wide Net Zero plan
- Apply SBTi guidance for financial and building sectors where applicable
- Oversee development of decarbonisation transition plans for assets and submit progress to MOCCAE
- Guide ESG and GHG data measurement ensuring Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions are in line with international standards
- Oversee quarterly and annual ESG reporting in line with global frameworks
- Guide improvement of ESG data maturity, analytics, and dashboard development
- Oversee development and implementation of ESG assurance framework
Experience & skills
- 10+ years of experience in climate, sustainability, or ESG roles, preferably within large conglomerates or holding companies
- BEng, BSc, or Masters in environmental management, environmental engineering, sustainability, or relevant discipline
- GRI certification is a bonus
- Strong knowledge of sustainability frameworks including SDGs, GRI, and SASB
- Proven ability to design, implement, and monitor sustainability strategies aligned with organizational objectives
- Experience in identifying ESG risks and opportunities across operations and value chains
- Ability to quantify impact and ROI of sustainability initiatives using data-driven approaches
- Experience in stakeholder engagement, capacity building, and fostering a sustainability culture