The mandate

A deliberate change of pace is required to deal with public commitments requiring operational and financial ownership within a privately held infrastructure developer and asset operator. The immediate arena is the urban infrastructure platform during a portfolio monetisation. For mandate 350, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Chief Sustainability Officer operating perimeter covers approximately C$25,700 million in project and operating-asset portfolio, with activity spanning several urban infrastructure platform customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Chief Sustainability Officer Infrastructure remit carries direct influence over roughly 1,300 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors want a Chief Sustainability Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the urban infrastructure platform. The Chief Sustainability Officer Infrastructure seat must resolve a portfolio monetisation, while preserving the underlying strengths of the urban infrastructure platform. For mandate 350, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Chief Sustainability Officer’s first year on the urban infrastructure platform is expected to end with auditable delivery, capital integration and credible stakeholder reporting. In mandate 350, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a planned replacement for the Chief Sustainability Officer — Urban Infrastructure Platform seat. The incumbent continues to lead the urban infrastructure platform through an agreed succession period and will support a structured handover. The board has allowed 4–6 months to assess candidates, complete diligence and protect continuity while a portfolio monetisation is addressed. The search is confidential so the transition can be communicated to employees, customers and partners in a controlled sequence.

What you will own

• Set the Chief Sustainability Officer value-creation thesis for the urban infrastructure platform, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately C$25,700 million in project and operating-asset portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Chief Sustainability Officer Infrastructure organisation of about 1,300 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the urban infrastructure platform economics and execution constraints created by a portfolio monetisation, with Chief Sustainability Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Chief Sustainability Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the urban infrastructure platform; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have converted strategy into explicit capital and resource choices and then tracked execution through board governance in mandate 350.
• Build the Chief Sustainability Officer’s three-year succession and capability plan for the urban infrastructure platform, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Infrastructure organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the urban infrastructure platform baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to public commitments requiring operational and financial ownership, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Chief Sustainability Officer portfolio and organisation choices for the urban infrastructure platform, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable urban infrastructure platform trend against auditable delivery, capital integration and credible stakeholder reporting, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the Chief Sustainability Officer’s agreed first-year urban infrastructure platform value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Chief Sustainability Officer forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the urban infrastructure platform’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Chief Sustainability Officer mandate’s highest-priority urban infrastructure platform risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical urban infrastructure platform talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Chief Sustainability Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Chief Sustainability Officer-owned improvement in the urban infrastructure platform operating constraint behind a portfolio monetisation, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 350: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a Chief Sustainability Officer, Transition Executive or Operations Strategy Leader in a privately held Infrastructure or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the urban infrastructure platform, your Chief Sustainability Officer track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from infrastructure, construction, utilities, transport assets or project finance will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Chief Sustainability Officer brief.

As a Chief Sustainability Officer candidate, you bring 18–22 years of progressive Infrastructure or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 18-22 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of C$14,900 million and led an organisation of at least 900 people.

For mandate 350, the board wants two transitions: a difficult urban infrastructure platform portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a portfolio monetisation. As the prospective Chief Sustainability Officer for this urban infrastructure platform, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 350 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Chief Sustainability Officer must be based in Toronto; international relocation is supported, but this Infrastructure role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Chief Sustainability Officer, Transition Executive or Operations Strategy Leader, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Infrastructure governance forum.
• Proven Chief Sustainability Officer ownership of at least C$14,900 million and leadership of no fewer than 900 employees in a comparable urban infrastructure platform context.
• One completed Infrastructure or adjacent-sector example of public commitments requiring operational and financial ownership with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from infrastructure, construction, utilities, transport assets or project finance; experience that is purely functional and lacks Chief Sustainability Officer-level urban infrastructure platform consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Toronto location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 350.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Chief Sustainability Officer package is C$330,000–440,000 base + annual incentive, calibrated to the final urban infrastructure platform scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 350 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Chief Sustainability Officer appointment in Toronto, centred on the urban infrastructure platform, offers regular exposure to the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 350.

Confidentiality

To protect the board, incumbent team and candidate, the organisation remains unnamed until a confidential conversation confirms mutual relevance for mandate 350. The operating facts have been rounded and blended expressly to remove identifying signals for mandate 350.

Oil & Energy