Principal Consultant - Climate & Sustainability in Banking Sector

Principal Consultant - Climate & Sustainability in Banking Sector

ERM

Utrecht, Netherlands

About the Role

We are seeking a Principal Consultant to join our Corporate Sustainability & Climate Change team in The Netherlands, working closely with colleagues across EMEA and global banking clients. This is a strategic role for an ambitious professional who thrives in a fast-paced, client-centric environment and wants to make a tangible impact on our banking clients.

You will advise senior executives, lead complex transformation programs, and help banks embed sustainability into their DNA—e.g. across lending practices, risk management, and product innovation. Your work will influence how financial institutions respond to climate change, nature-related risks, and the energy transition, while meeting regulatory expectations and creating measurable business value.

Key Responsibilities

At ERM, we partner with the world’s leading financial institutions to operationalize sustainability—turning regulatory pressure and societal expectations into opportunities for growth and impact. As a Principal Consultant, you’ll play a pivotal role in helping banks embed climate, nature, and ESG principles into their core business models. Here’s what you’ll do:

• Be the catalyst for sustainable transformation in banking: Lead high-impact projects that integrate sustainability into core banking operations—shaping lending practices, risk frameworks, and product innovation;
• Advise at the highest level: Serve as a trusted partner to senior executives, guiding strategic decisions that position banks at the forefront of the energy transition and regulatory evolution;
• Drive cross-functional change: Orchestrate collaboration across diverse banking functions—risk, corporate & investment banking, sustainability teams—ensuring alignment and measurable business outcomes;
• Champion growth and innovation: Identify new opportunities, build enduring client relationships, and contribute to ERM’s thought leadership in sustainability for financial services;
• Inspire and develop future leaders: Mentor junior consultants, foster a culture of excellence, and help shape a dynamic, fast-growing EMEA banking sustainability practice.

Required Skills & Experience

• Advanced degree, preferably a Master’s degree in a relevant field;
• 6+ years of work experience after graduate school, with a distinctive record of professional achievement and impact;
• Experience leading project teams and technical knowledge in helping frame, design and execute solutions for challenging sustainability issues of banks;
• Team-orientation and collaborative approach; you’re a team player;
• Experience supporting and leading business development activities that lead to successful client engagements;
• Entrepreneurial mindset: you’re focused on getting things done, you think in whitespaces, spot opportunities before others, and bring the commercial drive;
• Exceptional sustainability knowledge and expertise with a focus on climate, nature and energy transition, incl. strong understanding of sustainability-related regulatory landscapes across multiple jurisdictions;
• Deep banking experience, with a focus on business and corporate & investment banking;
• Ability to work across multiple functions in a banking environment and communicate effectively with senior stakeholders in banks;
• Technologically fluent: experience applying data & analytics tooling and leveraging AI solutions is a plus.