ESG Analyst
IT
SmartSuite for the ESG Analyst
The ESG Analyst collects, analyzes and interprets ESG data to evaluate performance and find improvement opportunities. They aggregate environmental and social metrics from multiple sources, visualize progress toward targets and identify gaps and emerging risks.
Reports to:
What you own
The ESG Analyst collects, analyzes and interprets ESG data to evaluate performance and find improvement opportunities.
- Aggregate environmental and social metrics from multiple sources
- Validate data quality and methodology consistency
- Build dashboards of progress toward carbon, diversity and other targets
- Analyze trends, gaps and emerging ESG risks
- Support disclosure preparation with data and evidence
- Maintain the ESG data model and source documentation
At a glance
The GRC processes this role owns, touches and depends on.
Owns
accountable for the process
Touches
contributes or approves
Depends on
consumes its output
How the GRC processes connect
Three lines of defence set the frame; the chain shows where each process hands off to the next. Colours follow the ESG Analyst: navy is owned, blue is touched, grey is depended on.
- First lineThe business and its control ownersRun the processes, own the controls, fix the issues
- Second lineRisk, compliance and the domain programmesSet the frameworks, assess, monitor and advise
- Third lineInternal auditIndependent assurance to the board and audit committee
Reporting lines
Who this role reports to, who reports to them, and the peers they work with most.
Reports to
ESG Reporting Manager
See the roleDirect reports
Works closely with
Environmental Program Manager
See the roleSocial Impact Manager
See the roleRisk Analyst
See the roleFP&A Manager
See the roleHow SmartSuite supports the ESG Analyst
The ESG Analyst turns scattered environmental and social data into figures the organization can report and act on, answerable to the ESG Reporting Manager for numbers that are consistent and assurance-ready. SmartSuite gives you validated submissions, a documented data model and dashboards that show progress to target, so analysis replaces reconciliation.
Validate, model and interpret the ESG data
Submissions from departments pass through the structured templates and validation steps in ESG & Sustainability Management, so inconsistent data is caught when it arrives rather than when the figures are challenged.
ESG Management suiteEach metric carries its source, estimate or calculation and the person who supplied it, so the data model you maintain is documented well enough for CSRD or SB 253 assurance to follow.
ESG Management suiteMetrics, scoring models and reporting templates in ESG & Sustainability Management are configurable by you, so a new GRI indicator or a changed ISSB metric is added to the model without a development request.
ESG Management suiteWork with program managers, finance and risk
The Environmental Program Manager's emissions and the Social Impact Manager's workforce metrics arrive in the same structure, so you aggregate across E and S without reconciling two formats first.
ESG Management suiteWhere intensity metrics need revenue or spend denominators, the FP&A Manager's figures are linked rather than copied, so an ESG ratio and a finance ratio start from the same number.
ESG Management suiteWhen a trend you spot becomes a risk, it is scored on the Risk Analyst's likelihood and impact scale in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), so ESG risks sit on the heat map beside every other exposure.
Risk Management suiteShow progress and gaps the ESG team can act on
Dashboards show each target's trajectory against actuals by site, region and period, so the ESG Reporting Manager sees where carbon or diversity targets are slipping before year end.
ESG Management suiteThe AI Assistant in a SmartDoc field summarizes ESG data and drafts insight reports from the trends you have identified, so the analysis you hand the team includes the narrative as well as the chart.
ESG Management suiteEvery metric, estimate and approval is kept with full history, so an assurance provider or a successor can see how a figure was reached in an earlier reporting cycle without asking you.
ESG Management suiteESG. Aggregates environmental and social metrics with data aggregation tools and visualizes progress toward goals such as carbon reduction or diversity targets.
Risk management. Flags gaps and emerging ESG risks for the risk register.
Reporting. Delivers performance dashboards and trend analysis for the ESG team.
Products this role uses most
Industry reference
The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard defines the emissions calculations the analyst runs, with ISO 14064-1 as the verifiable equivalent; the GRI Standards and ISSB IFRS S2 define the metrics and climate-related targets tracked. Science Based Targets initiative guidance governs target-setting methods.
Assurance drives the data standard: CSRD and California SB 253 require independent assurance of reported figures, so methodologies, estimates and source data must be documented. Financial institutions calculate financed emissions under the PCAF standard; healthcare and public sector bodies most often report Scope 1 and 2 emissions and workforce metrics; technology companies focus on energy, data-center and supply-chain data.
Related roles
ESG Reporting Manager
See the roleExplore Further
Guides and definitions from the GRC Knowledge Center and the What-is glossary, chosen for this role.
Frequently asked questions
The ESG Analyst collects, analyzes and interprets ESG data to evaluate performance and find improvement opportunities: aggregating environmental and social metrics from multiple sources, validating data quality and methodology consistency, building dashboards of progress toward carbon, diversity and other targets, analyzing trends, gaps and emerging ESG risks, supporting disclosure preparation with data and evidence and maintaining the ESG data model and source documentation. The GHG Protocol and GRI define most of the calculations and metrics they work with.
ESG & Sustainability Management aggregates environmental and social metrics with data aggregation tools, so readings from sites, HR records and suppliers are combined in one data set with their sources recorded rather than merged in a spreadsheet each period. The ESG Analyst can see which source contributed which figure and when, which is what methodology consistency and later assurance depend on. The Environmental Program Manager and the Social Impact Manager submit their metrics into the same model the analyst aggregates from.
SmartSuite visualizes progress toward goals such as carbon reduction or diversity targets from the aggregated metrics, so the ESG Analyst builds a dashboard once and it updates as the data does. Progress against a science-based target or a workforce diversity goal is shown against the baseline and the trajectory, and a period where the trend turns is visible as it happens. The same dashboards serve the ESG Reporting Manager when a disclosure needs a figure and the context behind it.
SmartSuite lets the ESG Analyst flag gaps and emerging ESG risks for the risk register in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), so a trend the analyst sees in the data, such as a site missing its water target or a supply-chain metric moving the wrong way, becomes a risk the Risk Analyst can score and assign rather than a note in a monthly report. The risk keeps its link to the data that raised it, which is useful when the risk committee asks for the evidence.
SmartSuite delivers performance dashboards and trend analysis for the ESG team from the aggregated data, so the ESG Reporting Manager, the Environmental Program Manager and the Social Impact Manager look at the same dashboards the ESG Analyst maintains rather than receiving separate extracts. Trend analysis across periods, sites and metrics comes from the stored series, and the FP&A Manager can read the same figures when environmental or social performance affects the financial plan. The analyst's work is published once and read by everyone.
The data model, the unit and methodology for each metric, and the source documentation behind each figure; SmartSuite stores the sources and the aggregation with the data, so documenting methodology becomes part of collecting rather than a separate exercise before assurance. Under CSRD and California SB 253 the reported figures need independent assurance, which means every estimate and calculation must be traceable. Start with the metrics in the current disclosure, record their sources and methods, and extend the model as new metrics are added.