How an Interim Sustainability Manager Can Support Your Business

At a Glance

• What they do: Interim sustainability managers step in for 3–12 months to lead ESG and climate projects.
• Key support: Compliance, ESG data, strategy delivery, stakeholder engagement, and crisis cover.
• Impact: Quick results, lasting systems, stronger internal capacity.
• Why it matters: Immediate senior expertise to keep sustainability on track when it matters most.

Introduction: Why Businesses Need Interim Support Now

The sustainability agenda inside Dutch boardrooms has moved from “important” to business-critical. Whether it’s meeting client requirements, passing supplier audits, or preparing for investor scrutiny, companies are being asked to demonstrate progress and not just publish ambitions.

Yet many organizations run into the same obstacle: limited internal capacity. Teams are stretched, regulatory demands are multiplying, and sustainability leaders are expected to juggle compliance, transformation, and stakeholder engagement.

In this environment, the interim sustainability manager has become a powerful solution. Not just a stopgap, but a senior professional who can strengthen capacity, drive momentum, and ensure sustainability doesn’t lose priority when the pressure is highest.

This article looks at how an interim sustainability manager can support your business, from compliance and data quality to strategy delivery and long-term capability building.

The Role of an Interim Sustainability Manager

An interim sustainability manager is a senior professional who temporarily steps into a company to lead or accelerate sustainability initiatives. Unlike consultants who provide external advice or staffing agencies that focus on placements, interim managers embed themselves within your business to deliver impact.

They are:

• Hands-on leaders: Managing teams and projects directly.
• Specialist experts: Skilled in compliance, ESG reporting, climate transition plans, or supply chain sustainability.
• Change catalysts: Helping align leadership, employees, and stakeholders around sustainability goals.
  

At The Overview Effect, our approach is different from recruitment firms. We’re a collective of senior consultants who work directly with clients.egulatory deadlines, or sudden talent gaps.

Specific Ways an Interim Manager Supports Your Business

1. Regulatory Compliance

Staying compliant with fast-evolving regulations is one of the biggest challenges companies face. An interim sustainability manager can help you:

• Prepare for EUDR by mapping supply chains and ensuring deforestation-free sourcing.
• Implement CSDDD requirements around human rights and environmental due diligence.
• Maintain focus on CSRD, despite its temporary delay, by improving ESG data readiness.
• Keep sustainability on the boardroom agenda, ensuring compliance translates into strategy rather than a box-ticking exercise.
  
  

2. Data & Reporting

Good decisions require reliable data. Interim managers can:

• Set up ESG data collection and verification systems.
• Align reporting with EU standards and investor expectations.
• Work with finance and audit teams to improve data quality, reducing reputational and compliance risks.
  
  

3. Strategy Delivery

Many companies have ambitious net-zero or circular economy roadmaps, but execution lags. Interim managers bridge that gap by:

• Translating strategy into measurable actions.
• Leading decarbonization projects across operations and supply chains.
• Coordinating cross-departmental initiatives that move beyond siloed efforts.
  
  

4. Stakeholder Engagement

Sustainability often fails not because of poor strategy, but because of weak engagement. Interim sustainability consultants can:

• Align the board and C-suite around ESG priorities.
• Engage suppliers to comply with new due diligence requirements.
• Prepare client-facing sustainability materials to meet growing B2B expectations.
  
  

5. Crisis Cover

Sometimes, interim support is about continuity. Whether due to parental leave, sudden resignations, or leadership transitions, interim managers step in to ensure sustainability work doesn’t stall.

Broader Impact Beyond the Immediate Role

The best interim sustainability managers leave behind more than just finished projects. They also:

Act as a bridge: Holding the fort until the right permanent hire is found, while preparing the ground for a smooth handover.idates how they’ve navigated resistance in past roles. The ability to manage internal dynamics is just as important as technical know-how.sm: someone who can both design strategy and execute.

Build internal capacity: Coaching teams and upskilling staff for long-term success.

Embed systems and processes: Creating structures that endure beyond their contract.

Challenge business-as-usual: Offering a fresh perspective and introducing best practices from other companies and industries.

Cross-Sector Value: Where Interim Managers Add the Most Support

Interim managers are proving vital in high-pressure industries such as:

• Manufacturing – tackling decarbonization and resource efficiency.
• Chemicals – navigating stringent EU environmental standards.
• Consumer goods & retail – ensuring supply chain traceability for EUDR compliance.
• Construction – embedding circular practices and managing emissions.
• Logistics – reducing scope 3 emissions and electrifying fleets.

But their value also extends cross-sectorally in areas like:

• Employee engagement around sustainability goals.
• ESG data system design.
• Risk management and governance.

Why Interim Support Beats Traditional Agencies

Recruitment agencies and staffing firms can fill roles quickly, but they rarely guarantee senior, impact-driven expertise. Too often, interim placements are about filling a seat, not delivering transformation.

At The Overview Effect, we take a different approach:

• Senior-only model: All our experts are experienced professionals.
• Impact-driven mindset: Focused on creating lasting systems and results, not just short-term fixes.
• Curated and human: We handpick senior experts who bring hands-on support with a systems-thinking lens.
• Context and culture fit: Every match is based on your organization’s context, culture, and complexity.
  An extension of your team: Our experts embed directly within your business, not as outsiders, but as trusted partners.
• Capability, not dependency: Our focus is on building internal capacity so your team is stronger long after the service ends.

This difference means our experts don’t just keep things running; they move your sustainability agenda forward.t just to “fill a seat.”

Conclusion: Support That Delivers Lasting Impact

An interim sustainability manager does far more than keep the lights on. They provide senior expertise, accelerate compliance and strategy, and embed systems that last beyond their contract. For businesses in the Netherlands facing regulatory deadlines, talent shortages, and rising ESG demands, interim support can be a short-term fix, but it can also serve as an advantage.

The real value lies in their ability to deliver results quickly while building internal resilience. By strengthening ESG data systems, aligning stakeholders, and leaving behind clear processes, interim sustainability managers ensure progress doesn’t stop once their contract ends. Many companies even find that the momentum created by an interim manager sets the foundation for a smoother transition to a permanent sustainability lead.

At The Overview Effect, we offer strategic insight, embedded support, a community of practice, and long-term thinking, with a hand-picked team to meet your goals.

Contact us today to discuss your needs.

FAQs: Interim Sustainability Manager