How to Hire and Work Successfully with an Interim Sustainability Manager

At a Glance

• Why hire: Urgent ESG requirements + talent shortage.
• Role: Full-time, hands-on, leads projects, influences decisions.
• Finding candidates: Networks, specialist agencies, senior-led collectives.
• Key selection criteria: Expertise, cultural fit, adaptability, seniority.
• Success tips: Clear onboarding, regular check-ins, empowered decision-making.
• Transition: Plan handover early; ensure systems outlast their contract.
• Impact: Keeps projects on track, ensures compliance, and builds long-term capabilities.

Introduction: Why Interim Roles Are Growing

Across the Netherlands, sustainability has shifted from a “future ambition” to an urgent business requirement. Regulations like the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) are demanding immediate action. At the same time, pressure from investors, clients, and employees to deliver credible climate strategies is rising fast.

The challenge is that there simply aren’t enough experienced professionals available to fill permanent sustainability roles. Recruitment can take months, while deadlines don’t wait.

This is why companies are turning to the interim sustainability manager. They can step in quickly, provide senior expertise, and keep projects on track. But hiring the right person (and working effectively with them) requires a clear approach.

This guide will walk you step by step through how to hire and collaborate successfully with an interim sustainability manager, ensuring your investment delivers impact.

Step 1: Define Your Needs Clearly

Before posting a job ad or reaching out to networks, clarify exactly what you need. Interim sustainability roles can vary widely:

• Compliance focus: Preparing for EUDR or CSDDD due diligence.
  
• Transformation focus: Driving decarbonization, climate transition plans, circularity, or supply chain change.
  
• Reporting focus: Setting up ESG data systems, coordinating with auditors, and preparing non-financial disclosures.

An internal gap analysis may help in this situation. What skills or capacity do you lack today? Which upcoming deadlines create urgency? Clear answers here will shape the profile you hire.es interim managers particularly valuable for organizations navigating transitions, regulatory deadlines, or sudden talent gaps.

Step 2: Understand the Role of an Interim Sustainability Manager

An interim sustainability manager is not the same as a consultant or a permanent hire.

• Interim sustainability manager: Works inside the organization, often full-time for 3–12 months, leading projects and managing teams.
  
• Interim sustainability consultant / freelance sustainability consultant: Brings specialist expertise, usually part-time or for a defined project scope.
  
• Permanent hire: Long-term employee responsible for strategy and execution.

The interim role is unique because it combines hands-on delivery with senior leadership skills. They don’t just advise from the sidelines, they become part of the company, accelerating progress from within.

Step 3: Where to Find the Right Interim Professional

There are several routes to finding candidates:

• Professional networks: LinkedIn, sustainability forums, peer recommendations.
  
• Specialist firms & agencies: Recruiters who focus on interim ESG talent.
  
• Senior-led collectives: Like The Overview Effect, which offers curated, human, hands-on support with a systems-thinking lens. Matches experts based on context, culture, and complexity.
  

Why does this matter? Traditional agencies often prioritize filling the role quickly, not necessarily with the best fit. Senior-led collectives outperform because they combine speed with real expertise and credibility.

Step 4: Criteria for Selecting the Right Candidate

Hiring an interim manager is about more than a CV checklist. Focus on:

• Technical expertise – Do they understand the relevant regulation (EUDR, CSDDD), ESG data systems, or decarbonization pathways?
  
• Cultural fit – Can they adapt to your company culture and engage stakeholders effectively?
  
• Adaptability – Interim roles require hitting the ground running with little hand-holding.
  
• Seniority – Can they present to the board, influence executives, and drive decisions?

Tip: During interviews, ask candidates 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.

Step 5: Onboarding Your Interim Manager for Success

Even the most experienced interim professional can’t deliver without proper onboarding. Keep it short but structured:

• Provide context quickly: Share strategy documents, recent board reports, and key sustainability data.
  
• Set expectations: Define scope, KPIs, and timelines in the first week.
  
• Assign an internal champion: A senior ally who can open doors and smooth internal roadblocks.

The goal is to empower your interim manager to start delivering value within days, not weeks.

Step 6: Collaborating Effectively

To get the best out of your temporary ESG expert, collaboration matters:

• Regular check-ins – Weekly alignment with leadership prevents miscommunication.
  
• Empower decision-making – Give them the authority to act, rather than waiting for endless approvals.
  
• Balance short- and long-term – Ensure they’re delivering immediate results while also embedding systems that last beyond their contract.
  

Interim managers work best when they are trusted to lead, not just to “fill a seat.”

Step 7: Transition Planning

The value of an interim manager extends beyond their final day. To maximize ROI:

• Plan early for knowledge transfer to your permanent hire or internal team.
  
• Ask for a handover package: processes, contacts, and recommendations.
  
• Ensure systems they implement (e.g., ESG reporting tools, supplier screening processes) remain functional after their exit.

Good interim managers aim to make themselves redundant, leaving behind stronger capabilities than they found.

The Dutch Context

In the Netherlands, the demand for sustainability expertise is outpacing supply. Mid- to large-sized companies, particularly in manufacturing, chemicals, consumer goods, retail, logistics, and construction, face urgent deadlines with too few senior professionals available.

This is why sustainability interim hires in the Netherlands have become common. Companies that wait for permanent recruitment risk falling behind, while those who bring in interim professionals maintain momentum and credibility.

Case Example: Logistics Company Facing Scope 3 Pressure

A logistics firm is under pressure to measure and reduce scope 3 emissions for its largest clients. Their sustainability manager resigns mid-project. Recruiting a replacement would take at least 9 months.

Instead, they hire an interim sustainability manager with experience in emissions accounting. Within weeks, the interim:

• Implements a supplier engagement program.
  
• Sets up carbon data collection systems.
  
• Prepares leadership for reporting under upcoming regulations.

By the time a permanent hire joins, the company is not only compliant but positioned as a trusted partner to clients demanding emissions data.

Conclusion: Get the Right Interim Partner in Place

Hiring and working with an interim sustainability manager can be the difference between meeting yourESG obligations or falling behind. By defining your needs, selecting the right candidate, and collaborating effectively, you can secure not only short-term progress but long-term resilience.

For Dutch companies navigating compliance, transformation, and growing stakeholder pressure, interim support can serve as a strategic advantage.

At The Overview Effect, we offer strategic insight, embedded support, 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