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Director of Research, ESG and Sustainability

Glass Lewis & Co

Amsterdam
Full-time
5-10 years experience
Hybrid

Work Arrangement

Office Days per Week: 3 days

Key Skills

Corporate governance
ESG integration
Sustainability
Proxy research
Policy development
Stakeholder engagement
Team leadership
Mentoring
Coaching
Project management
Business writing
Presentation skills
Regulatory frameworks
Time management
Problem solving
MS Office

Job Description

Glass Lewis is a trusted ally to more than 1,300 investors globally who use our corporate governance research, custom policy recommendations, engagement services and tools, and industry-leading proxy vote management solution to help drive value across their governance activities. We also work with over 3,000 corporate issuer clients, providing research reports, thought leadership, customized voting policies, equity plan models, and opportunities for direct engagement on material governance and disclosure practices. 
Glass Lewis’ industry-leading research and analysis covers more than 30,000 meetings each year across approximately 100 global markets. Our clients include many of the world’s leading pension funds, mutual funds, and asset managers, collectively managing over $40 trillion in assets. We have teams located across the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific regions, giving us global reach with a local perspective on the most important governance issues. Founded in 2003, Glass Lewis is headquartered in San Francisco, California with additional offices in Kansas City, Missouri; London, U.K.; Paris, France; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Limerick, Ireland; Karlsruhe, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Manila, Philippines; Toronto, Canada; Sydney, Australia; Timișoara, Romania; and Tokyo, Japan. Our team includes more than 600 full-time employees globally, over half of which are dedicated to research. For more information, please visit www.glasslewis.com. 

The Director of Research, ESG and Sustainability reports to the VP of Research and is responsible for the oversight of ESG integration into regional research teams, ensuring the consistent application of the Global Stewardship and Sustainability Focussed perspectives across markets. In addition, the Director of Research, ESG and Sustainability will be responsible for the oversight of the Controversy Alert process, ensuring market relevance, consistency, and maintaining its value to clients.

The Director of Research, Sustainability executes strategic priorities for the assigned market(s), including process, policy, engagement and business activities, including through delegation and collaboration, ensuring that company policies and guidelines are clearly communicated to the research team and providing feedback to senior management to help identify department-level priorities. 

The Director of Research, Sustainability will also represent the region in interaction with a wide variety of stakeholders – in particular through interactions with current and prospective clients, and issuer engagement.

This role is permanent and hybrid, based out of our Amsterdam office, with regular in-person attendance three days a week. 
  • BA/BS degree and at least 7+ years of experience in an active corporate governance research role, including at least 2 years in a senior position;
  • Fluency in English (multi-lingual capabilities a bonus);
  • Demonstrated success in collaborating with other research teams and departments;
  • Demonstrated success in mentoring and coaching;
  • Broad knowledge of corporate governance principles, legal and regulatory frameworks and emerging industry trends;
  • Mastery of relevant Glass Lewis voting policies at local and global level;
  • Strong time-management, problem solving and people skills;
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including senior-level business writing and presentation skills (oral and written);
  • Experience in engagement with issuers, investors and institutions; and
  • High level of proficiency with online applications and business software (MS Office).
  • Oversight of the application of the Global Stewardship and Sustainability Focussed perspectives across assigned market(s);
  • Act as escalation point for internal and external queries on Global Stewardship and Sustainability Focussed research in the region;
  • Review, edit and publish identified high profile/contentious Proxy Papers in the region;
  • Work closely with the lead analyst/manager providing insight on several key areas including team processes, publications, methodologies and other research-related initiatives;
  • Project manage policy updates, the creation of season reviews/previews and related projects for the region, acting as final point of review before submission;
  • Development of strategic priorities in collaboration with team lead/manager
  • Oversight of client interactions, including escalations, due diligence and strategic presentations;
  • Collaboration with different offices and departments in several areas including process, policy, and engagement;
  • Continuous interaction with, and providing feedback to, senior management in order to identify department-level priorities; and
  • Ensuring company policies and guidelines are clearly communicated to the research team.

Core Responsibilities

The Director of Research, ESG and Sustainability oversees the integration of ESG perspectives into regional research teams and manages the Controversy Alert process. They also represent the region in interactions with clients and issuers while ensuring consistent application of company policies.

Requirements

Candidates must hold a bachelor's degree and possess at least 7 years of experience in corporate governance research, including 2 years in a senior role. Strong communication, leadership, and analytical skills are required, along with mastery of voting policies and regulatory frameworks.

About Glass Lewis & Co

Industry: Financial Services

Company size: 501-1,000 employees

Glass Lewis is the world’s choice for governance solutions. We enable institutional investors and publicly listed companies to make sustainable decisions based on research and data. We cover 30,000+ meetings each year, across approximately 100 global markets. Our team has been providing in-depth analysis of companies since 2003, relying solely on publicly available information to inform its policies, research, and voting recommendations. Our customers include the majority of the world’s largest pension plans, mutual funds, and asset managers, collectively managing over $40 trillion in assets. We have teams located across the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific giving us global reach with a local perspective on the important governance issues. Investors around the world depend on Glass Lewis’ Viewpoint platform to manage their proxy voting, policy implementation, recordkeeping, and reporting. Our industry leading Proxy Paper product provides comprehensive environmental, social, and governance research and voting recommendations weeks ahead of voting deadlines. Public companies can also use our innovative Report Feedback Statement to deliver their opinion on our proxy research directly to the voting decision makers at every investor client in time for voting decisions to be made or changed. The research team engages extensively with public companies, investors, regulators, and other industry stakeholders to gain relevant context into the realities surrounding companies, sectors, and the market in general. This enables us to provide the most comprehensive and pragmatic insights to our customers. More information is available at www.glasslewis.com

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