Principal – Climate Practice

Job Description: Principal – Climate Practice

Location: Bengaluru / Mumbai / Gurgaon
Time Commitment: Full-time

About Sattva

We Partner to deliver social impact at scale

Sattva Consulting is a global impact consulting firm from India. Since 2009 we have been engaging with communities, business and government to achieve societal impact at scale. 

We believe that Civil society, Business and Government all have a critical role to play in building an equitable and sustainable world, and we actively partner with all stakeholders to enable impact through our advisory & orchestration services, knowledge and data platforms which we have built as public goods for the ecosystem and collaborative solutions and partnerships. 

Our teams are based in India, Singapore, Denmark and UK, but as a global organization our work has spanned 25 countries and 5 continents. For more information, please visit:

The Opportunity 

Sattva is seeking a sector-credible and market-oriented Principal to lead and grow our Climate Practice. The role focuses on shaping the practice's strategic agenda, deepening institutional expertise across climate domains, influencing key ecosystem actors, and enabling project teams and business units to deliver high-impact climate solutions.

The Principal will support Sattva's ambition to strengthen climate resilience, accelerate decarbonisation and energy transitions, advance circularity and sustainable infrastructure, and champion community-centred climate justice. The role requires someone with strong conceptual understanding of climate issues as well as the ability to engage markets, drive partnerships, and shape opportunities for growth.

The Principal will guide the practice across four pillars:

1. Ecosystem Engagement and Sector Influence

2. Delivery Support and Strengthening Projects

3. Deep Technical Expertise and Solution Leadership

4. Thought Leadership and Knowledge Building
   
   

This is a senior leadership role focused on growing the practice, shaping climate narratives, and enabling teams and clients with climate expertise.

Key Responsibilities1. Vision, Strategy & Practice Leadership

• Shape the long-term agenda for Sattva's Climate Practice across decarbonisation, energy transitions, circularity, resilience, climate justice and finance.

• Identify emerging themes such as nature-based solutions, green hydrogen, resilience infrastructure, community rights, and Scope 3 shifts.

• Support business units with climate insights, frameworks, and strategic guidance to expand the practice's presence in corporate, philanthropic, multilateral and government markets.

• Guide development of new solution offerings including climate risk assessments, decarbonisation strategies, circularity models, blended finance structures, and community-led climate action pathways.

• Align institutional stakeholders to strengthen internal coherence across knowledge, partnerships, delivery and sales.

2. Ecosystem Engagement & Business Development

The climate ecosystem has four core stakeholder groups and the Principal is expected to engage deeply with all four:

A. Global and Policy Stakeholders

• G20, COP processes, national and state policy bodies, UNFCCC-linked organisations, and multilaterals such as ADB.

• Engage in policy dialogues, working groups and global platforms to influence climate action agendas.

• Build collaborations that align global frameworks with India's development priorities.

B. Philanthropic Funders

• Shape funder strategies related to adaptation, mitigation, climate justice, resilience and decarbonisation.

• Support funders in identifying catalytic opportunities at the community, system and value-chain levels.

C. Industry, Investors and Commercial Actors

• Partner with corporates, industry associations, and investors navigating net-zero pathways, ESG expectations, energy transitions and climate disclosures.

• Bring a strong market-oriented lens to design solutions that integrate business realities with climate goals.

D. NGOs and Community-based Organisations

• Work with grassroots organisations on climate justice, loss and damage, and community resilience.

• Support models that centre vulnerable groups such as women, youth, informal workers and frontline communities.

Across all stakeholder groups, the Principal will:

• Host sector convenings, roundtables and ecosystem engagements.

• Contribute external-facing thought leadership to position Sattva as a credible climate partner.

• Support business development by shaping proposals, strengthening technical narratives, and identifying market opportunities.

3. Delivery Leadership & Client Impact

• Provide technical guidance to project teams across climate mitigation, adaptation, circularity, resilience, and justice.

• Support design and delivery of climate programmes by helping teams interpret scientific data, policy frameworks, emissions sources, and sectoral pathways.

• Advise senior client stakeholders by bringing expertise on climate risk, decarbonisation levers, community resilience, carbon markets, and sustainable infrastructure.

• Shape solution design through integration of evidence, market insights, beneficiary needs, and global frameworks.

• Serve as the climate expert in the room for large-scale and complex engagements.

4. Deep Sector Expertise & Solution Innovation

The climate portfolio spans five thematic areas and the Principal is expected to anchor technical depth across these domains:

• Climate Justice: Gender, youth, loss and damage, community rights, indigenous communities and inclusion. Focus on designing equitable and community-centred climate solutions.

• Energy and Emissions: Decarbonisation pathways, mobility transitions, solar adoption, clean air, Scope 3 strategies and industrial transformation.

• Circularity: Waste management, plastics and material value chains, recycling systems, WaSH-linked sustainability, and resource efficiency.

• Infrastructure and Resilience: Nature-based solutions, disaster and climate risk reduction, resilient infrastructure, and spatial or built environment interventions.

• Heat, Water and Vertical Climate Solutions: Urban and rural heat mitigation, water security, extreme weather resilience, and geospatial or climate-data-driven approaches.

• Cross-cutting Theme: Climate Finance: Blended finance, climate funds, carbon finance, investment pipelines, and financing instruments for resilience and decarbonisation.

How this expertise will be applied:

• Guide solution design for ecosystem-level climate action.

• Help teams articulate technical pathways including emissions modelling, risk assessments, resilience strategies and circularity frameworks.

• Establish benchmarks, frameworks and tools that strengthen Sattva's climate capability and market positioning.

5. Thought Leadership & Knowledge Creation

This section focuses on building internal climate capability.

• Strengthen Sattva's climate knowledge base through frameworks, case studies, models and sector insights.

• Lead internal learning sessions and masterclasses on global climate frameworks, modelling approaches, institutional mechanisms and market trends.

• Mentor teams to deepen technical fluency across climate domains.

6. People Leadership & Team Development

• Mentor a multidisciplinary climate team across strategy, modelling, policy, science, ecosystem mobilisation and programme delivery.

• Build team capability in translating climate science, policy and market insights into actionable advisory.

• Foster a culture of analytical rigor, collaboration, and innovation within the climate practice and across business units.

Candidate ProfileExperience

• 12 to 18 plus years in climate action, sustainability, decarbonisation, climate policy, ESG, adaptation, circularity or related climate domains.

• Proven expertise in designing or guiding climate programmes across mitigation, adaptation, resilience or circularity.

• Experience working with government bodies, multilaterals, corporates, philanthropic funders, and NGOs.

• Strong theoretical grounding in climate science or policy combined with a market- and sales-oriented mindset.

• Ability to anchor sector depth, guide project teams, and shape client decisions through expertise.

Knowledge & Skills

• Strong understanding of climate science, policy frameworks, global agreements, emissions levers, risk assessments and resilience approaches.

• Ability to translate climate insights into market-relevant and context-specific solutions.

• Excellent communication, synthesis and stakeholder engagement skills.

• Demonstrated capability to influence ecosystem actors and enable high-impact solutions.

• Strong commercial orientation with the ability to identify opportunities, shape proposals and support sales efforts.

Work Environment & Diversity Commitment

The role may be based out of the Bangalore, Mumbai, or Gurgaon office, with travel based on project needs. Sattva is committed to building an inclusive organisation that values diversity across all dimensions and provides equal opportunity to all candidates.

Sattva is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants regardless of race, religion, caste, creed, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or any other legally protected and/or marginalized characteristics. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are essential to our business and we foster an environment of respect and a culture that celebrates diversity and promotes equity and inclusion. We are committed to providing all employees with education, training, and development opportunities to create a workplace where everyone feels safe, respected, and included.

No. of Open positions:
1

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