A company has reduced its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 34% in three years. Its board has approved a science-based net zero target. Its supply chain still has significant work to do. Communicating all of that clearly, accurately, and compellingly to investors, customers, employees, regulators, and NGOs at the same time, without overstating, understating, or creating legal exposure, is one of the more demanding communication challenges in business today. ESG communications coordinators are the professionals who navigate it. They sit at the intersection of climate strategy, stakeholder relations, and professional communication, and organizations increasingly cannot function without them.
What Does an ESG Communications Coordinator Do?
ESG communications coordinators develop and manage the communications that convey an organization’s environmental, social, and governance performance, commitments, and strategy to internal and external audiences. The role is strategic, writing-intensive, and deeply cross-functional.
On a given week, an ESG communications coordinator might draft the climate section of an annual sustainability report; prepare talking points for the CEO’s investor day remarks on net zero strategy; develop employee-facing content explaining a new supply chain sustainability initiative; review marketing copy for greenwashing risk before publication; coordinate with legal and finance teams on language for a regulatory ESG disclosure filing; and respond to a journalist’s inquiry about the company’s carbon offsetting approach. They also manage the ESG content on corporate websites, develop stakeholder update newsletters, create presentation materials for board sustainability committees, and track competitor communications for benchmarking.
The work requires both communication skill and substantive ESG knowledge. Coordinators who can write clearly but do not understand the underlying science, standards, and business strategy produce communications that do not hold up to scrutiny. Those who understand the substance and can communicate it credibly are the ones organizations trust with their most visible sustainability claims.
Where Do ESG Communications Coordinators Work?
ESG communications coordinator positions exist across a wide range of industries and organizational types. Any organization making public ESG commitments needs someone doing this work.
Large corporations across every sector employ ESG communications coordinators in sustainability, corporate affairs, investor relations, and marketing departments. As mandatory climate disclosure requirements expand, the volume and scrutiny of ESG communications is increasing in every industry, not just those historically associated with sustainability leadership. Financial institutions employ coordinators who manage ESG communications for asset management products, green bonds, and corporate sustainability programs.
Sustainability consulting firms employ communications specialists who help clients develop and refine their ESG narratives. Public relations and communications agencies with sustainability practices employ coordinators who serve multiple corporate clients. Nonprofit organizations and advocacy groups employ ESG communications professionals who engage corporate audiences and translate sustainability science for public consumption. Government agencies with sustainability mandates employ communications staff who explain climate programs and regulatory requirements to business and public audiences. The career exists in every major market and is growing in every sector touched by ESG disclosure expectations.
ESG Communications Coordinator Career Trajectory
The ladder runs: Communications Assistant / ESG Associate → ESG Communications Coordinator → Senior ESG Communications Specialist → ESG Communications Manager → Director of Sustainability Communications → VP of Corporate Affairs / Chief Communications Officer.
Communications Assistant or ESG Associate is the entry point. You draft content, manage publication calendars, coordinate with internal stakeholders, and support senior communicators with research and editing. Strong writing and organizational skills are the baseline.
From there, an ESG Communications Coordinator leads specific communications workstreams, develops content across channels, manages stakeholder relationships for discrete programs, and takes ownership of defined sections of annual sustainability reporting. A Senior ESG Communications Specialist oversees multiple programs, develops messaging strategy, manages agency relationships, and reviews content produced by junior staff. Advancement typically takes three to six years.
ESG Communications Manager roles provide full ownership of a corporate ESG communications program. Director of Sustainability Communications and VP of Corporate Affairs roles represent senior leadership with enterprise-wide responsibility for how the organization presents its sustainability story.
ESG Communications Coordinator Salary and Job Outlook
The closest BLS category is public relations specialists, with a median annual salary of approximately $67,000 as of 2023. ESG communications roles at larger corporations and financial institutions track above this median, particularly as seniority and ESG expertise increase. The program page references Chief Sustainability Officers at $207,000, which reflects the executive end of the sustainability leadership arc.
| Career Stage | Typical Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| Communications Assistant / ESG Associate (entry level) | $42,000 – $60,000 |
| ESG Communications Coordinator (early to mid career) | $58,000 – $82,000 |
| Senior Specialist / ESG Communications Manager (mid career) | $78,000 – $110,000 |
| Director of Sustainability Communications (senior level) | $100,000 – $160,000+ |
Salaries climb with employer size and sector, geographic location, depth of ESG technical knowledge, and demonstrated ability to manage high-stakes communications under regulatory and reputational scrutiny. Financial services and large-cap corporations pay above nonprofits and smaller organizations at comparable career stages.
Job Outlook: ESG communications is growing as a distinct professional function, driven by expanding mandatory disclosure requirements, intensifying investor scrutiny of sustainability claims, and rising legal and reputational risk around greenwashing. Organizations that make public ESG commitments increasingly need professional communications staff who understand the standards well enough to communicate accurately. The BLS projects 6% growth for public relations specialists through 2033, and ESG communications specifically is growing faster within that category.
Skills You’ll Build at Unity
Unity’s SMBA in Climate-Ready Business builds the ESG strategy, climate reporting, and business communication skills that ESG communications coordinator careers require. The curriculum provides the substantive knowledge that makes ESG communications credible, alongside the strategic and organizational context that makes it effective.
Making the Invisible Visible: The ESG Proposition (SUST 525) is the most directly applicable course for this career. It develops the foundational ESG framework knowledge that communications coordinators use when accurately representing organizational performance, selecting appropriate metrics for public disclosure, and anticipating how sophisticated audiences will evaluate ESG claims. Coordinators who understand the standards they are communicating against produce more credible and more defensible content.
Climate Reporting (SBUS 620) builds the framework literacy that coordinators apply when developing sustainability report content, reviewing disclosure language for accuracy and compliance, and communicating the distinctions between mandatory and voluntary reporting to internal stakeholders. Understanding what the reporting frameworks actually say, and what they do not say, is essential for avoiding greenwashing liability in formal communications.
Climate Strategy (SBUS 560) develops the strategic business context that ESG communications coordinators use when translating complex climate commitments into accessible messaging for diverse audiences. Coordinators who understand why organizations make specific climate decisions, not just what those decisions are, produce communications that are both accurate and compelling.
Beyond Net Zero: Net Positive (SBUS 630) provides the forward-looking sustainability framework that coordinators use when communicating organizational ambition, contextualizing progress against long-term goals, and helping leadership articulate a sustainability narrative that goes beyond compliance.
Organizational Behavior and Change Management Strategies (SBUS 503) develops the internal communications and change management skills that ESG coordinators apply when developing employee-facing sustainability content, building internal support for ESG initiatives, and navigating the organizational dynamics that shape how sustainability messages land internally.
Leading Sustainable Change (SUST 515) builds the stakeholder engagement and change leadership skills that coordinators use when managing relationships with diverse external audiences, including investors, NGOs, customers, and regulators, each of whom brings different expectations and levels of technical sophistication to ESG communications.
“Sustainability is a core value at Salesforce, so I was excited to learn about Unity Environmental University’s expanding curriculum. Their Sustainable MBA in Climate-Ready Business helps equip future leaders with the skills to drive real-world impact by integrating business principles with cutting-edge sustainability strategies.”
Brian Komar, VP of Global Sustainability Solutions at Salesforce Foundation
How to Get Started
ESG communications careers reward the combination of professional writing experience, substantive ESG knowledge, and demonstrated ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments. All three can be built deliberately.
Develop a portfolio of ESG communications samples before you need them in a job application. Sustainability report writing samples, investor-facing ESG summaries, employee communications on climate initiatives, and stakeholder update newsletters all demonstrate the core competency that hiring managers evaluate. These can be developed through volunteer work, coursework projects, or independent writing practice using publicly available corporate ESG data. A portfolio of three to five high-quality samples is more valuable than a credential alone.
Pursue the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) professional development resources and consider the ISSP Sustainability Excellence Associate (SEA) credential from the International Society of Sustainability Professionals. The SEA validates sustainability management knowledge across sectors and is achievable alongside or shortly after completing this program. For communicators specifically, GRI’s free online learning resources on sustainability reporting are directly applicable to the most common ESG communications deliverable: the annual sustainability report.
Build literacy in greenwashing risk and ESG claim substantiation. The Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides, the European Union’s Green Claims Directive, and emerging SEC guidance on ESG marketing claims are all shaping what organizations can and cannot say publicly about their sustainability performance. ESG communications coordinators who understand these boundaries, and can advise internal stakeholders on where claims are defensible and where they are not, are significantly more valuable than those who focus only on message development.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Unity Distance Education’s SMBA in Climate-Ready Business is a 36-credit online program designed for working professionals. It builds the ESG strategy, climate reporting, stakeholder engagement, organizational change, and sustainability leadership skills that ESG communications coordinator careers are built on. The program can be completed in as little as one year.
Salary data sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook (2024). Unity Environmental University cannot guarantee employment or specific salary outcomes.
