Advisory Lead - Sustainability & ESG

The Apex Group is now one of the world’s largest single-source financial solutions provider, dedicated to driving positive change while supporting the growth and ambitions of asset managers, allocators, financial institutions, and family offices around the world.

Our business is unique in its ability to reach globally, service locally and provide cross-jurisdictional services. With our clients at the heart of everything we do, our hard-working team has successfully delivered on an unprecedented growth and transformation journey, and we are now represented by over circa 13,000 employees across 112 offices worldwide. Your career with us should reflect your energy and passion.

That’s why, at Apex Group, we will do more than simply ‘empower’ you. We will work to supercharge your unique skills and experience.

Take the lead and we’ll give you the support you need to be at the top of your game. And we offer you the freedom to be a positive disrupter and turn big ideas into bold, industry-changing realities.

Advisory Lead — Sustainability

Amsterdam, Netherlands  ·  Holtara (Apex Group)

About Holtara

Our economic system has delivered unprecedented prosperity — but often at significant environmental and social cost. The time has come to forge a new path and transition to a more sustainable economy. 

Holtara is leading the way in building effective ESG & sustainability programs, combining expert advisory with an award-winning platform. For over 15 years, we’ve empowered investors, managers, and companies to leave a legacy they can genuinely be proud of. As part of the global Apex Group, our 130-strong team spans Amsterdam, London, the US, Spain, and India — united by a shared ambition to drive meaningful change. 

We offer a unique combination of advisory and technology services across the investment lifecycle, helping businesses make a real impact today for a more sustainable tomorrow.

The role

This is a senior, client-facing advisory role for an experienced sustainability practitioner who owns relationships, delivery, and growth. You will lead complex engagements end to end, act as a trusted advisor to senior clients, grow and expand accounts, and bring genuine depth in your area(s) of expertise. You will line-manage a small team and help shape how Holtara matches its advisory offering to each client's needs.

You will work primarily with financial-sector clients - private markets GPs and LPs make up the majority of our work - with a growing corporate portfolio. We are looking for depth, not breadth for its own sake: someone with real expertise in one or two sustainability domains, capable of speaking with authority and building client confidence, rather than a generalist background in reporting alone.

You will report to the Head of Advisory and work closely with colleagues across Advisory, Holtara.io and Apex Group.

What you will do

Client delivery & engagement leadership

• Lead complex sustainability and ESG engagements from proposal through delivery.

• Act as a trusted advisor to investors, fund managers, financial institutions and corporates.

–   Translate sustainability challenges into practical, commercially relevant solutions.

• Match the right Holtara offering to each client's situation, drawing on the full advisory and technology toolkit.

• Manage senior client stakeholders and build long-term relationships.

Sustainability & ESG Advisory

Depending on your expertise, you may lead or contribute across areas such as:

• Sustainable finance

• ESG and sustainability due diligence

• Value chain sustainability

• Responsible investment and ESG integration

• ESG and sustainability strategy

• ESG value creation programmes

–   Portfolio monitoring and ESG data management

–   ESG reporting and disclosure (SFDR, CSRD, EU Taxonomy and related regulations)

Business Development & Growth

• Develop trusted relationships with existing and prospective clients.

• Support commercial activities, proposals and pitch processes.

• Identify opportunities to expand client relationships and cross-sell services.

• Contribute to thought leadership and market positioning.

Team

• Lead and line manage 2 to 4 team members on a day-to-day basis.

• Coach and develop junior and mid-level advisors across various active engagements

• Support a high-quality and collaborative team culture.

What you bring

• 7+ years of experience in sustainability consulting, ESG advisory, sustainable finance, or related sustainability field; strategy consulting is deemed a plus.

• Strong experience with financial-sector clients - private markets (GP/LP) highly valued, corporates welcome as we broaden - including growing accounts and leading proposals and pitches.

• Proven ability to lead complex engagements and manage senior client and project stakeholders end to end.

• Genuine depth in one or two sustainability domains, not surface-level exposure across many - particularly sustainable finance and ESG due diligence; depth in value chain sustainability, social topics and human rights, governance, defence, or responsible AI & cybersecurity also welcome.

–   Team leadership and coaching capabilities.

• Entrepreneurial mindset and willingness to build, with an eye for identifying opportunities to deliver more efficiently through a streamlined approach to our technology offering.

Practical details

• Location. Amsterdam / Netherlands — hybrid, with travel to clients and Holtara offices as needed. The role requires an in-office presence of at least 4 days a week (based on 40h). Remote working is not allowed.

• Reporting line. Head of Advisory, working closely with advisory leadership, the technology team and Apex Group colleagues.

• Education. Degree in finance, economics, business, sustainability or a related discipline. Professional  English is required and Dutch is an advantage.

Why join Holtara
This is a role for someone who wants both influence and ownership. You will help shape a growing advisory practice, build trusted relationships with leading investors and companies, develop the next generation of advisors and turn sustainability expertise into scalable, technology-enabled solutions. If you enjoy combining client impact, commercial growth and people leadership, this is an opportunity to grow something meaningful.

As a vital team member and in return for your expertise, inclusive approach and commitment, we'll provide a favourable salary and the chance to join a passionate and welcoming team. Benefits As a truly global business, we tailor benefits to each location to safeguard our people and respect local cultures and ways of working. Our people are our greatest asset, and we invest in talent development. Join our global network, and you will benefit from education support, sponsorship and in-house training programs.

Disclaimer: Unsolicited CVs sent to Apex (Talent Acquisition Team or Hiring Managers) by recruitment agencies will not be accepted for this position. Apex operates a direct sourcing model and where agency assistance is required, the Talent Acquisition team will engage directly with our exclusive recruitment partners.