Inspiration Hub

Here’s an informative guide to writing a job description that attracts the ideal, regenerative-minded candidate to your DMMO.

As an organisation that has worked with more than 90 DMMOs/CVBs around the world, GDS-Movement is excited that sustainability roles in the industry have grown and evolved in both capacity and influence in recent years.

Sustainability experts are no longer good-to-have personnel; instead, they are now vital assets for effective destination management. As the American writer and activist, Eldridge Cleaver, says beautifully, ” you’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem,” and progressive DMMOs hiring sustainability managers are part of the solution.

However, the destinations’ desire to build an ideal sustainability team is often hindered by the confusion around hiring the right sustainability manager/ director, as this position is still relatively novel in many parts of the world.

Questions such as “what is the main objective?”, “what are the sustainability manager’s core responsibilities?”, and “what are his/her/their important skillsets?” are commonly asked when writing the job description. The answers may not be immediately clear.

Addressing the confusion, GDS-Movement has created a job description template for destinations to reference and adapt when hiring their sustainability manager, with content inspired by data from DMMOs/CVBs that participated in the GDS-Index 2021.

Download the full job description here.

Some key considerations: a great sustainability manager has a skillset that includes these abilities.

1. Able lead the development and implementation of sustainability strategies and projects (based on a local standard, or ISO 2012-Integrated Management Systems).
2. Able to develop collaborative partnerships, not just with government and industry, but also with local communities, and social and environmental organisations, to maximise positive impacts for all stakeholders.
3. Able to lead a destination’s certification programme, and guide related stakeholders in the certification process.

For destinations that participate in the GDS-Index:

4. Able to lead and manage the DMMO’s annual Global Destinations Sustainability Index (GDS-Index) benchmarking submission, in partnership with colleagues, industry partners, and city stakeholders.

Please bear in mind that the supplied job description is not a one-fits-all formula, as every destination has its own approach and management system. We advise that destinations modify it based on their needs and goals.

We would also like to stress that a sustainability manager is not a one-person team that should handle every aspect of regenerative management without support. Supporting staff are often crucial in holistic, integrative sustainability, and collaboration across departments is also essential.

We hope that this curated job description assists you to achieve greater regenerative destination management through new talent. Good luck with the good hunt!

Download the full job description here.

Let us know what worked for you by tagging us on LinkedIn @GDS-Movement or Twitter @GDSmovement because we’re #bettertogether.