For many mid-market companies, sustainability is no longer a "nice to have".
Climate disclosure, ASRS requirements, customer expectations, lender scrutiny, and supply-chain pressure are pushing sustainability into the core of how businesses operate.
Which raises a practical question many business owners and executives are now asking:
Do we actually need a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO)?
The short answer is: yes, but probably not in the way you think.
Why Sustainability Has Become a Leadership Issue
Historically, sustainability sat in:
- •Marketing
- •Risk
- •HSE
- •Or as a reporting task owned by finance
That model no longer works.
Today, sustainability decisions directly affect:
- Cost structures (energy, materials, waste)
- Access to capital and insurance
- Customer and procurement decisions
- Talent attraction and retention
- Long-term business resilience
In other words, ESG is now a leadership issue, not a reporting exercise. And leadership issues require leadership accountability.
What a CSO Is Actually Meant to Do
At its best, a Chief Sustainability Officer:
- Translates regulation into practical business decisions
- Aligns sustainability with strategy and risk
- Builds governance, ownership, and internal capability
- Ensures compliance while creating long-term value
A CSO is not there to:
- •Write reports in isolation
- •Own sustainability alone
- •Sit outside the business
Their role is to embed sustainability into how the business thinks, decides, and operates.
The Mid-Market Reality Check
For most mid-market companies, hiring a full-time CSO raises valid concerns:
- Is there enough work to justify a full-time role?
- Can we afford a $250k+ executive hire?
- Do we need that level of seniority yet?
- Will they be isolated without a broader sustainability team?
But there's a more important question many organisations don't ask: If we hired a CSO tomorrow, are they actually set up for success?
The Hidden Risk of Hiring Too Early
We regularly see organisations hire their first sustainability manager or CSO into environments where:
- •There is no clear sustainability strategy
- •Targets are undefined or unrealistic
- •Governance and decision rights are unclear
- •Expectations are high, but direction is not
Even strong hires can struggle in this situation. Not because they lack capability, but because the foundations aren't in place.
What "Set Up for Success" Actually Looks Like
In organisations where a CSO thrives and delivers value quickly, there is usually:
- A clearly defined sustainability strategy aligned to business goals
- Agreed priorities and realistic targets
- Clear governance, decision rights, and accountability
- Executive and board alignment on what success looks like
This allows a new CSO to hit the ground running, focus on execution rather than firefighting, and deliver results against a well-defined roadmap.
Where a Fractional CSO Fits
This is where the Fractional Chief Sustainability Officer (FCSO) model plays a critical role.
In several organisations, we've supported a Fractional CSO phase before a permanent hire, which allowed us to:
- Design a clear sustainability and ESG strategy
- Establish governance, reporting, and decision-making structures
- Define targets and priorities aligned to the business
- Clarify the scope, mandate, and success measures of the role
- Support recruitment to find the right person
- Coach and support the incoming CSO in their first months
As a result, the permanent hire stepped into a role that was well defined, properly supported, and aligned to the overall business strategy, and they were able to deliver value far more quickly.
The Wrong Question to Ask
The real question isn't:
"Do we need a CSO?"
It's:
"Do we need senior sustainability leadership, and how do we sequence it well?"
For most mid-market businesses, the answer to the first part is already yes. The decision lies in how and when.
From Compliance to Competitive Advantage
ASRS and climate disclosure are often treated as a burden. But handled well, they can:
- Expose operational inefficiencies
- Strengthen risk management
- Improve access to finance and insurance
- Differentiate the business with customers and partners
The difference lies in who is leading the response. A compliance-only approach produces reports. A leadership-led approach builds stronger, more resilient businesses.
When a Full-Time CSO Makes Sense
There are situations where a full-time CSO is the right move, particularly when:
- The organisation is large and complex
- Sustainability is embedded across multiple business units
- There is an established team to support the role
For many mid-market companies, this stage comes later, not first.
A Smarter Starting Point for Mid-Market Businesses
For many organisations, the most effective path is:
- 1Use a Fractional CSO to build the foundations
- 2Establish strategy, targets, and governance
- 3Align leadership on what success looks like
- 4Hire and onboard the right CSO when the business is ready
This reduces risk, for both the business and the individual stepping into the role.
The Question That Matters Most
So the real question isn't simply:
"Do we need a CSO?"
It's:
"Are we ready to set them up to succeed?"
If the answer is "not yet", a Fractional CSO can be the difference between a high-performing sustainability leader and a frustrated hire set up to fail.
Final Thought
Mid-market companies don't need to choose between doing nothing and over-committing too early.
What they need is experienced, commercial sustainability leadership that understands regulation and risk, and knows how businesses actually operate and compete.
Sustainability isn't just about compliance anymore. It's about building a business that is resilient, credible, and positioned to succeed in a changing market.
We don't treat ESG as a reporting obligation, we use it to help mid-market businesses build resilience, manage risk, and compete more effectively.