Senior sustainability leadership, when you need it – without the six-month recruitment cycle.
The problem most firms don’t admit
The demand for board-level sustainability expertise has outpaced the supply of people who genuinely have it. Firms that need a Chief Sustainability Officer or equivalent senior ESG governance face a difficult choice: commit to a costly, time-consuming full-time hire, or leave a critical gap in leadership at precisely the moment regulators, investors, and clients are asking harder questions than ever before.
Most firms opt for a third, worse option: they delegate upward to a CFO or general counsel who is already stretched, or downward to a team without the seniority to influence strategic decisions. The result is sustainability governance that looks adequate on paper but fails when it matters.
What a Fractional CSO from Keyah Consulting looks like
A Fractional CSO arrangement puts senior sustainability leadership directly in the room – at board meetings, investor conversations, regulatory responses, and client pitches – without the overhead of a permanent executive hire.
I bring the strategic credibility, regulatory fluency, and commercial judgment that institutional investors and sophisticated clients now expect from sustainability leadership. This is not a consultancy retainer dressed up with a title. It is genuine senior governance, with accountability for outcomes.
Strategic sustainability leadership
Defining your firm’s material ESG issues, setting strategic priorities, and ensuring that sustainability commitments are credible, defensible, and commercially coherent. This includes managing ESG communications that hold up to scrutiny from institutional investors, lenders, and regulators.
Regulatory navigation
Real-time guidance on the regulatory landscape as it evolves – CSRD, EU Taxonomy, UK Sustainability Disclosure Requirements, and the growing intersection of climate risk and financial regulation. For firms operating across jurisdictions, this includes multilingual support and jurisdiction-specific advice that goes beyond generic international frameworks.
Investor and stakeholder communication
Preparing and delivering ESG communications to institutional investors, boards, lenders, and regulators. This includes sustainability reporting, investor briefings, and responses to due diligence requests that increasingly require substantive rather than performative answers.
Internal alignment
Working with CFOs, general counsel, and operational leadership to ensure that sustainability strategy is integrated into business planning, risk management, and capital allocation — not siloed in a separate function.
Who this is for
Fractional CSO engagements work best for firms that are:
- Growing rapidly and need immediate senior sustainability governance ahead of a full-time hire
- Facing a specific regulatory moment — CSRD compliance, an investor ESG review, or a major transaction with sustainability due diligence requirements
- Operating across UK and European jurisdictions where sustainability expectations differ materially
- Boards and CFOs who need a credible sustainability voice in the room without building an internal function from scratch
The outcome
Immediate access to senior ESG governance that accelerates your firm’s sustainability roadmap – bypassing the typical six-month recruitment cycle and the risk of hiring the wrong person into a role that is still being defined.
Frequently asked questions
What is a fractional CSO and how is it different from a consultant?
A fractional CSO is a senior sustainability executive who works with your organisation on a part-time or retained basis, taking genuine accountability for sustainability strategy and governance rather than delivering a report and moving on. The key difference from a consultant is seniority, continuity, and accountability – a fractional CSO sits at the leadership table, attends board meetings, engages directly with investors and regulators, and is responsible for outcomes rather than recommendations. Consultants advise. A fractional CSO leads.
At what point does a firm need a fractional CSO rather than ad hoc advisory?
The inflection point is usually one of three things: regulatory pressure that requires a named senior responsible person for sustainability governance; investor or lender due diligence that demands board-level ESG accountability; or a strategic moment – acquisition, new market entry, major client mandate – where sustainability competence needs to be credible and visible quickly. If your firm is fielding sustainability questions that your current leadership cannot confidently answer, that is the signal.
How long does a fractional CSO engagement typically last?
Engagements vary considerably depending on the firm’s needs. Some are structured around a specific regulatory moment – CSRD compliance, an investor review, a transaction – and run for three to six months. Others are longer-term retained arrangements where the fractional CSO becomes an ongoing part of the leadership team. Scope and duration are agreed at the outset and reviewed regularly as priorities evolve.
Can a fractional CSO represent our firm to institutional investors and regulators?
Yes – this is one of the most valuable aspects of the model. Institutional investors and regulators expect to engage with someone who has genuine seniority and can speak with authority on strategy, not just process. A fractional CSO can attend investor meetings, respond to ESG due diligence questionnaires, engage with regulatory consultations, and represent your firm’s sustainability position externally with the credibility that a junior team member or external consultant cannot provide.
How is a fractional CSO different from hiring a full-time Chief Sustainability Officer?
The primary differences are speed, cost, and flexibility. A full-time CSO hire typically takes six months or more to recruit, carries significant salary and overhead costs, and commits the organisation to a fixed internal resource regardless of how sustainability priorities evolve. A fractional CSO is available immediately, costs a fraction of a full-time hire, and scales with your needs. For firms that are not yet ready to justify a full-time sustainability executive, or that need immediate senior governance while a permanent hire is recruited, the fractional model provides the same strategic capability without the commitment.
Which jurisdictions does Keyah Consulting’s fractional CSO service cover?
Keyah Consulting works across UK and European jurisdictions, with particular expertise in the regulatory environments of England and Wales, and the EU sustainability framework including CSRD, EU Taxonomy, and the Omnibus simplification proposals. For complex cross-border mandates, Keyah Consulting draws on a curated network of specialists across London and Brussels.
Work with Keyah Consulting
Fractional CSO arrangements are structured around your firm’s specific needs and timeline. Engagements typically run on a retained basis, with scope agreed at the outset and reviewed regularly as priorities evolve.
Book a 30 minute strategy call to discuss whether this is the right fit.