Net Zero Program Manager Lead

Cushman & Wakefield•New York, NY

12d•$144,500 - $170,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Net Zero Program Manager Lead combines Net Zero subject-matter leadership with day-to-day program management of the client’s decarbonization portfolio. The role shapes the roadmap, guides technical and investment priorities, and converts strategy into an executable pipeline of projects. Working with Account Executives, client leaders, project teams, and Sustainability specialists, this position maintains control of scope, schedule, budget, risk, dependencies, decisions, and performance. The successful candidate brings credible sustainability and building-decarbonization expertise together with the project-delivery discipline to move initiatives from concept through implementation and verified results.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, construction or project management, sustainability, business, real estate, or a related discipline.
Seven or more years of progressively responsible experience spanning program or project management and Net Zero, energy, sustainability, engineering, or building decarbonization.
Demonstrated command of scope, schedule, budget, forecasting, risk, change control, governance, and executive reporting.
Demonstrated ability to develop decarbonization roadmaps, evaluate energy and carbon opportunities, and translate technical strategy into executable projects.
Experience developing integrated schedules, budgets, milestone plans, dashboards, and decision-ready reporting.
Ability to lead cross-functional teams in a matrixed organization and influence outcomes without direct authority.
Strong analytical, communication, facilitation, and client-service skills, including experience presenting to senior leaders.
Advanced proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint and experience with enterprise project, program, or reporting platforms.

Nice To Haves

Experience delivering Net Zero, energy-efficiency, electrification, renewable-energy, building-performance, MEP, or capital-improvement programs across a large commercial real estate portfolio.
Experience developing business cases and evaluating projects using financial, operational, energy, and carbon criteria.
Experience in financial services, corporate real estate, or another large global enterprise environment.
PMP or comparable program-management credential; relevant credentials such as LEED AP, CEM, or CMVP are a plus

Responsibilities

Lead day-to-day management of a portfolio of Net Zero and decarbonization projects across multiple sites and workstreams.
Translate program objectives into defined scopes, work plans, milestones, ownership, and measurable outcomes.
Maintain the integrated program roadmap, master schedule, governance calendar, and project pipeline.
Establish meeting cadences, decision rights, escalation paths, and accountability across internal teams and service partners.
Drive action-item closure, resolve cross-project dependencies, and escalate decisions that require executive direction.
Manage schedule baselines, critical-path activities, milestones, resource constraints, and recovery plans across the portfolio.
Maintain program-level visibility into approved budgets, commitments, actuals, forecasts, variances, and future funding needs.
Partner with finance, procurement, and project teams to reconcile cost information and support annual and multi-year capital planning.
Maintain risk, issue, assumption, dependency, decision, and change logs with clear owners, due dates, and mitigation actions.
Apply change control to material changes in scope, schedule, budget, or expected outcomes and elevate variances with recommended corrective actions.
Produce standardized weekly and monthly reporting on schedule, cost, milestones, risks, decisions, and program performance.
Develop executive dashboards and governance materials that convert detailed project information into concise, actionable insights.
Define and maintain program KPIs for project delivery, capital deployment, energy, emissions, savings, and other agreed outcomes.
Coordinate source-data collection and validation across project, sustainability, engineering, finance, and data teams.
Serve as a Net Zero subject-matter lead for Account Executives and client stakeholders, advising on decarbonization pathways, building systems, electrification, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and emissions-reduction priorities.
Own and maintain the portfolio decarbonization roadmap, including asset-level opportunities, equipment-replacement strategies, capital requirements, implementation timing, and expected energy and carbon outcomes.
Establish evaluation and prioritization criteria that balance carbon impact, financial performance, operational needs, asset strategy, regulatory requirements, and delivery readiness.
Guide initiatives from opportunity identification through feasibility, business case, approval, design, procurement, implementation, commissioning, measurement and verification, and closeout.
Partner with engineering and technical specialists to validate assumptions and ensure projects meet agreed scope, schedule, budget, quality, and performance requirements.
Coordinate client stakeholders, C&W account teams, project managers, engineering, sustainability, facilities, procurement, finance, utilities, landlords, consultants, and contractors.
Facilitate governance meetings, working sessions, budget reviews, and executive updates; document decisions and required actions.
Support scopes of work, RFPs, vendor evaluations, contracting, and supplier performance management as required.
Hold internal and external teams accountable for agreed deliverables and communicate effectively with both technical and executive audiences.