The demand for ESG profiles has intensified in recent years, and although growing companies, startups, and SMEs can leverage their agility and corporate culture to attract these professionals, they still need the right tools to recruit them.

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Madrid, November 7, 2025.

Companies are seeking an ESG & Impact Manager or Sustainability and Purpose Lead to design, implement, and coordinate the company’s ESG strategy, ensuring that environmental, social, and governance practices are integrated into the business model, culture, and relationships with clients, employees, and investors.

“This is a typical ESG role that many growing companies and startups need when sustainability stops being just a message and becomes a market requirement,” explains Emmanuel Djengue, CEO of Kaatch.co.

He adds, “This happens when a company already has a stable team and operations underway, begins working with large clients or institutions, and is pursuing investment or international growth.”

Sustainability has become a scoring criterion in public tenders, contracts with multinational companies, and European programs. Without ESG policies, many SMEs and newly created companies are automatically excluded from these processes. In addition, investment funds, venture capital firms, and banks are incorporating ESG criteria into their decisions and demand evidence from the organizations they consider investing in.

ESG profiles are increasingly important, yet 78% of companies acknowledge having difficulties incorporating them. The report Talent Forecast: Roots for a Sustainable Future 2024, prepared by CEOE, also highlights that the most difficult profiles to find are cross-functional ones, which are precisely those that best fit the structure of small and growing organizations.

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What is needed to recruit ESG profiles

“Recruiting ESG talent does not require a large structure,” says Álvaro Jiménez, COO of Kaatch.co, “but it does require alignment, authenticity, and knowledge of the ecosystem.”

He notes, “At Kaatch, we have recently seen this type of need and, in most cases, we have prioritized the experience and know-how of People experts to coordinate the processes and define the structure of the role.” The executive highlights that “contrary to what many companies believe, recruiting an ESG profile requires less expertise in sustainability and more in people.”

A strong ESG professional must transform behaviors, mindsets, and processes within an organization. “This is only possible if the selection process is led by someone who understands the organizational culture, knows how to identify values and deep motivations, and can assess whether the person will fit within the company’s system,” argues Djengue.

A People professional can translate ESG objectives into measurable competencies: “ethical leadership, systemic thinking, cross-functional influence, and impact orientation,” lists the Kaatch.co CEO, “and design evaluation matrices and competency-based interviews that reveal those qualities.” Jiménez warns, “Sometimes we’ve had to correct poor hiring decisions when companies brought in an ESG profile without coherence, out of trendiness or external pressure, resulting in internal greenwashing.”

“At Kaatch, we’ve worked with startups that found themselves needing to attract this type of specialized talent but didn’t yet have a formal HR structure or professionals trained in people management,” recalls the COO of Kaatch.co.

“We were able to find the specialized recruitment expert they needed, tailoring the process to the specific models of those companies and relying on a network of specialists who significantly reduced the typical trial-and-error risks when hiring new types of roles.”

Startups and SMEs don’t need a large department to attract ESG talent, but rather a hybrid formula that combines purpose, agility, and expert knowledge, whether internal or external. “And they must be clear about the why and what for of the ESG role within their organizational chart, design an offer with real intention, and use the right channels,” says Djengue.

“The formula may involve using our platform, which offers agility and expertise without the need for a fixed structure, or relying on external consultants,” reflects Jiménez. “But what is advisable, undoubtedly, is having a People professional lead the selection,” he concludes.

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