South Pole is an energetic, global company offering comprehensive sustainability solutions and services. With offices spanning all continents across the globe, we strive to create a sustainable society and economy that positively impacts our climate, ecosystems and developing communities. With our solutions we inspire and enable our customers to create value from sustainability-related activities.

Our Project Sourcing team works hand in hand with project owners and developers, active in the carbon markets and renewable energy space, to identify, negotiate and contract new emission reduction projects. By acquiring new projects within our portfolio, we ensure that South Pole always has the right mix of carbon credits available to meet the demands of our clients. If you’re an ambitious and dynamic sustainability professional with a strong passion to make a real difference in the fight against climate change, this position may be right for you!

Job summary:

As a global leader in climate action, South Pole is interested in expanding its portfolio of Europe-based carbon projects. Certified carbon projects use climate finance to transition towards a low-carbon economy by funding activities that help reduce carbon emissions. To ensure that our clients can reduce their emissions with high-quality carbon credits, the aim of the project team is to originate/ source projects that can be certified as tradable carbon offsets against robust GHG accounting methods and standards.

This role focuses on the identification, assessment and contracting of carbon project leads within Germany and the Central European region for development under international and national carbon certification standards. In this exciting role, you will be responsible for reaching out to innovators, aggregators and project partners to build and mature business relationships with South Pole. You will work closely with other colleagues to combine technical and market insights for project assessment and deal structuring.

As an externally-facing position, this role requires excellent networking and communication skills. You will be dealing directly with carbon project owners (for example, farmers or forestry managers) and other sustainability-related actors to source and certify emission reduction projects for South Pole’s global portfolio. As Sourcing Manager for Germany, you will also lead on the German sourcing strategy in close coordination with the Associate Director for European Sourcing.

Main tasks & responsibilities:

•  Lead on project sourcing activities (identification, assessment and contracting) in Germany and support in other Central European geographies as required, across all technologies with a focus on nature based solutions
• Conduct research and outreach to relevant new project leads, project developers, project partners, relevant regulatory regimes/policies, and follow up on inbound sourcing leads
• Manage early client relationships with Project Partners
• Collect data from Project Partners or other third parties for technical and financial assessments
• Coordinate with the Projects European and Global teams to support with initial preliminary technical assessments, or basic preliminary baseline and emission reduction calculations
• Assess technical (in collaboration with the relevant technical Project Manager) and commercial viability of project leads, and submit viable leads to the Climate Projects Opportunities Board for approval
• Prepare proposals and reports
• Create and negotiate commercial terms with Project Partners and draft contracts with support from South Pole’s Legal team
• Liaise with South Pole’s Investment team to assess projects where South Pole or third parties may be interested in investing capital into a project’s set up or operations or into the Project Partner entity
• Close contracts (Emission Reduction Purchase Agreements) with Project Partners to formalise commencement of partnership and project development activities
• Ensure that sourcing flows and processes (including documentation and interaction with other teams) are in line with the company guidelines;
• Manage and maintain our global sourcing database (Salesforce), ensuring that information regarding project leads and opportunities are well recorded and updated
• Attend meetings/ seminars/ workshops/ events that are strategic for the project sourcing activities
• Support the Associate Director, European Sourcing, with the ongoing development of a sourcing strategy for Germany and Central Europe
• Liaise with the project implementation team about European Projects in the implementation phase as required
• Keep updated on developments of standards, methodologies and policy applicable to the European context, in internal coordination with colleagues focused on these topics

Requirements:

Essential 

• Excellent commercial skills, and experience drafting commercial terms and carrying out commercial negotiations
• Demonstrated people skills through experience in engaging with external stakeholders and networking activities;
• Familiarity with:
  Eligibility principles for new carbon projects;
  Carbon standards such as Verified Carbon Standard, Gold Standard, Moor.Futures, etc. and relevant methodologies (Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use, industries, waste, and circularity);
  Carbon market dynamics including drivers of credit demand such as Net-Zero frameworks
• Excellent communication skills, especially verbal and written skills in German and English
• Ability to solve complex sourcing management issues independently
• Ability to manage targets and priorities and develop own goals
• National, or holder of a valid work visa in any country in Europe.

Desirable 

• 5 or more years relevant professional work experience
• University Bachelor (or optionally Masters) in economics, business development, law, engineering, forestry, agriculture, natural resource management, environmental sustainability, development, or climate change and carbon mitigation related fields
• Existing networks in nature-based sectors including forestry, conservation or agriculture, particularly within Germany;
• Knowledge of :
  Carbon policies and other relevant measures or regulations in the Germany and other Central European countries;
  Forestry, farming cooperatives or agronomy-related services;
  Agricultural supply chains or Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi).
• Experience in:
  Carbon markets (compliance/voluntary) and carbon project development, environmental project assessment/ development and implementation,
  Project screening and budgeting/financing.
• Germany-based, for some presence in the company’s Berlin office. Alternatively, remote candidates in Germany and nearby countries may be considered.

What we offer:

At South Pole, we care about our employees as much as we care about the planet. South Pole is not just an employer, we are a Team. South Pole does not just offer people a job, we offer you a career. By joining our team, you will find strong purpose and deep meaning in everything you do. You will have the chance to make a real difference for our clients and for the planet, working alongside a passionate team of like-minded colleagues, while building your knowledge/skills and developing your career in a fun, dynamic, international and fast-growing organisation. 

We’re a planet of 7.5 billion unique and different people. We all have a contribution to make and South Pole is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, marital status or disability. Our recruitment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need.