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:

This role focuses on identifying, assessing, and contracting emission reduction project leads within the UK & Western Europe region for development under international and UK carbon certification standards. In this exciting role, you will work closely with colleagues to combine technical and market insights for project assessment and deal structuring.

You will represent the European Sourcing & Projects team in-country. As an externally-facing position, this role requires excellent networking and communication skills, in addition to a technical (numerical) aptitude for carbon eligibility assessments and GHG carbon quantification. 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.

Certified carbon projects implement sustainable activities and have emission reductions approved as tradable carbon credits against robust GHG accounting methods and standards.

This role is part of the ‘Climate Projects’ business line, the Global Sourcing team, and the European Sourcing & Projects team at South Pole.

Main tasks & responsibilities:

• Undertake project sourcing/ origination activities (identification, assessment and contracting) in the UK & Western Europe 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 Projects global teams to support with initial preliminary technical assessments or basic preliminary baseline and emission reduction calculations
• Assess technical 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/ adjust 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
• Support early project development phases, including the Feasibility Assessment, Due Diligence review, preparation of Project Design Documentation, liaising with third-party auditors for Validation, and certification standards for Project Registration
• 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 sourcing & project team’s activities;
• Support the Associate Director, European Sourcing, with the ongoing development of a sourcing strategy for the UK & Western 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;
• Some familiarity with:
• Eligibility principles for new carbon projects;
• Carbon standards like Verified Carbon Standard, Gold Standard, Woodland Carbon Code, Label Bas Carbone 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
• Several years of work experience in Sustainability Consulting, Climate Change Mitigation/ Adaptation or related fields
• Excellent communication skills, especially verbal and written skills in English
• Ability to solve complex project 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 or the British Isles

Desirable 

• University Bachelor in economics, business development, law, engineering, forestry, agriculture, natural resource management, environmental sustainability, development, or climate change and carbon mitigation related fields
• Masters or postgraduate qualification in relevant field
• Existing networks in nature-based sectors including forestry, conservation or agriculture
• Knowledge of:
• Carbon policies and other relevant measures or regulations in the UK and other Western 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
• GHG calculations and/ or applying carbon quantification methodologies
• Preferably UK-based, for some presence in the company’s London office. Alternatively, remote candidates in Western Europe will 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.