Head of Nature-based Solutions (London)

What is Sylvera anyway?

Sylvera provides trusted ratings, tools and data for carbon credits and CDR. Our mission is to incentivize investment in real climate action.

Purchasing carbon credits and CDR through the carbon markets is one of the most established and scalable ways to channel finance to effective climate solutions and work toward societal net zero. Unfortunately, the carbon markets were plagued with mistrust and a lack of effectiveness since they’ve emerged – until Sylvera.

To help organizations ensure they're making the most effective investments, Sylvera Trusted ratings, tools and data for carbon credits and CDR. Our data and software independently and accurately validates the impact of carbon projects that capture, remove, or avoid emission whether they are up and running, or in development. Our data and tools allow users to optimise both the climate and economic performance of projects as well as understand the past and future of the market. With Sylvera businesses, governments and developers can confidently invest in, benchmark, deliver, and report real climate impact.

Our team is made up of leading minds in climate change from scientists to policy, finance, and carbon market experts. We work in partnership with scientific organizations, universities, governments, and think tanks to develop and implement rigorous and holistic project assessment methodologies, leveraging the latest technology. We also partner with actors and institutions across the whole market to make data higher quality, more standard and more accessible. Founded in 2020, Sylvera has 130+ employees globally with offices in London, New York, Belgrade, and Singapore. We’ve raised over $96 million from leading investors like Fidelity, Balderton Capital, Index Ventures, and Insight Partners to date.

What will I be doing?

Having found an early product-market fit in a nascent, rapidly growing space, we’re now expanding our expertise and insights at pace. We’re looking for a mission-driven leader with an academic or extensive industrial background in nature-based solutions (NBS), forestry, agriculture and/or biomass quantification to manage and coordinate the development of our NBS project assessment methodologies. It’s a critical role at the heart of our business – you’ll coordinate with leaders across Sylvera and within the industry regularly. Your leadership will be critical in positioning Sylvera as a leader in the VCM and in driving innovations in Sylvera’s analytical breadth. You will report to the VP of Ratings.

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Oversee the delivery of new and updated NBS frameworks across our Ratings integrating the latest research and data
• Lead a multidisciplinary team of scientists and analysts dedicated to advancing Sylvera’s assessment capabilities in the NBS space
• Work with the product and engineering teams to design a scalable and data-driven approach to building our project assessments.
• Help define the company’s strategy for the assessment of NBS projects, aligning with our mission and market opportunities; identifying emerging trends and novel approaches.
• Support strategic commercial engagements with clients and prospective accounts with NBS knowledge and Sylvera analysis, where relevant
• Collaborate with our Marketing Team to produce insightful sector research, demonstrating Sylvera’s expertise, analysis, and thought leadership related to NBS
• Represent Sylvera at industry conferences, workshops, and events, advocating for the adoption of transparency with NBS projects and expanding our industry presence
• Consult with external experts as part of our framework development.

We’re looking for someone who has:

• Advanced degree in environmental science, forestry, agriculture, biomass, nature-related remote sensing, or a related field. A PhD is preferred but not required
• Minimum of 5 years of experience related to carbon removals or reductions from NBS, environmental technology, or related fields
• Track record of leading successful projects or products from concept to deployment.
• Deep understanding of NBS, including current trends, challenges, and opportunities within the VCM
• Strong communication and advocacy skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to a diverse audience, including non-technical stakeholders
• Results-oriented project and team management capabilities; able to lead and execute effectively with capacity to translate big ideas into action
• Passion for climate action and alignment with Sylvera’s mission to drive impactful investments in the fight against climate change

We’d like someone highly ambitious, motivated and eager to propel their career forward. We prioritise grit, positivity, and the willingness to get stuck in, and encourage you to apply even if your experience doesn't exactly match this job description

Benefits

• Equity in a rapidly growing startup
• Private Health Insurance and Life Assurance
• Unlimited annual leave
• Enhanced parental leave
• Access to Mental Health support via Spill
• Office bar tab once a month
• Weekly drinks in the office
• Catered lunch once a month in office
• Monthly Deliveroo/equivalent allowance once a month

Location

London, Old Street. We foster hybrid working and require you to physically attend all 1-2-1, retros and divisional meetings in person.

Our Values

Own it: We make new mistakes. We build on the momentum of our wins and reflect on and learn from our failures.

Stay curious: We keep our focus on the long-term, even if that means short-term challenges.

Do what’s right – even when it’s hard: We take a growth mindset to our work, our customers, our market and the opportunities ahead of us.

Collaborate and challenge with empathy: Our teams deliver through active collaboration. We invest in each others’ success and make the company stronger in the long-run.

Empower Customers: Make extraordinary efforts to exceed our customer expectations. If we’re serving our customers to the fullest, we can help direct more investment into real climate impact.

What if you’re a partial fit?

We prioritise grit, positivity, and the willingness to get stuck in, and encourage you to apply even if your experience doesn't exactly match this job description.

Equal employment opportunity

Sylvera is an equal opportunity employer: we value diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

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