Lead Climate Scientist

This is an opportunity to work at the cutting edge of carbon removal and work directly with the largest buyers in the market to build robust, high-integrity CDR portfolios. You will build trust by communicating the science of carbon removal and providing expert advice.

This role is broader than a standard climate science position. Alongside supporting our sales team, you will help deliver Supercritical's paid advisory work: policy and regulatory advice, CDR strategy and portfolio design, and commissioned research, sold to corporate buyers as engagements in their own right. Our clients include some of the world's best-known companies, and they come to us because they need to defend multi-year carbon removal commitments to their boards, auditors, and regulators.

You will lead our defined-scope advisory engagements yourself, holding the client relationship and owning the deliverable. On our largest and most complex engagements you will work alongside our Director of Climate Science and Policy, who leads those projects, and you will take on progressively more of that leadership as you build a track record. This is a rare chance to combine deep scientific work with real commercial ownership, and to help build a new advisory practice from its first engagements.

What will you achieve in the next 12 months?

• Lead defined-scope client engagements end to end: shaping the scope, contributing to the proposal, running delivery to timeline and budget, and presenting findings to senior client stakeholders.
• Work alongside our Director of Climate Science and Policy on our largest advisory engagements, taking ownership of substantial workstreams within them and building towards leading engagements of that size yourself.
• Become the go-to expert on the policy and standards landscape that governs our buyers, including SBTi Corporate Net Zero Standard v2, UK and EU compliance markets, and greenhouse gas removal standards.
• Produce the written deliverables clients pay for: assessment reports, strategy documents, portfolio and price models, and board-ready summaries.
• Support the sales and marketing team by contributing to initiatives that promote climate thought leadership, educating potential CDR buyers.
• Cultivate relationships with our CDR buyers, offering support in developing CDR portfolios and sharing market insights.
• Become an in-house expert on the details of our CDR project suppliers and stay up-to-date with the latest scientific developments and advancements in climate science.
• Get training on our commercial CDR vetting framework, which is used to ensure that CDR projects are sustainable and capable of delivering CDR credits well into the future.
• Direct the work of external associates and junior colleagues on your engagements.
• You'll receive training, mentoring and support from our experienced Director of Climate Science and Policy.

Requirements

• MSc Degree or higher in chemical engineering, environmental science or relevant natural sciences such as chemistry. OR BEng/BSc with relevant work experience (e.g., 5+ years).
• Expertise in carbon dioxide removal (CDR), including an in-depth aptitude across multiple engineered CDR pathways (e.g., biochar, BECCS, mineralisation, ERW, DACCS).
• Demonstrable experience delivering client-facing consulting, advisory or commissioned research projects. You have owned a deliverable to a deadline for an external client, not only contributed to one.
• The ambition to grow into leading our largest advisory engagements. We are hiring someone who wants to build an advisory practice, not only to work within one.
• Working knowledge of the policy and standards landscape relevant to corporate buyers, for example SBTi, the GHG Protocol, a compliance market such as the EU or UK ETS, or a removal standard such as BSI Flex, Puro.earth or Isometric.

Expectations

• Previous experience working in the climate and sustainability field; academic, consulting, industrial, commercial, government, NGO etc.
• Previous experience in a client-facing role, or experience in engaging with industrial stakeholders.
• Excellent written communication. A large part of this role is producing reports and analysis that a client is paying for and will circulate internally, so the quality of your writing matters as much as the quality of your thinking.
• Excellent communication skills and a passion for clear scientific communication is essential. You need to be able to translate complex science to make it more accessible and understandable.
• Comfort with the commercial side of advisory work: helping scope an engagement, estimating the effort it will take, and protecting that scope once delivery starts.
• Passion for fast-paced environments with a high level of resilience and adaptability to ambiguity.
• You have a lot of curiosity and a broad understanding of carbon, climate, and sustainability issues and care about real climate impact.
• You have a high attention to detail and love to dig below the surface to understand what is really going on.
• You have a willingness to learn and open to training where required.
• Excellent analytical skills and good proficiency with Excel/spreadsheets.

Nice to have

• A PhD in a relevant discipline.
• Experience at a consultancy, engineering firm or research programme that sells work to external clients.
• Experience managing subcontractors, associates or junior team members on a project.
• Published research, or contributions to standards, methodologies or government evidence.

Our values

We have set ourselves the mission of leading the carbon removal market to 14,000x its current size by 2050. In order to do that we need brave adventurers that think huge and deliver at speed. We call this the 14,000x mindset. The key components of the 14,000x mindset are:

• 🙋 Ownership mentality: We relish autonomy and we create it for others. We are deeply curious and thrive on understanding the root cause of complex problems. We take ownership over our own and our team’s development by giving and soliciting direct and actionable feedback.
• 🏎️ Move fast: We identify the most important problems to solve and cut everything else. We test ideas early so we don’t waste time on dead ends. We default to action and deliver awesome results.
• ☀️ Radiate positive energy: We come to problems with energy and passion. We nurture new ideas and engage positively in testing them. We inspire our colleagues to go further and are resilient to set backs. We recharge by taking time off. We are here for a great day, not a long day.
• 📣 Communicate proactively: We communicate simply and directly. We broadcast updates, insights and lessons learnt, especially when things haven’t gone to plan. We give as much context as possible so our teammates can make great decisions.

Perks & Benefits

💰 Competitive Salary – £70,000 - £80,000 (depending on experience)

🌴 Unlimited Annual Leave – Take the time you need to recharge

🎉 Extra Time Off – The first Friday of every month is a company-wide day off

💡 Pension Contribution – We’ll match your 5% contribution with 3%

🏡 Flexible Hybrid Work – Work remotely first, with the option to use our London co-working space in Work.life Old Street

💚 Wellbeing & Home Setup Support – £1,000 annual wellbeing allowance + up to £500 for home office equipment

🍻 Team Socials – Monthly company gatherings in London and annual company multi-day offsites.

Diversity and Inclusion

We’ve been committed to building an inclusive and diverse workplace since day one of the company. We’re the only company we’re aware of with a 50:50 gender balanced list of investors and our day to day processes are always defined with D&I in mind, for example our remote first policy and flexibility around working time.

We are excited to encourage applications and interest from individuals underrepresented in the climate and tech space. Climate change and climate justice is a social issue that cuts across race and gender. We welcome applicants with lived experience across these issues.

Studies have shown that some groups of people, like women, are less likely to apply to a role unless they meet 100% of the job requirements. Whoever you are, if you like one of our jobs, we encourage you to apply as you might just be the candidate we hire!

UK Sponsorship & Applicants currently outside the UK

• UK Work Sponsorship: Unfortunately, at this stage of our growth, we are unable to offer UK sponsorship to applicants.
• Candidates who live outside the UK who are not looking to live and work in the UK, are within 3 hours of the GMT/BST timezone and are willing to travel to London quarterly are encouraged to apply. Please note we will use an Employer of Record arrangement in these circumstances.