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 Development team is at the forefront of developing and managing climate mitigation activities. By working closely with project owners and developers as well as their local communities, we manage the complete registration, verification and evaluation of carbon projects to enable the issuance of emission-reduction certificates, in line with official carbon standards. If you are a smart, ambitious and dynamic sustainability professional with a strong passion to make a real difference in the fight against climate change, the below position may be right for you!
Job summary:
You will oversee and quality-proof a timely and effective generation and delivery of Forestry and Land Use emission reduction/removals projects and manage the complete AFOLU project portfolio in Latin America. Reporting directly to the Climate Projects Regional Director, you will provide thought leadership and technical guidance to the Nature-based Solutions technical team within LATAM to ensure the timely assessment of carbon reduction potential of new project opportunities, project risks assessment, coordination of project teams for project development, certification and implementation, and any other required to support South Pole’s regional targets on carbon mitigation and biodiversity conservation.
You will manage and be fully responsible for a team of project coordinators and managers based in the Latin America region and will lead their technical and managerial competencies and abilities to fit the purpose. Ensure that project leads are screened and assessed efficiently and that projects are implemented as per agreed budget and timelines, optimizing Verified Emission Reduction (VER) output and/or biodiversity conservation outcomes, contributing to meeting the region’s commercial and financial targets. In addition, you will work closely with the Commercial Associate Director and other technical teams, including the NBS Director of PDME team, the Director of implementation, and the Key Account Management, Portfolio, Global Accounting, Central Functions, and HR teams as well as Marketing teams to ensure you are applying the company’s policies, guidance and best practice.
As a part of the NBS team, you will be accountable for the delivery of all milestones proposed for projects under the carbon and co-benefits standards (mostly VCS, The Gold Standard, CCBS), while constantly contributing to enhancing the processes, tools, and analysis applied for South Pole’s LATAM portfolio development and implementation. You will participate in business rounds, technical sessions, site visits, and other relevant events.
Main tasks & responsibilities:
- Lead, and be responsible for, the screening, carbon potential and risk assessment, and development of all new Nature-Based Solutions project opportunities identified by the commercial team for South Pole’s regional portfolio in Latin America and the Caribbean
- Ensure that opportunities proposed by the commercial team meet South Pole’s technical, financial, and social feasibility criteria to initiate the carbon and/or biodiversity project development and implementation cycles
- Ensure the highest quality of the full carbon project cycle activities, such as carbon emission reduction potential assessments, methodological application, quality checks for deliverables, project validation, and verification for credit issuance in time and within budget
- Be responsible for overseeing and ensuring the highest quality of the team’s carbon estimations and delivery of products (project documents, monitoring reports, and others) in English. This includes supervising auditing processes to validate and verify NBS projects
- Client, Project Partner (PP), Registry Entity, and Auditor (third party independent certifier) relationship management and engagement support based on project cycle stages and in close coordination with the commercial and other relevant teams
- Be up to date on the technological evolution and standard requirement trends in all NBS-approved technologies of South Pole
- Oversee and secure best practices by the NBS technical teams in all administrative tasks such as budgeting, expenditure approvals, invoices, payments, and accounting follow-ups related to the portfolio of NBS projects within the region
- Ensure delivery of timely and high-quality project-related consultancy mandates and support to a new project or investment sourcing requests
- Support communications of the commercial team in Project Partner (PP) engagement and relationship management when needed
- Support the Key Account Management and the Portfolio team with tenders and proposal preparation, the Marketing team in project information requests, and the Climate Solutions team based on availability
- Provide leadership, mentoring, and effective guidance to the NBS technical team in the region to ensure high-quality and timely project cycle activities, while securing talent development and retention
- Ensure adequate coordination and engagement with the operational areas of the LATAM region (technical, legal, finance, operations, technology, etc.), as well as other business lines to design and implement processes that allow South Pole to accomplish its goals effectively
- Supervise and support all financial planning and budget management activities of the NBS technical team, including budget preparation on an annual basis, budget control at the individual project level, and ensuring the use of the tools and guidance provided by South Pole and that projects perform within budget
- Support knowledge sharing, technical expertise, and capacity building on NBS practice to other regions when required
- Support the Regional Director to ensure top performance of the region’s portfolio while meeting company targets. This includes participating in regular meetings, enhancing decision-making criteria and processes, providing constructive feedback, and supporting the development of optimum team structures and talented/ambitious project managers
- Lead recruitment and performance review processes for the NBS Technical team
Requirements:
Essential –
- University Degree in forestry, agriculture, biology, natural resource management, sustainability or climate change, and carbon mitigation-related fields
- Extensive experience in AFOLU projects for climate mitigation, natural resources conservation and management, forestry, sustainable agriculture or land management, conservation finance, or related fields
- Understanding of carbon finance essentials and carbon project development and certification, including familiarity with carbon standards like CDM, VERRA GS4GG, CCBS, CAR among others
- Proven experience in leading numerous, multi-disciplinary teams, and providing process-oriented and technical input to guide the work of others, providing expert-level guidance in the field of ALM, REDD+, ACoGS, ARR, and other NBS-related fields of work to ensure carbon and biodiversity assets are developed and implemented
- Results-driven team management abilities and talent development and retention experience
- Business-quality communication skills (verbal and written) in both English and Spanish
Desirable –
- Ability to design, develop and implement strategies to fulfill the company’s regional targets on NBS and capacity to communicate and execute them
- Ability to work under little supervision on diverse assignments, apply company policies, processes, and procedures, and identify critical routes to resolve a variety of issues/problems on time
- Understand and be sensitive to the social contexts, risks, and demands that can emerge in the context of carbon project development, particularly but not only REDD+ projects with indigenous communities
- Ability to create high-quality written documents (proposals and deliverables) in English and Spanish and quality control for others
- Experience with building a talented and high-performing team, providing supportive mentoring and empowerment to develop and retain talent at different levels
- Ability to manage targets and priorities and develop own goals
- National or holder of a valid work visa in the country of application
- Basic to advanced Portuguese (spoken and written) is a plus
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; 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.
