Principal Decarbonization Project Manager

Our Mission

Enable organizations to reduce, remove, and utilize their emissions with carbon science

We are a purpose-driven carbon management firm dedicated to helping organizations around the world reach their climate goals. We make carbon science accessible and actionable with our end-to-end platform.

Global citizens with global impact

Whether a scientist, developer, or carbon markets expert, we are united by our mission to take climate action now. We are experts in our fields and we act with confidence. Located across 4 countries and 10+ states in the U.S., we offer both remote-friendly work options and dynamic, in-person experiences with offices located in Seattle, WA and Oakland, CA.

Diverse backgrounds bring diverse perspectives

We recognize that teams with diverse backgrounds and different experiences are powerful. Bringing together a variety of perspectives only enhances how we can effectively address the climate crisis. Together, we are creating an environment where everyone is celebrated and anyone can succeed.

Overview

Carbon Direct is seeking a highly experienced manager of large, complex capital projects to join our team. As a Principal Decarbonization Project Manager at Carbon Direct, you will play a crucial role in the success of world-leading carbon management and removal projects. You will collaborate with project developers and contracted offtakers through the Front-End Loading (FEL) process, from ideation to concept design to engineering to Final Investment Decision (FID). You will monitor leadership-class projects’ execution up to, and beyond, commercial operations date (COD). You will integrate the novel aspects of Carbon Dioxide Removals (CDR) with clients’ quality and delivery specifications. You will help Carbon Direct’s clients navigate Technical, Environmental, Economic, Commercial, Organizational, and Political (TEECOP) factors critical to project success. You will work with interdisciplinary teams of scientists, engineers, project managers, sustainability leaders, and business executives within and outside of Carbon Direct to deliver the projects that drive positive global change.

Responsibilities

• Lead the diligence, assurance, and/or validation of multiple major capital carbon management projects, collaboratively with Carbon Direct and its clients. Translate your expertise and experience from pre-FID management of previous projects into derisked decarbonization transactions.
• Combine your knowledge of FEL with the resident scientific and engineering expertise at Carbon Direct to support commercial negotiations with major capital carbon management project developers and their offtakers toward transparent co-designed outcomes.
• Develop strategies and workflows to efficiently provide diligence and validation services that unlock value for carbon management projects and their offtakers.
• Recruit, train and coach Carbon Direct staff to execute new diligence, validation and assurance strategies and workflows.
• Serve as a trusted advisor and key point of contact to clients. Demonstrate superb client management skills and model the behaviors that drive successful business outcomes for all parties.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate closely with internal teams, including commercial leads, technical experts, and business development professionals, to drive alignment, develop and share best practices, and ensure seamless project execution.
• Continuous Improvement: Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in the planning and execution of decarbonization projects, continuously seeking opportunities to create deep and positive impacts.
• Represent Carbon Direct in conferences, seminars, panel discussions. Engage with industry working groups, professional associations, and academic communities to contribute thought leadership and foster dialogue on carbon management best practices.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in large, complex, capital project management is required, preferably in the energy, chemicals, decarbonization, clean energy, or manufacturing sector. Experience with FEL stage-gate processes (or equivalent) is also required, and knowledge of integrated project value assurance, oriented to FID, is preferred.
• Technical acumen in areas such as chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, construction and/or requirements management, cost estimation, permitting requirements and community engagement, building codes and standards, and carbon market standards and policies
• Commercial acumen in areas such as, project economics, project finance, contract management, and offtake negotiation
• Project management certification such as PMI-PMP,or APM-PPQ is required. Performance based project management certification such as PgMP, PfMP, APM ChPP, CSM, PMI-ACP, or other Agile-based credentials are preferred.
• A bachelor’s degree in engineering or a closely related field is required, and a degree or equivalent work experience in business administration is expected. A master’s or PhD in engineering, science and/or business, or equivalent work experience, is preferred.
• Experience with operational and legal aspects of protecting multiple clients’ confidential information across multiple, diverse, simultaneous workstreams.
• Experience collaborating with, or working at, Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) organizations during front end project development, preferably with work experience in a position accountable for requirements management and scope communication. Experience implementing formal project standards into large complex capital projects is preferred.
• Familiarity with the corporate- or project-level greenhouse gas accounting across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 is preferred. Experience with corporate financial accounting is also preferred.
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build strong relationships and influence decision-making at all levels of an organization through discussions, formal presentations, and written documents. Consulting or advisory experience with a proven record of delivering client-ready products and services on commercial timelines is preferred.

Salary Range

$178,000 – $241,000 a year

Benefits

While we love our work, our lives aren’t defined by it. At Carbon Direct, we offer a robust benefits package that considers the whole person, their partners, and their families – and we’re always looking to improve.

Our U.S. benefits* include:

• Comprehensive nationwide medical, dental, and vision coverage. See a preview of our coverage here.
• Time off as needed: Flexible vacation policy and ten company-wide holidays, plus annual winter break between Christmas and New Year’s
• 16 weeks of fully paid parental and family leave with no tenure requirement
• Remote-friendly work culture with annual company-wide retreats
• Reimbursement for your work-from-home setup and monthly work-from-home stipend
• Please note that the benefits described apply to U.S.-based employees only. For our international employees, our benefits package varies by each country and its statutory requirements.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Carbon Direct is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other occupationally irrelevant criteria. We adhere rigorously to our equal employment opportunity policies in connection with all employment decisions, including hiring, compensation and promotion.