Director, Carbon Market Development

A day with Verra's Legal, Policy, and Markets Team might include:

• Holding your regular check-ins with senior officials at a leading carbon crediting project developer, a corporate sustainability official at a Fortune 500 company, and a major exchange.
• Engaging with senior colleagues throughout the organization to show and assess progress in achieving the work plan that you and your team have developed for scaling with integrity primary- and secondary-market demand for high-quality carbon credits.
• Meeting senior representatives of a leading financial institution aimed at identifying and resolving concerns about participation in voluntary carbon markets.
• Presenting at a global carbon trading conference about the responsible corporate use of offsetting to accelerate the achievement of net-zero goals.

Specific functions you will be responsible for leading:

• Market participant engagement. Develop, maintain, and strengthen relationships with carbon market participants with a view to identifying their priorities and requirements, synthesizing and analyzing findings, and advancing actionable recommendations aimed at strengthening Verra’s carbon market offerings. Such participants will include demand-side participants (e.g., corporates, financial institutions, investors), intermediaries (e.g., exchanges, brokers), and supply-side participants (e.g., project developers).
• Market intelligence. Identify, synthesize, and analyze key carbon market developments and provide timely data about, analysis of, and strategic responses to developments in global carbon markets that inform the organization’s priorities, budget forecasts, resource allocation, and other strategic work.
• Engagement with ratings agencies. Design and implement a strategy for effectively engaging with ratings agencies and other third-party assessments of Verra’s carbon market projects and credits.
• Secondary-market scaling. Manage and/or support processes aimed at building and scaling secondary markets for Verra’s carbon credits.
• Sectoral associations. Lead Verra’s engagement with relevant sectoral associations and initiatives aimed at the effective development of carbon markets (e.g., International Emissions Trading Association, World Economic Forum).
• Corporate claims. Lead and/or support ongoing work aimed at enhancing the integrity of corporate claims, including value chain climate leadership and the use of high-quality carbon credits.
• Messaging. Work collaboratively with colleagues throughout the organization to ensure the accuracy and delivery of key messages relating to Verra's carbon market offerings, including in responses to stakeholders and the media. 

You bring with you:

• Significant relevant professional experience in the development of markets for emissions units and/or carbon credits, including at a minimum a demonstrated understanding of the drivers influencing the development of carbon markets.
• Direct experience in carbon market activities such as origination and/or trading, gained in a corporate and/or a financial institution, would be a strong asset.
• Proactive, creative, can-do attitude, with an ability to think quickly and to conduct oneself authoritatively and persuasively in a variety of situations.
• Strong organizational skills and discipline to be able to prioritize and work efficiently and effectively under deadlines in an independent manner. 
• Excellent networking and interpersonal skills, maintaining a professional approach and demeanor in high-pressure situations, and ability to work effectively with stakeholders and partners from different countries and cultures.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Fluency in English is essential. Fluency in other languages would be an advantage. 

In this role, you will grow and expand your expertise by:

• Strengthening organizational efforts to develop high-integrity, high-impact voluntary carbon markets.
• Gaining exposure to challenges and opportunities faced by carbon market participants. 
• Expanding your network of professionals working on climate and sustainable development, including government officials, private-sector actors, NGOs, and others. 
• Learning from a diverse group of climate and sustainable development leaders with vision and other passionate professionals at Verra. 

You will know you are successful if:

• You effectively build, lead, and manage a team of professionals dedicated to building a high-integrity, high-impact voluntary carbon market. 
• You develop effective and trusted working relationships with demand-side users of Verra’s carbon credits.
• You lead your team to achieve deliverables across the finish line on schedule.