Climate Scientist; Supply

Supercritical is the leading carbon removal marketplace: 1 in 5 corporate carbon removal buyers are customers. The company builds the commercial architecture that turns carbon removal pledges into delivered tonnes, sourcing, creating, and guaranteeing permanent supply for corporate buyers running multi-year procurement programs. It has facilitated nearly 2 million tonnes of carbon removal for 200+ buyers and tracks 600+ suppliers across roughly 80% of the global permanent CDR market.

Quality is the strategy. Supercritical’s independent science team vets every project across 118 data points and rejects 88% of what it assesses, and the same scientists help set the standards buyers will be measured against, including on SBTi’s Expert Working Group for carbon removals. When the right supply does not exist, Supercritical creates it:
Liferaft was co-designed from the ground up for Microsoft’s 1-million-tonne offtake, the largest biochar offtake in US history, signed in under 18 months. Every contract carries three layers of delivery protection. More than 300,000 tonnes have already been delivered and retired, with zero missed retirements to date.

The mission has never been more explicit. The UN now says the world is set to overshoot 1.5°C, and that carbon removal, alongside deep emissions cuts, is essential to coming back. The requirement is roughly 10 billion tonnes a year by 2050; all the permanent removal ever delivered adds up to less than a single day of that. Supercritical exists to close the gap.

Its mission: scale carbon removal to gigatonnes by building the connective infrastructure for the market. Founded in 2021 by Michelle You and Aaron Randall, the team behind Songkick, Supercritical is backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners, MMC Ventures, RTP Global, Green Code Ventures, and Local Globe.

This is an opportunity to work at the cutting edge of carbon removal and to deeply understand the science and operations of the most innovative CDR projects on the planet. You will be responsible for assessing the quality and risk of projects in order to improve transparency and trust, ultimately helping to scale the market in a sustainable way.

• Lead the delivery of the vetting and development processes for specific Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) projects to guarantee the highest quality of projects on the Supercritical platform. You'll receive training and support from our experienced Lead Climate Scientist and Director of Climate Science.
• Develop and refine our CDR quality standards and vetting frameworks, staying up-to-date with the latest advancements in climate science.
• Independently apply commercial vetting frameworks to assess project viability and long-term credit delivery.
• Cultivate relationships with our CDR project suppliers, offering feedback and sharing market insights.
• Become an in-house expert on the details of our CDR project suppliers and stay current with the latest scientific developments.
• Support the sales and marketing team by contributing to initiatives that promote climate thought leadership, educating potential CDR buyers.

• MSc or higher in chemical engineering, environmental science, or a relevant natural science such as chemistry, or a BEng/BSc with 3-5 years of relevant work experience.
• In-depth expertise in biomass-based CDR pathways such as biochar or bioenergy.
• Previous experience working in the climate and sustainability field; academic, consulting, commercial, government, NGO etc.
• A lot of curiosity and a broad understanding of carbon, climate, and sustainability issues, and a genuine care about real climate impact.
• High attention to detail and a love of digging below the surface to understand what…