Climate Impact Advisor

at  ClimateKIC

Job Title: Climate Impact Advisor
Team: Entrepreneurship, Solutions and Ventures
Contract: Fixed-term contract
Level: Intermediate
Please refer to our Capability Framework
Location: Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, UK
Apply by: We’re interviewing on a rolling basis until we close the role. We advise you to apply early as we may close the role early if we have a sufficient pool of candidates.

ABOUT US

At Climate-KIC, we are wholeheartedly committed to building a diverse and representative team and an inclusive workplace that values different life experiences and perspectives, and we encourage personal development, learning and growth.
When recruiting, we look to achieve diversity in the candidate pool. We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups and are happy to consider reasonable adjustments that will foster success in potential employees from diverse backgrounds and life situations. And because our team has differing needs and personal circumstances, we offer a high degree of flexibility to accommodate all working patterns. We’re happy to discuss your situation during the interview and see how best we can support you.
Don’t let Imposter Syndrome stop you from applying!
Climate-KIC (Knowledge and Innovation Community) is Europe’s foremost climate innovation initiative, entrusted by the European Commission to catalyse transformation through innovation. Headquartered in Amsterdam, with circa 160 people distributed all over the EU, Climate-KIC leads and orchestrates innovation with a community of more than 400. Together we conduct activities in 39 countries. We partner with cities, regions, governments and communities with the highest climate action ambition; providing the framework and expert support to holistically manage the complexity of climate change and deliver accelerated climate action.
Climate-KIC operates as a not-for-profit platform working through public-private partnership, wielding both public and private funding. We consist of 3 Legal entities: a Dutch BV Holding company (for profit) with 14 branches in European jurisdictions, providing grant management, innovation orchestration services, and impact investment advisory owned by a Dutch-based foundation with charity status – Climate-KIC International Foundation. Historically, we have been funded by our founder and core funder, the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT), but we are currently transitioning to a multi-funder model.

ABOUT YOU

We are looking for a candidate who takes initiatives, can work independently, has an eye for details and works
in a systematic and structure way; a can do, get it done today action-oriented person that can help us to
manage efficiently and effectively the climate impact of a large pool of start-ups and ESOs.

EDUCATION/QUALIFICATIONS

University degree, preferably a Master’s level or higher, in a sustainability-related field. Ideally in, Environmental Sciences or Engineering or other science- related disciplines such as chemistry or biology.

EXPERIENCE:

• At least 5 years of demonstrated experience in climate impact measurement in academic research, consulting or similar.
• Proven expertise in autonomously organising and facilitating individual and group (virtual) sessions.
• Proven expertise in GHG accounting methodologies (mainly GHG emissions of a product or service).
• Proven expertise in autonomously creating high-quality written documents (reports)
• (optional) Experience working in topics related to entrepreneurship (e.g. incubators or accelerators) or with existing personal entrepreneurial experiences.
• (optional) Experience in topics related to climate adaptation and resilience, and circular economy is desirable
• (optional) Experience applying carbon footprint methodologies such as the ISO 14.067, the European Environmental footprint, PEF or ISO 14040 and 14.044.

SKILLS

• Deep knowledge and experience in topics related to GHG accounting and disclosure and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA).
• Fluent (orally and written) in English and French/Spanish is a must.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (e.g. as a facilitator).
• Strong research and analytical skills related to climate impact and sustainability in general.
• Strong data management and visualisation/ reporting skills.
• Experience working with collaborative IT applications (we use Office365/ Microsoft Teams, Salesforce CRM, AcceleratorApp as well as Miro, Zoom, Mentimeter etc.)

ABOUT THE ROLE

Climate-KIC is working to make a rapid change to net-zero and climate resilience possible through innovation. A key part of our work is financial innovation, where we help local leaders identify and secure the different types of finance they require (both public and private) to pursue ambitious climate action. We refer to this as finance mobilisation – the work of integrating multiple different financial instruments together to unlock new possibilities.
Our finance mobilisation work is rapidly expanding – it now covers cities, regional adaptation and argi-food. We are looking to add an experienced financial professional to the team to focus on driving forward key deals that will enable us to move further and faster. This role is wide ranging but has a primary focus on fundraising activity that attracts investment into an underlying portfolio of innovative projects and initiatives.
This includes a wide variety of City projects from the Net Zero Cities Capital Hub, six flagship innovation programmes connected to the Ireland Agri-food Deep Demonstration and an emerging portfolio of adaptation finance projects coming from regional areas across Europe. The role is to identify, mobilise, and deploy both grant funding and private investment (venture, corporate and institutional) capital to support the innovation actions.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Applying the Climate-KIC’s Carbon footprint of a product/service for early-stage innovations (start-ups). This includes:
• Deliver carbon footprint (or GHG) assessments for start-ups and their products,
• Train start-ups on how to conduct carbon footprint (or GHG) assessments of their products,
• Facilitation of virtual and in-person workshops on climate impact measurement and assessment methods to build capacities at Entrepreneur Support Organisations (ESOs) and start-ups,
• Provide 1:1 or group mentoring sessions to ESOs and start-ups,
• Application of procedures to validate climate impact claims,
• Support in the development of existing and new climate impact measurement methodologies,
• Managing climate impact metrics of portfolios of start-ups in our various programmes, and
• Producing regular climate impact reports.