Senior/Assistant Director, Carbon Mitigation Division (Carbon Market Development

The Ministry of Trade and Industry in Singapore is seeking a Senior/Assistant Director for the Carbon Mitigation Division. The role involves developing carbon market strategies, planning energy infrastructure, and collaborating with stakeholders to promote sustainable economic transformation. The position focuses on formulating policies for carbon credits and addressing climate change impacts while ensuring economic competitiveness and job creation. It requires working with various government agencies on Singapore's low-carbon transition.
What the role is:
Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time. It is a complex global challenge that calls for concerted international action and collaboration between governments, industry and individuals. Singapore, as a low-lying city state, is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Hence, we have to work together with the international community to address climate change and build a climate resilient future.

At MTI, we seek to pursue sustainable development by balancing economic needs with environmental protection and social inclusion. The transition to a low-carbon and green economy will be especially challenging for Singapore, given our scarce natural resources and open economy.

What you will be working on:
MTI’s Energy and Carbon (E&C) Cluster leads initiatives to reduce emissions and drive the transition to a low-carbon economy. Officers working on the E&C front are tasked to develop carbon markets, plan energy infrastructure, strategise low-carbon energy sources, and manage mission trajectories and carbon budgets. You will collaborate with various stakeholders to support sustainable economic transformation and green growth through international trade and industry partnerships.

The Carbon Mitigation team sits within the E&C Cluster where we drive the national development of non-energy mitigation measures and policies, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and high-quality carbon credits. We also work closely with agencies such as NCCS, MSE, and MOF, to formulate and coordinate strategies to ensure that Singapore is prepared for the impact of climate change, on both the domestic and international fronts, while seizing new opportunities to create good jobs for Singaporeans.

The team plays a critical role in charting the path forward for Singapore’s low-carbon transition. You will be part of a dynamic team responsible for formulating Singapore’s carbon mitigation strategies and policies, with a focus on carbon credits. You will examine carbon mitigation issues from multiple perspectives, assess the trade-offs, and work with other government agencies and relevant stakeholders. As the climate space is fast evolving, an officer may be deployed across different workstreams, based on the officer’s development and MTI’s organisational needs.

Your responsibilities include one or more of the following work streams:

• Develop and review carbon mitigation strategies and policies to enable Singapore to transition to a low-carbon economy while ensuring our economic competitiveness and good jobs for Singaporeans. These include measures set out in our Long-term Low-Emissions Development Strategy, and our plans to achieve our Nationally Determined Contributions.

• Develop and implement plans relating to carbon credits to meet our climate targets, while ensuring economic competitiveness. These include designing a robust international sourcing strategy to meet our climate targets; identifying and negotiating diverse new sources of high-quality Article 6-compliant carbon credits; collaborating with the private sector, international and multilateral organisations, and like-minded countries to secure access to Article 6-compliant carbon credits; catalysing and incentivising the development of new carbon credit project types; as well as growing the pipeline of high-integrity carbon credits projects for Singapore.

• Develop and implement communications and engagement plans in collaboration with MTI corporate communication and engagement officers to support the implementation of the above climate strategies

What we are looking for:
We are looking for driven, capable and committed officers who possess a strong desire to contribute to Singapore’s carbon transition, thrive in a fast-paced and dynamic environment, are adept at working with multiple stakeholders and across organisational boundaries, and are equipped with the following qualities and competencies:

• Experience in policy review and formulation
• 0 to 9 years of relevant experience in climate change/sustainability areas in the public or private sector and/or non-government organisations
• Relevant experience in carbon markets or other environmental goods/commodities
• Strong analytical, interpersonal, organisational, and communication skills
• Ability to work well both independently and in a team
• Strong ability to learn on the fly
• Be driven, meticulous and resourceful

About Ministry of Trade and Industry
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) seeks to transform Singapore into a leading global city of talent, enterprise and innovation. Our mission is to promote economic growth and create good jobs to enable Singaporeans to improve their lives. In MTI, you can expect an exciting, challenging and rewarding career!