Environmental Justice Associate

Carbon Direct is seeking an Environmental Justice Associate to join its Climate Justice team. The role involves advising clients on community engagement and benefits plans to promote environmental justice in carbon management. Candidates should have experience in community engagement and environmental justice methodologies. The position offers remote-friendly work options, emphasizing collaboration, flexibility, and a commitment to climate action and diverse perspectives.
Join us on the journey to get to net zero

At Carbon Direct, we dedicate our scientific, software, and business expertise to empower organizations around the world to take climate action.

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 seeks a passionate environmental justice community engagement professional to join our Climate Justice team. The successful candidate will help a diverse range of clients develop and implement community engagement plans that promote environmental justice outcomes in carbon management and removal. The ideal candidate will bring hands-on experience designing and implementing meaningful community engagement programs alongside expertise in environmental justice analyses and methodologies. Our work environment is collaborative, fast paced, and may require travel. We are a fluid, rapidly-growing organization and we value flexibility, curiosity, and ability to work effectively in teams and independently. We are looking for a knowledgeable environmental & climate justice professional who: stays informed about best practices in environmental justice engagement, understands how these practices apply within the shifting policy landscape and technological developments in carbon management in domestic and international contexts, and is committed to the implementation of effective, scaleable, and just climate change solutions.

Responsibilities
• Community engagement: advise clients on community engagement development and implementation. Facilitate meetings with community stakeholders and community-based organizations that intersect between EJ and climate solutions, specifically carbon removal, capture and utilization, and related strategies
• Community benefits plans: alongside community engagement, advise on key elements in meaningful community benefits plans that drive real-world environmental justice outcomes as carbon dioxide removal projects are implemented and scaled
• Climate justice offerings: Collaborate with the Senior Climate Justice Strategist to identify opportunities to develop and expand client offerings related to community engagement and community benefits plans
• Education and capacity: Support developing and maintaining an environmental and climate justice (E&CJ) learning curriculum to be presented to advisory clients related to community engagement and benefits plans best practices.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Support internal Climate Justice initiatives across the Advisory, Supply and Product divisions that deepen the firm’s capacity for world-class leadership in environmental & climate justice in carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and carbon management
• Strengthen Carbon Direct’s capacity to identify policies and practices that center communities most impacted by environmental injustice and the climate crisis.

Qualifications
• * Work experience in a position whose primary responsibilities include a focus on the intersections of environmental justice and community engagement.
• Knowledge of environmental and climate justice best practices in community engagement.
• Lived and/or professional experience working with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities in the U.S. and/or frontline communities in the Global South to design or implement equitable and just policies or programs related to climate change adaptation or mitigation
• Strong project management skills and the ability to appropriately prioritize multiple, overlapping tasks and deliverables and adapt to shifting client priorities
• Environmental Justice Expertise:
• A strong understanding of issues relating to community engagement, environmental racism, and social justice and their points of intersection with sustainability and climate action
• Familiarity with targeted policy and program interventions that address the environmental health hazards that disproportionately burden lower-wealth and communities of color
• An awareness of power-building strategies that enable residents of impacted communities to participate as co-creators in the development and implementation of interventions to meet local needs
• Research and Data Analysis: Experience sifting through a diverse set of informational resources (both genre and subject matter) and producing products (written or digital) that harvest meaningful insights.
• Relationship Management: Relates well to people from diverse backgrounds and different situations and is sensitive to cultural diversity, race, gender, disabilities, and other individual differences
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate technical information into client deliverables and deliver compelling and concise presentations to an interdisciplinary audience
• Ability to work independently in a fast-growing international environment
• Experience with carbon dioxide removal, carbon management, and carbon credits are a plus.

Salary

$108,000-$132,000

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.