Low-Carbon Products Lead

Low-Carbon Products Lead Job Description

The Carbon Leadership Forum is seeking a dynamic and innovative leader to fill the role of Low-Carbon Products Lead to execute the mission of this growing organization– to eliminate embodied carbon in buildings and infrastructure to create a just and thriving future.

Our Work

Recognizing that buildings account for around 40% of global energy-related GHG emissions, the Carbon Leadership Forum is dedicated to accelerating the transformation of the building sector to radically reduce the embodied carbon in buildings and infrastructure. We improve data, inform policy and drive cross-sector collaboration to scale demand for low‑carbon construction.

Our Values

CLF’s Values define how we approach our work. We are:

• Collaborative : The “Forum” is core to CLF’s roots and shows up in our everyday work. We are team‑oriented. We explore, convene, and partner with a growing community of climate leaders to scale action.
• Rigorous : We aim to deliver highly impactful work, informed by the best available science. We use transparent data to cut through the greenwashing and encourage others to bring the same rigor to their work.
• Curious : We know that we can never have “all of the information.” We continually seek new knowledge from diverse sources to build our expertise and iterate our approach.
• Agile : To avert a climate crisis, we are committed to working quickly and efficiently. We get things done and embrace impactful opportunities to pivot. Our rallying cry continues to be further, faster, together.
• Ambitious : We are a small team with an ambitious mission to create a just and thriving future. We are doers who aim to catalyze and sustain a growing movement to make construction a key mitigation solution to climate change.

About the role:

The Low-Carbon Products Lead will drive technical guidance, collaboration, and research in support of the CLF’s mission. Whereas overall duties and responsibilities are described below, in the first year this role will primarily lead projects and activities that enable buyers and regulators to scale demand for low‑carbon concrete. The Low-Carbon Products Lead will report to the Associate Director of Low Carbon Design. This is a remote position based out of the United States, with a preference for candidates based out of Washington State.

Duties & Responsibilities:

70-75% Develop research and resources to support widespread embodied carbon reductions

• Develop research and resources to support practitioners, manufacturers, policymakers, NGOs and others to drive decarbonization. Topical examples include:
  • Conduct interviews, collect data, and analyze the cost variability and savings associated with embodied carbon reduction strategies
  • Research existing and novel policy pathways to advance beyond state procurement initiatives to reduce embodied carbon
  • Facilitate virtual and in‑person convenings focused on advancing low‑carbon concrete initiatives in the public and private sector
  • Develop trainings, case studies, factsheets, and other outputs to increase understanding of measurement and reduction practices for different audiences
• Manage moderately complex projects where approaches are mostly pre‑defined. Includes planning, scheduling, and execution of activities. Develops basic time and financial budget projections. Monitors budgets and the work of others on the project.
• Continue to develop subject matter expertise on key topics, such as industrial decarbonization pathways for key building materials, product life cycle assessment, the EPD standards and tools ecosystem, and policy instruments.

20-25% Technical support for key stakeholders

• Provide technical support to key public agency staff, NGOs, standards development bodies and others on relevant topics, such as environmental product declarations and low‑carbon concrete implementation
• Coordinate with other NGOs to drive harmonization on technical topics to enable embodied carbon reductions
• Be a spokesperson for the Carbon Leadership Forum to professional audiences at regional/national venues such as committees, working groups, and presentation audiences

5-10% Organizational Support

• Engage with other CLF staff to contribute to a collaborative and supportive work culture
• Use peer network to expand technical capabilities and identify new research opportunities
• Support CLF advancement processes, such as contributing to funding proposals and progress reports
• Support development of internal CLF publication practices and standards

Qualifications

To be successful in this position, you will need to have the following knowledge, skills, and abilities:

• Strong technical expertise in LCA of products, buildings and/or infrastructure
• Familiarity with low carbon concrete definitions, specification, and/or deployment
• Experience using and/or evaluating environmental product declarations and product category rules
• Ability to work independently with limited supervision in a remote work environment
• Ability to analyze and visualize data using tools such as Excel, Tableau, Python and/or other programs
• Sought out for contributions to speaking engagements/events and publications
• Strong communication skills (verbal and written)
• Understanding of the building/construction industry and experience collaborating with diverse industry stakeholders
• Experience managing projects with mostly pre‑defined activities
• Minimum 4 years of relevant work experience

Desired – Education, work experience:

• Master’s Degree in environmental studies, engineering, architecture, or related field
• Experience developing action-driven resources such as toolkits and industry roadmaps
• Experience mentoring and managing technical staff
• Experience with scope 3 greenhouse gas accounting related to building construction
• Experience in the use of Life Cycle Assessment software (Open LCA, etc.) to conduct life cycle assessments of building materials and products
• Graphic representation skills
• Dataset management, coding and/or web development skills
• Skills in data analysis and statistical methods
• Non‑profit and/or academic experience
• Experience with grant writing and development of relationships with funding organizations

Salary Range

$95,000-122,000 annually

The Carbon Leadership Forum offers a competitive benefits package including:

• Paid time off including 11 holidays, 12 days of sick time, and 16 days of vacation time for the first year
• CLF covers 85% of healthcare plan costs and 100% of dental plan costs for you and your family
• Sponsored 401(k) retirement plan with 6% match on each payroll and a planned 1.5% additional match at year‑end
• Life insurance
• A trusting and flexible remote work culture

Candidates with existing U.S. work authorization are preferred.