Graduate Sustainability Positions job in Oxford

Graduates at ClimateCare

We are recruiting ambitious graduates to join our vibrant and growing Oxford office, working at the cutting edge of sustainability with high profile partners and clients.

As a new team member at ClimateCare you’ll enter into our graduate training programme which will see you hit the ground running with exposure to our core delivery teams.

We have positions available in two of these teams, and invite you to apply to either if you have a particular preference, or submit a general application.

Opportunity 1: Graduate Sustainability Executive: focused on client and new business relationships and designing market leading carbon offset programmes

Opportunity 2: Graduate Portfolio Executive: focused on building carbon credit portfolios and establishing relationships with current and new project partners

In both roles, the skills and experiences we’re seeking include the following:

-       Strong interest in and working knowledge of climate change and associated environmental issues: environment-related degrees preferred

-       Exceptionally personable: building close client relationships will be crucial to success with ClimateCare

-       A stickler for detail: the work we do is complex. Getting the detail right – in both numerical and written forms - is how we have built our reputation for best quality delivery in the market

-       Highly numerate: with demonstrable, good working excel skills (this is more important for the portfolio analyst position)

-       Exceptional writing capabilities: The majority of our key communication activities are delivered in written form. You must be able to deliver engaging and high-quality copy for our proposals and client materials, often with short turn-around timelines

-       Commercial and environmental: Helping our clients drive commercial value with their ClimateCare programmes is a key part of our work – exposure to business operations will be beneficial

-       Go-get attitude: The most successful candidates will demonstrate proactivity, strive to exceed targets, be willing to muck in and have a thirst to learn

Opportunity 1: Graduate Sustainability Executive

In this role you’ll work with our client services and business development teams to help our corporate clients tackle climate change at scale.

Through our structured progression pathway we’d expect you to progress to key account management within 4-6 months, with responsibility on the front line for delivering market leading carbon offset programmes. Through regular progress reviews you’ll be able to build a personal development plan and find a home in the part of our organisation that most excites you.

Your first months at ClimateCare will include the following activities and responsibilities:

-       Managing all SME enquiries regarding our services and helping them complete their carbon offsetting

-       Supporting Senior Sustainability Executives with key account administration across offset programmes and international project implementation activities

-       Tracking and reporting to senior management on ClimateCare’s business development activities

-       Writing engaging updates for our clients on their carbon offset projects and supporting our work to engage client employees in addressing climate change

-       Researching new carbon offset projects and producing high quality project information sheets for new business proposals

Your line manager will work with you closely to help build the necessary skills and expertise to deliver each of these tasks at the highest level. We’ll also support your development with:

-       Attendance of our key client meetings to gain exposure to senior client management

-       Bespoke training in areas you are keen to develop your expertise

-       Access to leading sustainability sector events and initiatives to build your knowledge around leading corporate responsibility practice

-       Rotational placements across the business, spending time with our carbon project and marketing teams so you can explore where you best fit in the organisation

Opportunity 2: Graduate Portfolio Executive

Our corporate clients have diverse and specific preferences for the low carbon projects they support to offset their residual carbon footprints.

Typically, each client requires a portfolio of several projects – allowing them to deliver a variety of climate and sustainable development outcomes, and meet their budget requirements.

Working closely with the client facing teams, a key part of the role is to build our clients’ carbon offset project portfolios. This involves combining together carbon offset certificates from a number of projects - a problem-solving task requiring excellent numerate and excel skills combined with strategic and commercial thinking. University projects requiring quantitative analysis will provide a good foundation for this work – please tell us about this in your application.

In order to ensure ClimateCare can always deliver against our client’s requirements, our Portfolio Management team must secure access to a large number of carbon offset projects around the world, continually seek out relevant project activities, and manage the many project partner relationships. Our expertise in this area is built on extensive work in international development activities – any relevant experience in this field will also be valued.

Supporting our key project partners, ClimateCare also manages relationships with other market retailers, promoting these flagship projects through this wholesale channel. The Portfolio team manages this commercial function, maintaining productive external relationships. Any background in working with third parties or in sales will be useful.

Your first months at ClimateCare will include the following activities and responsibilities, among others:

-       Supporting senior Portfolio Managers in building carbon offset portfolios for our small and mid-size clients and presenting the internal proposals

-       Assessing new potential projects against our stringent quality criteria, interacting with project partners to obtain and present key project information

-       Becoming familiar with the carbon markets, our wholesale network (other carbon offset retailers) and managing these relationships and opportunities

-       Tracking team progress, maintaining robust internal systems and identifying areas for team improvement

-       Assisting in the fulfilment of project transactions from contracting with the project suppliers to delivery/retirement of credits

This is a really exciting opportunity to gain experience on the front line of carbon market trading. The role will enable the development of a broad understanding of the (voluntary) carbon market, focused engagement with our supplier network, and application of the knowledge gained to ensure ClimateCare can always provide the best portfolios, projects and credits to our clients and prospects in the short and longer term.

The right individual will be professional, hard-working, and think laterally and proactively to capitalise on opportunities.

Why ClimateCare?

Apart from the opportunity to contribute towards our goals you will be working with an inspiring and inclusive group of professionals who share the same passion and drive for tackling climate change at scale.

We address business climate strategies creatively and with commercial priorities front of mind. This means that as well as gaining considerable exposure to environmental challenges, you’ll also become highly knowledgeable of corporate financial priorities and business drivers. This is one of ClimateCare’s key differentiators and what enables us to work with some of the UK’s largest brands.

Founded in Oxford in 1997, we’re engrained in the city’s environmental networks, particularly those of the University’s Environmental Change Institute. Working in Oxford is an opportunity to immerse yourself in a buzzing environmental scene, with open door lectures given on a weekly basis by the world’s premiere environmental practitioners.

As a city Oxford is an utterly fantastic place to live. With beautiful countryside at your fingertips, world class sporting facilities, a thriving music scene, more restaurants than you can shake a stick at and thousands of students all going about town, this is a great opportunity to get a feel of the London life without the long commutes!