Carbon Methodology Specialist (AFOLU)

Varaha Systems; India; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Varaha Systems is seeking a Carbon Methodology Specialist (AFOLU) to lead technical development and registration of agricultural carbon projects under Verra (VCS), Gold Standard, and Isometric across India and beyond. You will translate field data into audit-ready documentation, author PDDs and Monitoring Reports, and serve as the primary PDD-level interface with Validation and Verification Bodies (VVBs).

You will coordinate with cross-functional teams, manage methodology applicability reviews,

Job description

Varaha is hiring a Carbon Methodology Specialist (AFOLU) to lead the technical development and registration of agricultural carbon projects under Verra (VCS), Gold Standard, and Isometric. Our AFOLU portfolio spans rice methane, regenerative agriculture (soil carbon and emissions reductions), and agroforestry across India, South & Southeast Asia, and Africa.

This is a methodology-and-documentation role at its core. You will translate field data and management-practice changes into audit-ready carbon documentation, author the PDDs and Monitoring Reports that carry each project through registration, and serve as the primary PDD-level interface with Validation and Verification Bodies (VVBs). The value you bring is methodological command, defensible technical writing, and precision the ability to produce documents that survive VVB scrutiny with minimal rework.

You will coordinate across Varahas Project, Science, Technology, and Commercial teams and represent Varaha to registries and VVBs, but the center of gravity is the rigor and clarity of what goes into the registry, not delivery logistics.

What You Will Own

• End-to-end authorship of Project Design Documents (PDDs) and Monitoring Reports (MRs) under methodologies including VM0042 (Improved Agricultural Land Management), VM0047 (ARR), VM0051 (Rice Methane), the Isometric Rice Methane Reduction protocol, and equivalent Gold Standard methodologies.
• Correct interpretation and application of methodology requirements to project-specific contexts baseline construction, additionality demonstration, leakage assessment, and integration of ex-ante and ex-post quantification outputs from the Science team into PDDs and MRs.
• Direct VVB engagement on PDD- and MR-level Corrective Action Requests (CARs), Clarification Requests (CLs), and Forward Action Requests (FARs) drafting logical, defensible responses that close audit findings quickly; coordination with the Modeling Lead on model-specific queries.
• Methodology applicability reviews and carbon feasibility assessments for new geographies, crop systems, and practice bundles.
• Ensuring field protocols, sample design, and data pipelines meet methodology requirements, in coordination with Project, Science, and Technology teams.
• Tracking methodology updates, registry rule changes, and relevant Article 6.2 / 6.4 and CORSIA developments affecting the project pipeline.

What Were Looking For

• 2-4 years in voluntary carbon markets, with demonstrated ownership of at least one PDD through registration.
• Deep working knowledge of Verra (VCS), Gold Standard, and/or Isometric methodologies and validation/verification processes the ability to interpret and apply methodology requirements correctly, not just follow a template.
• Hands-on application of AFOLU methodologies rice methane (VM0051, Isometric), soil carbon (VM0042), or ARR (VM0047, AR-ACM0003). Direct VVB experience is required.
• Exceptional technical writing in English: the ability to build logical, evidence-based arguments and produce audit-ready documents that pass VVB review with limited rework.
• Meticulous attention to detail comfortable owning the precision of documents that must survive VVB scrutiny.
• Strong data handling in Excel; comfort with structured datasets, methodology equations, and uncertainty deductions.
• Practical understanding of where field data comes from and what makes it defensible under audit.

Preferred Qualifications

• Academic or research background (Masters / PhD in environmental science, agricultural science, soil science, forestry, climate policy, or a related quantitative field) with a demonstrated writing record peer-reviewed publications, a research thesis, or equivalent long-form technical work applied to real project delivery rather than purely academic.
• Prior carbon consultancy experience across multiple project types or jurisdictions.
• Experience operating in Indian, Southeast Asian, or Sub-Saharan African agricultural systems.
• Familiarity with process-based biogeochemical models (DayCent, DNDC, RothC) or remote-sensing monitoring.
• Working Python proficiency for data processing, methodology-equation implementation, and reproducible analysis (pandas, numpy, jupyter).
• Experience integrating LLM-assisted workflows into PDD or MR development.

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