Head of Science | Climate Science

smtp consult pte. ltd.; Singapore; On-site; SGD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

Founding-team autonomy

Direct impact

Job summary

SMTP Consult Pte. Ltd. invites a pioneering Head of Science to lead scientific credibility for carbon removal on the platform. You will oversee due diligence, MRV design, and biodiversity integration while shaping the company’s scientific strategy from the ground up.

As a founding-team leader, you will build the technical function, manage project portfolios, and communicate rigorous science to customers, investors, and partners in a fast-paced startup environment.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree (MSc or PhD) in climate/environmental science or related discipline.
• Experience in carbon markets, carbon removal, or MRV across relevant sectors.
• Strong knowledge of carbon removal methodologies and biodiversity frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Lead scientific due diligence and quality assessment of carbon removal projects across multiple pathways.
• Design and maintain MRV frameworks to support near-real-time delivery of removals.
• Build biodiversity MRV alongside carbon MRV with baselines and monitoring methods.
• Develop a high-integrity removal portfolio balancing permanence, cost and co-benefits.
• Represent company with registries, standards bodies, and project developers.
• Translate complex science into credible, customer-facing materials.

Skills

Carbon removal knowledge

MRV design

Science communication

Startup experience

Stakeholder engagement

Biodiversity science

Education

Advanced degree (MSc or PhD) in climate/environmental science

Job description

Job Overview:

As Head of Science, you will serve as the company's scientific authority on carbon removal, responsible for the rigour, credibility, and integrity of everything the platform sells. You will lead due diligence on removal projects across our portfolio (DACCS, biochar, ARR, blue carbon and beyond), build the frameworks that allow us to quantify and stand behind every tonne we retire, and ensure our near-real-time delivery model is backed by defensible measurement, reporting and verification (MRV).

This is a founding-team role: you will shape the company's scientific strategy from the ground up and build the technical function as the company scales.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead scientific due diligence and quality assessment of carbon removal projects across DACCS, biochar, ARR, blue carbon and emerging removal pathways, evaluating additionality, permanence, durability, and leakage risk.
• Design and maintain the company's MRV (Measurement, Reporting and Verification) framework to support near-real-time (1–3 month) delivery of removals, rather than traditional annual offsetting cycles.
• Design and maintain the company's biodiversity MRV alongside the carbon MRV framework, including baselines, monitoring methods (remote sensing, eDNA, acoustic, field survey), and integration with emerging biodiversity credit and disclosure standards (TNFD, GBF, SD VISta).
• Build and manage a diversified, high-integrity removal portfolio, balancing permanence, cost, risk, and co-benefits for nature, biodiversity, and local communities across project types.
• Assess and monitor the biodiversity and ecosystem co-benefits of land- and ocean-based removal projects (e.g. ARR, blue carbon, biochar), applying recognised frameworks such as the CCB Standards, Plan Vivo, or SBTN guidance, so that nature-positive claims are as scientifically defensible as the carbon claims.
• Set and uphold the company's climate integrity standards, aligning methodology and project selection with leading frameworks such as the ICVCM Core Carbon Principles, Oxford Offsetting Principles, and relevant ISO net-zero guidance.
• Own relationships with registries, standards bodies, and project developers (e.g. Verra, Gold Standard, Puro.earth, Isometric), and represent the company in industry, policy, and standards-setting forums.
• Translate complex, technical carbon science into clear, credible, customer-facing materials, supporting sales, marketing, and customer success with accurate scientific claims.
• Support fundraising and partnership conversations by leading technical and scientific due diligence with investors, corporate customers, and strategic partners.
• Track emerging carbon removal technologies, science, policy, and market developments (e.g. Scope 1/2/3 accounting standards, national/international carbon frameworks) to keep the company's approach ahead of the field.
• Recruit, mentor, and grow the company's scientific and technical team as the company scales beyond its founding stage.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• An advanced degree (MSc or PhD preferred) in a relevant field such as climate science, environmental science, atmospheric science, ecology/conservation biology, biogeochemistry, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrable experience in carbon markets, carbon removal, or MRV, whether at a project developer, registry, standards body, research institution, or carbon-focused company.
• Strong working knowledge of carbon removal methodologies and pathways (e.g. DACCS, biochar, ARR, blue carbon) and the ability to critically assess project quality, permanence, and additionality.
• Deep expertise in biodiversity science and applied ecology, with hands‑on experience designing biodiversity baselines, monitoring protocols, and MRV for at least one nature‑based context, such as forest ecology (ARR), coastal/marine ecology (blue carbon), or soil ecology (biochar feedstock). Fluent in leading nature frameworks (CCB Standards, SBTN, TNFD, IUCN guidance) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and able to translate them into defensible, project‑level metrics, not just apply them.
• Familiarity with corporate emissions accounting (GHG Protocol Scope 1/2/3) and how carbon removal fits into corporate climate strategy.
• Comfort operating in an early‑stage, fast‑moving startup environment, with the ability to move from strategic thinking to hands‑on execution.
• Excellent communication skills, with a proven ability to translate rigorous science for non-technical audiences, including customers, investors, and partners.
• A genuine, values‑driven commitment to climate integrity, and to going beyond net‑zero toward measurable, net‑positive impact.

NICE TO HAVE

• Existing relationships with carbon removal project developers, registries, or standards bodies.
• Experience contributing to or shaping carbon market standards, methodologies, or policy.
• Prior experience in an early‑stage startup or founding‑team capacity.

WHAT THE COMPANY OFFERS

• The opportunity to shape the scientific foundation of a mission‑driven climate‑tech company from day one.
• A founding‑team role with significant ownership, autonomy, and equity.
• Direct impact on how organisations worldwide move from net‑zero claims to real, measurable, net‑positive climate outcomes.
• A collaborative, fast‑paced environment working alongside a small, ambitious founding team.

EA License Name & License Number: SMTP Consult Pte. Ltd. (23C1754)

EA Personnel Name & Registration Number: Toh Qiu Wei (R23116260)