Climate Data Scientist, Sustainability San Francisco Remote - US

Watershed; San Francisco, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Watershed is seeking a senior science‑focused professional to advance built‑in sustainability methodologies. You will translate climate science into product logic, collaborating with engineers, data scientists, and product managers to keep methodologies rigorous and auditable.

You will interpret evolving GHG standards and real‑world data challenges, contributing to scalable solutions and clear guidance for customers and auditors. This role blends science, data, and product impact.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or PhD in climate science, environmental science, sustainability, industrial ecology, or another quantitative field.
• 5+ years of experience in corporate sustainability, sustainability consulting, carbon accounting, climate strategy, or a related field—ideally with large, complex organizations.
• Systems thinker who can map interdependencies between sustainability and business systems.
• Deep knowledge of GHG accounting standards and sustainability reporting frameworks (GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and Scope 3; ESRS familiarity is a plus).
• Able to read code in Python and contribute to a codebase without being a software engineer.
• Ability to communicate complex ideas clearly to scientists, auditors, customers, and internal teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and improve Watershed’s built‑in sustainability methodologies and translate science into robust product logic.
• Collaborate with engineers, data scientists, and product managers to design rigorous, auditable, scalable features.
• Review methodology implementations, write clear specifications, and help build tests for scientific correctness.
• Interpret evolving standards (GHG Protocol, reporting frameworks, sector methodologies) and reflect them in Watershed’s product.
• Investigate complex customer questions at the intersection of science, data quality, accounting rules, and business context.
• Balance scientific rigor with usability and auditability in real‑world data scenarios.
• Explain methodology choices to customers, auditors, and stakeholders in clear terms.
• Contribute to internal methodology standards and document decisions.

Skills

Python

Systems thinking

Communication

Data interpretation

Education

Master's degree in climate science or sustainability

PhD in a related quantitative field

Tools

Python

GHG Protocol knowledge

Job description

About Watershed

Watershed is the enterprise sustainability platform. Companies like Airbnb, Carlyle Group, FedEx, Visa, and Dr. Martens use Watershed to manage climate and ESG data, produce audit-ready metrics for voluntary and regulatory reporting including CSRD, and drive real decarbonization. We are looking for team members who love product-building, want to work hard at a mission-oriented startup, and will collaborate with us in shaping the culture of a growing team.

We have offices in San Francisco, New York, Denver, London, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Mexico City, and remote team members across the US and Europe. We hope that you'll be interested in joining us!

The role

Domain expertise in the science of sustainability is the foundation upon which Watershed is built. On the Methodology team, we work at the nexus of corporate sustainability, sustainability science, data, and software — developing the methods that turn raw business data into auditable sustainability data and actionable sustainability insight.

This is a technical, hands‑on, and highly collaborative role. You’ll work closely with software engineers, data scientists, and product managers to build and maintain Watershed’s industry‑leading built‑in methodologies: keeping them up to date with the latest scientific developments and standards, developing pragmatic and innovative approaches to emerging challenges, and maintaining our high bar for scientific rigor and integrity.

This is an applied science role, where your knowledge and expertise will become product capabilities used by companies to understand and reduce their real‑world impact. You’ll need to understand not only the scientific fundamentals of sustainability, but also how they apply across business contexts, sectors, data realities, legislation, and standards. Great corporate sustainability programs that drive real change are built on credible, accessible, and actionable data — this is our North Star.

You will

• Develop, maintain, and improve Watershed’s built‑in sustainability methodologies, translating sustainability science, GHG accounting standards, and emerging regulatory requirements into robust product logic.

• Partner closely with software engineers, data scientists, and product managers to design methodology features that are scientifically rigorous, auditable, scalable, and intuitive for customers.

• Work directly in and around the codebase: reviewing methodology implementations, writing clear technical specifications, contributing configuration or logic where appropriate, and helping build tests that give us confidence in scientific correctness.

• Interpret evolving standards and guidance — including the GHG Protocol, sustainability reporting frameworks, and sector‑specific methodologies — and determine how they should be reflected in Watershed’s product.

• Investigate complex customer and product questions where sustainability science, data quality, accounting rules, and business context intersect.

• Build pragmatic approaches for messy real‑world business data, balancing scientific rigor with usability, auditability, and customer impact.

• Collaborate with our go‑to‑market and customer‑facing teams to explain methodology choices clearly to customers, auditors, and other stakeholders.

• Help set the bar for scientific quality across Watershed by documenting decisions, reviewing methodology changes, and contributing to our internal methodology standards.

You might be a fit if you

• Have a Master’s or PhD in climate science, environmental science, sustainability, industrial ecology, or another relevant quantitative field.

• Have 5+ years of experience in corporate sustainability, sustainability consulting, carbon accounting, climate strategy, or a related field — ideally working with large, complex organizations.

• Are a systems thinker who can zoom out to understand interconnected sustainability and business systems, then zoom in to identify high‑leverage technical solutions and anticipate unintended impacts.

• Have deep knowledge of both the application of, and reasoning behind, prevailing GHG accounting standards and sustainability reporting frameworks — at minimum the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and Scope 3 Standard; familiarity with the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Guidance and updated ESRS is a plus.

• Able to work in a Python codebase. This is not a software engineering role, but you should be comfortable reading code, reasoning about implementation details, and making contributions to the codebase.

• Can communicate complex ideas clearly to a wide range of audiences, including scientific experts, academics, verifiers, auditors, customers, internal business stakeholders, software engineers, and data scientists.

Bonus points

• Experience building or maintaining carbon accounting methodologies, emissions factor datasets, LCA models, or sustainability software.

• Familiarity with assurance or audit processes for GHG inventories or sustainability disclosures.

• Comfort working with data using Python, SQL, Typescript, or similar tools.

• Experience translating complex standards or scientific methods into operational guidance, technical specifications, or product requirements.

• Experience working with engineers to translate scientific methods into tested, production‑grade software.

Must be willing to work from an office 4 days per week (except for remote roles)

Watershed has hub offices in San Francisco, New York, London, and Mexico City and satellite offices in Denver, Sydney, Paris, and Berlin. Where we have offices, employees are expected to be in office for 4 days per week. Certain jobs are open to being remote and will be specifically noted on the jobs page and in the job description if so.

What’s the interview process like?

It starts the same for every candidate: getting to know the team members through 1 to 2 conversations about Watershed, your experience, and your interests. Next steps can vary by role, but usual next steps are a skill or experience interview (e.g. a coding interview for an engineer, a portfolio review for a designer, deeper experience call for other roles) which leads to a virtual or in person interview panel. We prioritize transparency and lack of surprise throughout the process.

What if I need accommodations for my interview?

At Watershed, we are dedicated to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process. We provide reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities, long‑term conditions, mental health needs, religious observances, neurodivergence, or pregnancy‑related support requirements. If you need assistance during your process, please contact your recruiter.